Adrianne Furniss

Vice Chair and Trustee, Benton Foundation

Adrianne Furniss is vice chair, trustee, and finance committee member at the Benton Foundation in Washington DC, whose mission is to ensure that media and telecommunications serve the public interest and enhance our democracy. She is also Chair of the Board and Head of the Governance Committee for the not-for-profit documentary film and media arts company, Kartemquin Films, based in Chicago. KTQ are the producers of the renowned documentary feature HOOP DREAMS and recently released THE INTERRUPTERS. In addition, she has served on several other Chicago-based boards, including The Chicago International Film Festival, Project Exploration, Youth Connection and The New Trier Fine Arts Association.

Furniss spent her professional career in the media business, specializing in distribution and marketing strategies, management, strategic planning, and acquisitions. For 13 years, she worked at Chicago-based Home Vision Entertainment (HVe), where she rose from Executive Vice President to President/CEO and majority owner before selling the business in 2005. Before that, Furniss spent fourteen years in New York City, the last eight travelling the world for Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) where she served as Vice President of International Television and Home Video Sales, Marketing and Program Development.

Furniss received her BA at Yale University in Art History and an MA in Radio, TV and Film from Northwestern University. She lives in Wilmette, Illinois, with her husband, Bob Furniss, Deputy Inspector General for the State of Illinois Department of Human Services. They have two daughters.