THIRTEEN's American Masters Series Launches its First Web Series, Inspiring Woman, at pbs.org/inspiringwoman

Angie Mar (November 22), owner and executive chef of New York City restaurant The Beatrice Inn, and one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs for 2017,

Sara Chipps (December 6), the JavaScript developer who co-founded Girl Develop It, a non-profit focused on teaching women to become web and software developers, and is co-founder and CEO of Jewelbots, technology-enabled jewelry for tween and teen girls created to increase the number of girls entering STEM fields,

Molly Soda (December 20), web-cam performance artist whose work blurs the lines of reality, performance, and physical space who recently co-curated the book Pics or It Didn't Happen: Images Banned From Instagram with artist Arvida Byström, which looks at Instagram and corporate social media image censorship,

Rakia Reynolds (January 3), entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of multimedia communications agency Skai Blue Media, and

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (January 17), the visual artist who created "Stop Telling Women to Smile," an international street art series that tackles gender-based street harassment.

In Inspiring Woman, these powerful professionals tell their own stories and explain how they're changing their respective industries.

"Our digital platforms give us a chance to spotlight new voices in our culture," said Michael Kantor, executive producer of American Masters, "and these women are all innovative powerhouses."

This web series is part of American Masters' year-long online campaign supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, #InspiringWomanPBS, based on themes central to the lives of Dr. Maya Angelou and Lorraine Hansberry: artistic expression, academic success, active community engagement and acceptance of difference. People can share stories of inspirational women in their own lives via text, images or videos at pbs.org/inspiringwoman or via Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #InspiringWomanPBS. A video compilation series of the best submissions are featured monthly as PBS and American Masters Instagram Stories.

Additional campaign content includes new episodes of the American Masters Podcast Season 2, "Revolutionary Writers," including Pulitzer-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and comedian Margaret Cho, and previously unreleased videos from American Masters – Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise. The campaign concludes with the new documentary American Masters – Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, premiering January 19, 2018 on PBS (check local listings). #InspiringWomanPBS is the latest example of American Masters' and WNET's commitment to educate and entertain audiences beyond broadcast.

The Inspiring Woman web series is a production of the Interactive Engagement Group. Daniel Greenberg is executive producer. Kait Hoehne is supervising producer. Gerry Johnson and Joe Skinner are producers. Michael Kantor is American Masters series executive producer. Junko Tsunashima is American Masters series supervising producer. Inspiring Woman is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

About WNET
WNET is America's flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET's groundbreaking series for children and young adults include Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase as well as Mission US, the award-winning interactive history game. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Theater Close-Up, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the daily multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender identity, First Person, and an intergenerational look at tech and pop culture, The Chatterbox with Kevin and Grandma Lill. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere: www.thirteen.org/passport.

About the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org, follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn, and subscribe for email updates.

Websites: http://pbs.org/americanmasters, http://facebook.com/americanmasters, @PBSAmerMasters, http://pbsamericanmasters.tumblr.com, http://youtube.com/AmericanMastersPBS, http://instagram.com/pbsamericanmasters, #AmericanMastersPBS #InspiringWomanPBS

SOURCE WNET