iFOCOS is a non-profit media think tank and futures lab and home of the We Media Community, a global network of individuals and organizations from across industries who believe the power of media, communication and human ingenuity should be applied to innovate in business and to make the world a better place for more people.

Andrew Nachison, Co-Founder
President and CEO
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Andrew is co-founder and CEO of iFOCOS and a partner of The 726 Group, a business consulting firm. Andrew is an internationally recognized expert on communications, technology and cultural trends and a leading advocate for applying media tools and techniques to make the world a better place for everyone. He is a writer and online publishing veteran who learned from remarkable teachers: the art of fiction from novelist Frank McCourt, computer programming from BASIC creator John Kemeney, and social activism from Pacific island nuclear testing witness and author David Bradley. He has reported and edited for The Associated Press; written for The New York Times, Infoworld, Audubon and other magazines; managed one of the world’s most ambitious small-market newspaper Web sites, lawrence.com; played clarinet at Tanglewood and Carnegie Hall; studied wildlife, development and environmental policy in Kenya; spoken on media convergence and business strategies in Asia and Europe; and currently serves on the advisory boards of the World Editors’ Forum, The Enthusiasts Group LLC, and NewsTrust. He has published one piece of short fiction, written many others (at nach.com) and swears there’s more to come. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Dartmouth College and lives with his wife and two sons in Reston, Virginia.

Dale Peskin, Co-Founder
Managing Director

Dale is co-founder and managing director of iFOCOS and a partner of The 726 Group, a business consulting firm. Dale is a widely engaged expert advisor on media and communications business and creative strategies, information design and innovation. He was the executive director of New Directions for News, a media futures think tank that merged with The Media Center in September 2003. Prior to joining NDN, he was a vice president of Belo, the Dallas-based media company, where he launched the company’s initiatives in new media and media convergence. At Belo, Dale served as editor of Dallasnews.com and as an assistant managing editor of The Dallas Morning News. He was a founding officer of Belo Interactive, Belo’s network of news Web sites.

Dale has served as deputy managing editor of The Detroit News and The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and managing editor of the Tribune Chronicle. Dale’s awards include NAA’s Digital Edge Award for Pioneering Online Journalism, the Sigma Delta Chi Award, and four Gold Medals from the Society for News Design. He was part of the team at The Detroit News that won the Pulitzer Prize.

Carin Dessauer, Senior Fellow

Carin Dessauer is a senior fellow with iFOCOS. The Washington, D.C.-based journalist and media executive across multi-platforms (print, broadcast and the Internet), is also a principal with mc2, a strategic consulting firm. As an executive for CNN and then CNN.com, Dessauer is considered a pioneer in early innovative Internet and convergence efforts. In her fellowship, Dessauer works on strategic initiatives and programs and has run the multi-platform program featuring leaders from major media and technology companies. At mc2, Dessauer works on a mix of projects including serving as the project lead on a strategic project for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. She was a contributing editor for the book, “Society Online: The Internet in Context,” for which she wrote the chapter on news, and is a regular contributor for a Washington, D.C. area magazine.

Dessauer was a Shapiro Fellow at The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, taking the baton from Helen Thomas, her immediate predecessor in the fellowship. At George Washington, Dessauer was a professor of Internet news and convergence, and planned and moderated a university-wide discussion, “News in Crisis: Covering Terrorism in an Integrated Multi-Media World.”

Dessauer spent over 10 years at CNN where she covered and spearheaded coverage of a wide range of stories spanning three presidencies and numerous subjects that resulted in increased viewers and users and in numerous awards, including several Webby People’s Voice awards. She was in charge of CNN.com’s Washington Bureau and CNN.com’s political coverage, including all aspects of the record-setting and award-winning election coverage. At CNN, she initiated, secured and produced the first-ever online news interview with a sitting president, President Bill Clinton and the first and only online/on-air news interview with President George W. Bush. As an original member of CNN’s first dedicated political team and then CNN’s first deputy political director, Dessauer was instrumental in establishing CNN as a political coverage leader. Dessauer first moved into the interactive arena in 1996 when, as CNN deputy political director, she joined the original four-person CNN/Time allpolitics.com board (prior to the CNN and Time Warner merger).

Dessauer started her journalism career as a reporter for the Rothenberg Political Report. She has worked for ABC News, Campaigns & Elections magazine and Congressional Quarterly. Dessauer regularly speaks at national and Internet conferences as well as at various universities. Dessauer is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Bucknell University where she currently serves on the Board of Trustee Advisory Committee on Communications and Marketing.

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