Martha M. Foster, Founder and Executive Director

As the founder and executive director of Living Earth Television, Martha M. Foster is involved in everything from the minute details of the organization to public presentations in an effort to ensure her dream becomes a global success. The breadth of these tasks includes the internal issues of recruiting and training staff, acquiring and licensing programs, supervising translations and the external requirements of interacting with the board. LETV is the culmination of Foster's extensive career in film and non-profit work.

Foster's education has included a BA and MA in Anthropology, classes in Photography, and the coursework completed for an MFA in Film and Video. Foster has taught Anthropology and Film at the college level and consulted for the Smithsonian Institution on Ethnographic Film and Video.

As a documentary film and video consultant for the Field Museum for 16 years, Foster moderated and programmed film festivals. During that time she was also the director of the Silver Images Film Festival, a Chicago festival on positive images of aging. Later, in addition to founding and directing the Windy City International Documentary Festival, Foster developed and produced Chicago Stories at WTTW Chicago Public Television where she and her colleagues won five regional Emmy awards and were nominated for an additional 10.

Foster's achievements include grants, awards and fellowships, including the Chairman's Grant from the Benton Foundation, an Influential Women in Business Award, a fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media, and a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. Foster has served on numerous panel presentations, and has been a part of a number of professional organizations.