The Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities at Simmons University presents the 2024 Gwen Ifill Forum, our annual signature event in honor of Gwen Ifill '77, '93HD and her legacy as a ground-breaking Black woman journalist. Each year, the Ifill Forum brings together important national voices for a public conversation on key questions of the day.
This year’s event features a moderated discussion with accomplished MSNBC political analyst and host of “The ReidOut,” Joy-Ann (Joy) Reid. Reid will be honored with the Gwen Ifill Next Generation Award – presented to an individual who embodies Gwen Ifill’s commitment to professional excellence, mentoring, and the public good.
The discussion will be followed by a book signing of Reid’s new book Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America story (Harper Collins, 2024).
The 2024 Ifill Forum takes place at Simmons University and will also be streamed online. Registration for the virtual or in-person event is required. Please visit the Ifill Forum webpage for more information.
Please email [email protected] with any questions.
The Keynote Speaker: Joy-Ann (Joy) Reid
Joy-Ann (Joy) Reid is an MSNBC political analyst and host of “The ReidOut,” which airs weeknights on MSNBC from 7-8 pm ET.
Reid previously hosted the weekend program: “A.M. Joy" (2016-2020) and a daily news show "The Reid Report" (2014-2015).
A 1991 Harvard University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual and Environmental Studies with a concentration in documentary film and a 2003 Knight Center for Advanced Journalism fellow, Reid has a longtime interest in politics and elections. During a hiatus from the news business, she worked as a press secretary for the national voter registration and mobilization entity, America Coming Together in 2004 and for the Florida branch of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.
From 2011 to 2014, she was the Managing Editor of theGrio.com, a daily, online news and opinion platform devoted to delivering stories and perspectives that reflect and affect African-American audiences. Reid joined theGrio.com with experience as a freelance columnist for the Miami Herald and as editor of the political blog The Reid Report. She is a former talk radio producer and host for Radio One, and previously served as an online news editor for the NBC affiliate WTVJ in Miramar, FL. Her columns and articles have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, The Miami Herald, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The South Florida Times.
Reid is the author of: Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons and the Racial Divide, We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama (with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne) and The New York Times best-selling, The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story, plus her NEW book: Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America (Harper Collins, 2024).
In addition to TV and book authoring, Joy and her husband and documentary filmmaking partner Jason Reid, president of Image Lab Media Group, are producing a documentary on the assassination of Medgar Evers, in partnership with The Documentary Group. She also co-hosts the podcasts Reid This / Reid That with journalist and "New York Live" co-host Jacque Reid and What To Reid, produced by Image Lab Media Group. Reid has received four NAACP Image Award nominations and The ReidOut received the award for best talk program in 2020. The documentary she co-Executive Produced: The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (directed by Yoruba Richen)was nominated for an Emmy Award. Reid has also received media awards from the Women’s Media Center, the National Action Network, and GLAAD.
Event Moderator: Latoyia Edwards
Latoyia Edwards is an Emmy Award-winning anchor on NBC 10 Boston and NECN. She was recently named one of Boston Magazine’s Most Influential Bostonians. Latoyia is a multi-talented journalist moderating political debates, field-anchoring live news events, securing exclusive one on one interviews and emceeing countless charity events each year.
She joined the NBC Boston and NECN family as a morning reporter, arriving from WWLP-22 in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she had been a weekday anchor. During her tenure, Latoyia has enjoyed success serving as a health reporter, weekend anchor, evening news anchor, before landing In her favorite role as morning news anchor alongside Raul Martinez and Matt Noyes.
Latoyia celebrates her hometown roots as a native of Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. She is a graduate of Boston Public Schools including the exam school Boston Latin Academy. Latoyia graduated magna cum laude from Emerson College with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. She began her career as a news writer for WBZ 1030-AM radio, and later reported for the Fox affiliate WICZ-TV 40 in Binghamton, New York.