Filmmaker Vibha Bakshi and news editor Luis Alberto Ferré Rangel to address COM graduates

The College of Communication welcomes Vibha Bakshi ('93,'96) and Luis Alberto (Albi) Ferré Rangel ('90) to participate in COM's 2018 convocation ceremonies. Bakshi, a director and producer, will give the address at the undergraduate convocation on May 18 at 9 a.m. at Agganis Arena (925 Commonwealth Avenue). Ferré Rangel, editor-in-chief of GFR Media in Puerto Rico, will give the address at the graduate convocation on May 18 at Walter Brown Arena (285 Babcock Street). Watch a live stream of the events or read more about our speakers below.

Watch the Undergraduate Convocation Here May 18 at 9 a.m.

Watch the Graduate Convocation Here May 18 at 3 p.m.

Vibha Bakshi

Bakshi is a national award-winning filmmaker and co-producer / co-director with Oscar winner Maryann Deleo.

Bakshi’s latest film ‘Daughters of Mother India’ is the winner of the National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues, awarded by President of India. This is the highest honor in Indian Films.

The jury described the film as determinedly turning the spotlight on the burning issue of rape and gender violence in the country.

The film unleashed a movement in India to stop gender violence. It has screened for more than 150,000 police officers across India to gender sensitize the police force.

The film holds the distinction of being the Most Awarded Social Campaign in the World by the Creative Index 2017.

Bakshi's next film production as Director and Producer is titled 'Son Rise'.

The film's teaser has been unveiled by the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. It focuses on ordinary men coming from the darkest corners of patriarchy–taking on the extraordinary fight–to change the narrative on masculinity.

Bakshi's previous films include 'Terror at Home', a film which aired on Lifetime and was part of the United States Government’s Emmy Award-winning campaign to Stop Violence Against Women, and 'Too Hot Not To Handle', HBO’s highly acclaimed film on global warming.

Luis Alberto (Albi) Ferré Rangel

Luis Alberto (Albi) Ferré Rangel is Editor-in-Chief of GFR Media, a family and independently owned media company in Puerto Rico. A journalist with close to 30 years of experience, Ferré Rangel has served in almost every position in the newsroom of El Nuevo Día newspaper, before assuming his current role in 2011.

For most of the late 1990’s and into the next decade, Ferré Rangel was in charge of strengthening the editorial content of El Nuevo Día and spearheading the early phase of the newspaper’s digital expansion.

During that time he was part of the team who launched two other newspapers for the company in Puerto Rico and in the United States.

In 2011 he oversaw the convergence strategy for GFR Media, integrating two separate newsrooms into one, helping to prepare the company’s the next phase of its digital transformation. Under his editorial leadership, GFR Media reaches now more 10,215,394 users in Puerto Rico and around the world. Both El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora newspapers and their sites enjoy top brand equity scores and have won various local and international journalism awards.

He is the founding president of Agenda Ciudadana, a not-for-profit organization that trains citizens to be more engaged in public issues and facilitates the dialogue between citizens and the body politic in order to strengthen the democratic life of Puerto Rico.

He is president of the board of Centros Sor Isolina Ferré in Puerto Rico, a youth services organization founded by the Puerto Rican nun, Isolina Ferré, M.B.S.T.

He serves in the board of the Washington-based Sustained Dialogue Institute.

He is passionate about the transformational power of journalism, public policy and citizen engagement through deep listening, dialogue and action.