DEMAN Guac and Talk

FREE & OPEN TO ALL

Nyssa Kourakos, veteran communications strategist, and Daniel Karslake, an award-winning director and producer, will join DEMAN Guac and Talk.

Nyssa is a veteran communications strategist with over 30 years of experience helping corporations, academic institutions, non- profits and executives articulate their business strategy and investment stories to global audiences, navigate challenges and crises, and strategically amplify their reputation in support of business objectives. Nyssa's media expertise, facility with complex, issues-driven messaging, and strong client relationships has helped organizations across a range of sectors -including financial services and private equity, health care, technology and transportation - build their profiles with media and other stakeholders. She approaches each assignment with a holistic perspective to create tailored and comprehensive communications strategies designed to engage both internal and external stakeholders.

Nyssa graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Political Science. She serves as an Operating Partner of Tiger Infrastructure Partners, and as a Trustee of the Duke Alumni Board (former Co-Chair of the DukeNY Board and the DukeNY Women's Forum), the Women's Committee of the Central Park Conservancy, and Saint David's School in New York City.

Daniel Karslake is an award-winning American director and producer, whose highly acclaimed work deals with social justice issues, both domestically and internationally. His current project, For We Know Not What We Do, which premiered in competition at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, is a follow-up to his award-winning feature, For the Bible Tells Me So, and will examine the use of both the Holy Bible and the U.S. Constitution as a means to discriminate against LGBT Americans under the guise of "religious freedom." For the Bible Tells Me So premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was short-listed for a 2008 Academy Award. In 2010, Entertainment Weekly magazine listed the film as "one of five documentaries that has changed the world," and it has been translated into more than 20 languages worldwide.

Karslake is a proud member of the Director's Guild of America. He received his B.A. in public policy from Duke University and has taught documentary filmmaking both at Duke and at Stanford University. He lives in Berlin, Germany with his husband Russ Anderson and their two cats, Rocky and Fred.