PUBLIC MEDIA WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP ANNOUNCE FIVE MENTEES FOR MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

Contact: Deanna Mackey
 (619) 594-5499
dmackey@kpbs.org                                           

Women chosen from a pool of nearly 60 applicants

The committee members of Public Media Women in Leadership are pleased to announce the first five mentees of the group’s pilot mentorship program. The mentees were chosen from a pool of nearly 60 applicants and represent women from diverse backgrounds, a variety of disciplines and from stations around the country.

The women were chosen based on applications they submitted that indicated their background in public media, experience in management and interest/aptitude for becoming a future general manager. The goal of the mentorship program is to better prepare women -- via mentoring and training – for GM/CEO and COO positions that open within the next five years.

Below is information about each mentee:

Latricia Huston, Development Director -- WRKF public radio station in Baton Rouge, LA

            Ms. Huston’s mentor is Alisa Miller, CEO of Public Radio International (PRI)

Kimberlie Kranich, Director of Community Content & Engagement – Illinois Public Media/WILL, joint licensee in Urbana, Il

            Ms. Kranich’s mentor is Kristin Calhoun, executive director of the Public Media Platform (PMP)

Andi McDaniel, Director of Content Strategy & Innovation -- Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, MN

            Ms. McDaniel’s mentor is Jennifer Strachan, Public Media Consultant/Former Executive Director of News at KPLU Radio

Teresa Peltier, Director of Digital Strategy & Organizational Planning – WSKG Public Media, joint licensee in Vestal, NY

            Ms. Peletier’s mentor is Lynne Pollard, Vice President of New Media, Oregon Public Broadcasting

Sara Robertson, Vice President, Production & Technology – KLRU public television station in Austin, TX

            Ms. Robertson’s mentor is Joyce MacDonald, Vice President of Journalism, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

The mentor/mentee partners will sign a contract agreeing to meet once or twice a month for a minimum of six months and to participate in monthly webinars on topics about women in leadership and critical skill sets for public media management. The webinars will include presentations and input from current public media general managers.

The Public Media Women in Leadership program was co-founded in January, 2015 by public media veterans Deanna Martin Mackey and Jeannie Ericson. The purpose of the group is threefold: establish a mentorship program to better prepare women with potential to become future CEOs/COOs in the system; create a community via Facebook and webinars/trainings to encourage conversation and sharing about issues related to women in leadership; and create awareness in the public media industry about the critical need to diversify station leadership.

For more information about the program contact Deanna Mackey at 619-594-5499 or dmackey@kpbs.org.