GREENVILLE, S.C. — As public media leaders navigate how to best foster diversity and equity in their workplaces and boards while making content inclusive for a wide array of audiences, a new program is providing them with the tools and perspectives that they can apply in their efforts.
This week, 31 public media professionals from across the country were part of the inaugural class to graduate from the Public Media Diversity Leaders Initiative (PMDLI), a program of the Riley Institute® at Furman University offered in partnership with South Carolina ETV and modeled after the Institute’s award-winning South Carolina Diversity Leaders Initiative.
WCTE’s Avery Hutchins was one of the graduates.
Over the course of three months, participants took part in a highly interactive curriculum comprising scenario analyses and other experiential learning tools that supports public media leaders in their efforts to apply diversity, equity and inclusion principles to behaviors, systems and cultures within their organizations.
“Today’s heightened awareness of racial and other inequities in American institutions has magnified and accelerated organizational and stakeholder expectations that public media leaders establish diversity, equity and inclusion as core values within their organizations,” said Anthony Padgett, president and CEO of South Carolina ETV. “Recognizing that, we are proud to partner with the Riley Institute to offer this unique virtual program to our peers from across the country.”
Graduates of PMDLI become Public Media Diversity Fellows and will help identify future program participants. Collectively, they reflect a vast public media ecosystem, representing both television and radio as well as a variety of geographic regions, audiences, affiliate organizations and diversity dimensions. A second PMDLI class will start the program in September.
Below are the graduates of the inaugural PMDLI class. For more information about PMDLI, visit furman.edu/public-media-dli.
Steve Bass
President and CEO
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Portland, Ore.
Kenneth Brown
Chief People Officer
Public Broadcasting Atlanta (ATL PBA-TV & WABE 90.1FM)
Atlanta, Ga.
Amy Burkett
General Manager
PBS Charlotte WTVI
Charlotte, N.C.
Jim Dunford
Senior Vice President, Station Services
PBS
Arlington, Va.
Susi Elkins
General Manager
WKAR Public Media
East Lansing, Mich.
Adrienne Fairwell
General Manager
Arizona PBS
Phoenix, Ariz.
Cynthia Fenneman
President and CEO
American Public Television
Kittery, Maine
Stephanie Frazier
Interim Assistant General Manager
SCETV
Columbia, S.C.
Stephen Gong
Executive Director
Center for Asian American Media
San Francisco, Calif.
Debbie Hamlett
Chief Strategy Officer
Nebraska Public Media
Lincoln, Neb.
Phil Hoffman
Executive Director
WUCF
Orlando, Fla.
Kerri Hoffman
CEO
PRX
Cambridge, Mass.
Laura Hunter
Station Manager
KUEN
Salt Lake City, Utah
Avery Hutchins
Station Manager
WCTE-PBS
Cookeville, Tenn.
Eric Hyyppa
President
National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA)
Columbia, S.C.
Michael Isip
President and CEO
KQED
Oakland, Calif.
Jaime Jiménez
General Manager
KLCS
Los Angeles, Calif.
Franz Joachim
General Manager and CEO
New Mexico PBS
Albuquerque, N.M.
Darren LaShelle
President and CEO
Northern California Public Media
Rohnert Park, Calif.
Joyce MacDonald
President and CEO
Greater Public
Catonsville, Md.
Deanna Mackey
President
Public Television Major Market Group
La Jolla, Calif.
Emil Mara
VP, Finance, Administration and Membership
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS)
Arlington, Va.
Kate Midgett
Senior Director of Organizational Excellence
Nine PBS
St. Louis, Mo.
Jon Miskowski
Director of Television
PBS Wisconsin
Madison, Wis.
Amanda Mountain
President and CEO
Rocky Mountain PBS/Rocky Mountain Public Media
Denver, Colo.
Anthony Padgett
President/CEO/GM
SCETV
Columbia, S.C.
Amy Shaw
President and CEO
Nine PBS
St. Louis, Miss.
Angee Simmons
VP, Content
National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA)
Columbia, S.C.
Gary Stokes
President and General Manager
KSPS-TV
Spokane, Wash.
Ed Ulman
President and CEO
Alaska Public Media
Anchorage, Alaska
Stewart Vanderwilt
CEO
Colorado Public Radio
Centennial, Colo.
About the Riley Institute at Furman University
Furman University’s Richard W. Riley Institute advances social and economic progress in South Carolina and beyond by building leadership for a diverse society, hosting expert speakers to broaden perspectives on critical issues, supporting public education and creating knowledge through community solutions-focused research. It is committed to nonpartisanship in all it does and to a rhetoric-free, facts-based approach to change. Learn more at riley.furman.edu.
