Youth Channel Staff

Director: Isabel Castellanos
As Director of MNN Youth Channel, Isabel enjoys mentoring NYC youth in
the media-making process and guiding them on their creative journeys.
In the past, she has worked as associate producer, researcher and
editor for urban planning and education TV documentaries. In her free
time Isabel continues to work in video post-production, currently she
is video-editing “Preschool in Three Cultures: Japan, China and the
US, an educational video series for educators. Isabel is also a member
of the NYC Dept. of Education's Blueprint Committee for the teaching
and learning of the moving image. She holds a M.A. in Media Studies
from the New School University.

Production Coordinator: Derrick Dawkins
It is up to Derrick to help young people note their experiences and package it to be heard on the Youth Channel. Derrick has the filmmaking skills as well as the experience to pass along to other youth. He has completed five short films shot on 16 mm, and 3 short films on digital and currently continues to work professionally as a freelancer. Derrick is committed to youth media production, and will always train others in media throughout life.

Programming Coordinator: Julián Gerena-Quiñones
Julian is a talented videographer & editor with a keen sense of composition and knowledge of video production. He also created Barrio Media; a community minded video production company. He has worked with the Youth Channel in the past as a Peer Educator and is now proud to be the Programming Coordinator.

Habibah Ahmad worked with the Youth Channel for almost 3 years as a youth producer, being part of the creative team of D.A.M.N. (Defense Against Media Non-Sense) YC News and has been a senior producer of YC’s Youth M.I.C. (Media Impacting Communities) Program. She has also taken a creative and supportive role in the MNN Youth Channel production, Bringing Back Venezuela and directed Beyond the Hijab. She is also involved with the Lower Eastside Girls Club and is attending Hunter College.

Malik S. Parker was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 2001 he enrolled in an acting class with City Lights Youth Theater (CLYT) in Manhattan. CLYT was invited to Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) for an on-air interview. While at MNN he stumbled on to The Youth Channel where he has maintained an affiliation for the past 6 years. In the spring of 2008, Malik obtained his degree in Digital Media Production. Malik currently is a production assistant for SONY BMG’s Cadillac Dreams.