Michealene Cristini Risley | |
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Nationality | American |
Education | Bachelor's Degree in Telecommunications and minors in English and Advertising |
Alma mater | Bishop Foley High School Michigan State University |
Occupation | Author Activist |
Michealene Cristini Risley is a best selling Author, writer, director and human rights activist. [1] She ran for the Americans Elect nomination for President of the United States in 2012. [2] She is currently CEO and Co-Founder of Imbibe Lifestyles, a series of high quality pillows in the consumer products wellness space.
Risley was born and raised in Clawson, Michigan, before spending her teenage years in Troy, Michigan. She graduated from Bishop Foley High School and went on to graduate from Michigan State University with a degree in Telecommunications and minors in English and Advertising. [3] She spent a number of years in Hollywood for such companies as Disney, Amblin and Mattel. While Vice President of Production for Marvel's animation unit she was recruited by SEGA of America to build a consumer products and entertainment division. At that time, SEGA was at less than 4% market share. The Consumer Products division was an incredible team that turned Sonic the Hedgehog until a billion dollar consumer products brand. She also pitched the executive team on the lost opportunity of creating games for girls, built the SEGA TASK force to address these issues. female market share at that time was 3% in 1993, when Risley departed in 1995 it had grown to 20%. The team also worked with two top animation facilities and created two Sonic animated series simultaneously. Both shows, the Network series and the syndication series were #1 hits. Creating two simultaneous hit shows on the same character at the same time, has not been done since. Michealene left SEGA to start her own for profit and not for profit company. She has continued to work with top athletes and sports companies after SEGA SPORTS and was hired by Nike to entertain building a gaming division for Nike or licensing out their roster of athletes to the video game sector. She recommended to Nike that they stick to their core business and license out those characters. Within her new company, Fresh Water Spigot, she took Nike's athletes out to the technology sector for licensing. This included Ronaldo, Brazil Soccer and Tiger Woods. The Tiger Woods/ Electronic Arts deal was the largest deal in the history of the video game sector at that time. [4] As a serial entrepreneur the company that changed the direction of the industry was Adidas Maternity. This was the first branded maternity line ever in the marketplace.
Risley's non profit was established as Freshwater Haven. The focus of that non profit was to use medial to create social change. Within this non profit, Risley is noted for her work as the writer, producer and director for the film Tapestries of Hope , which follows social activist Betty Makoni in her efforts to help sexually abused young women in Zimbabwe through her foundation the Girl Child Network. [5] Risley was imprisoned and then deported to South Africa by the Zimbabwean government for the footage she shot during her time with Makoni and the Girl Child Network. [6] [7] After being safely returned to the United States, Risley became a large part of the push for the passing of the International Violence Against Women Act by creating grassroots efforts with over 45 other human rights groups. [8] The film premiered in September 2010 in over 105 theaters nationwide. [9]
In 2000, Risley was appointed as the VP of Production, Development and Consumer products for Marvel Comics. [10] In 2003, she founded Fresh Water Haven, a 501(c)(3) organization that writes, produces, develops and brings to market films, documentaries and books with the goal of raising awareness about global issues that are in need of reform. [11] [12] A frequent Huffington Post editorial writer, Risley is a noted Human Rights Speaker. [13] In 2003, Risley wrote, directed and produced Flashcards, a short film on child sexual abuse which won numerous awards and aired on PBS nationwide. [14] Risley co-authored the best-selling book This Is Not the Life I Ordered , alongside Deborah Collins Stephens, Jan Yanehiro, and Jackie Speier, which has sold over 50,000 copies (the book details the friendship of these four women and the ups and downs they faced in their lives). [15] After Running Marvels animation unit Michealene was recruited by Sega of America to build a licensing and Entertainment division from scratch. As Senior Director of Entertainment/Consumer Products at SEGA of America, she recruited and built a small group in Beverly Hills, California and eventually moved the whole team up to Sega headquarters in Northern California---where she became fascinated with the tech world and has never left Silicon Valley. In 2006, Risley founded Fresh Water Spigot, a licensing and creative services agency specializing in consumer products categories; she also conceived, developed, and launched the first Adidas-branded maternity product line, The Power of Two, LLC. [16] Michealene was also Vice President of Games at Zynga, a San Francisco-based mobile games company. [17] She has been a CEO of a number of tech start-ups in entertainment sector. In 2019 a revised version of "This is not the life I ordered: was released. Michealene is currently creating a new television series and involved with consulting. She spent most of 2020 working on delivery of PPE product in the United States to alleviate the spread of COVID-19.
As a passionate activist on issues of rape, abuse and human trafficking. Miss Risley has been thrown in prison in Zimbabwe, received death attempts and in 2019 while writing a version of the Larry Nassar story for television and hosting a Human trafficking event through Operation Big Sister, her LYFT vehicle was hijacked by one of the 346 gangs that do human trafficking. She had to flee the area and recover from PTSD. She is no longer working at the grass roots level on these issues.
A community organizer for years including Delegation 2010, the 60 plus non-profit groups she organized to push Congress to resign and fund IVAWA and three presidential campaigns including her own. Special events include: Gentry Magazine fundraiser for 3 years that benefited her non profit, DUCKTALES in NY, Mattel Toy Fair and more.
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies is a book by the Canadian author Naomi Klein. First published by Knopf Canada and Picador in December 1999, shortly after the 1999 Seattle WTO protests had generated media attention around such issues, it became one of the most influential books about the alter-globalization movement and an international bestseller.
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is a French and British actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress and singer Jane Birkin and French singer Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song "Lemon Incest" at the age of 12, she released an album with her father at the age of 15. More than 20 years passed before Gainsbourg released albums as an adult to commercial and critical success. She has acted in many films, including collaborations with Lars von Trier, and received two César Awards and Cannes Film Festival's Best Actress Award 2009 for the movie "Antichrist", among many nominations.
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This Is Not the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down is a collaborative non-fiction inspirational self-help book written by Deborah Collins Stephens, Michealene Cristini Risley, Jackie Speier, and Jan Yanehiro. The book was first published in a hardcover format in 2007, by Conari Press. The first printing of the work was for thirty-five thousand copies, and a second printing is planned.
Tapestries of Hope is a feature-length documentary that exposes the virgin cleansing myth that if a man rapes a virgin he will be cured of HIV/AIDS. The film focuses on the work human rights activist Betty Makoni has done to protect and re-empower girls who have been victimized through sexual abuse. Tapestries of Hope aims to bring awareness to the widespread abuse of women and girls as well as the efforts of the Girl Child Network and its founder, Betty Makoni.
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HazviperiBetty Makoni is a Zimbabwean women's rights activist who in 1999 founded the Girl Child Network, a charity which supports Zimbabwe's young sex abuse victims. The organization has rescued more than 35,000 girls and provided mentoring to at least 60,000 girls around Zimbabwe. She earned two degrees from the University of Zimbabwe, and has been awarded numerous national and international awards. Orphaned as a child and sexually abused, Makoni is the principal subject in the documentary film, Tapestries of Hope.
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