WASHINGTON — February 22, 2015 — The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) today announced the election of new leaders and members of its Board of Trustees.
Eric Hyyppa, Director and General Manager of MontanaPBS, has been elected chairman. Ronnie Agnew, Executive Director, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, is the new professional vice-chair, and Jo Ellen Chatham, Lay Trustee of PBS SoCaL, will serve as lay vice-chair.
The newly-elected trustees are: Roy Clem, Executive Director, Alabama Public Television; Kathy Cummings, Lay Trustee, KCTS 9, Seattle, Washington; William J. Jones, Lay Trustee, Kentucky Educational Television; Jefferi Lee; General Manager, WHUT, Washington, D.C.; and Molly M. Phillips, Executive Director and General Manager, Iowa Public Television.
Landri Taylor, Lay Trustee, Rocky Mountain PBS, Denver, Colorado, was re-elected to the board.
Following is background on the newly-elected board members:
Roy Clem, a 36-year broadcasting executive, joined Alabama Public Television as its Executive Director in 2012.
Mr. Clem is the former General Manager of ABC 33/40, Birmingham’s ABC affiliate. He served The University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences as a Director of Commercial Broadcasting and General Manager for its broadcast operations, including WVUA7/WUOA7.
Under Mr. Clem’s leadership, the University of Alabama saw significant expansion of its broadcast operations. Mr. Clem’s extensive achievements and contributions to the broadcasting industry were highlighted recently with his induction into the Alabama Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame. His colleagues also chose him as Broadcaster of the Year, an award that was bestowed at the induction ceremony for the 2012 Alabama Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame.
Kathy Cummings is currently President of the International Labor Communications Association. Previously, she worked with the Washington State Labor Council and ensured that its events and positions were well-publicized, both in the news media and within the labor movement. Ms. Cummings supported and encouraged local union publications and communications efforts by providing training, assistance and materials to labor union editors around the state. She also produced training and educational videos for affiliates and coalition members of the Labor Council.
Ms. Cummings joined the council in 2007. She has worked in Washington, D.C. for CNN, NBC, PBS and in the communications department at the IAM Headquarters in Upper Marlboro, MD. She also served as the Interim Communications Director for the California Labor Federation, during the victorious Prop. 75 fight in 2006. Ms. Cummings was the recipient of a 2007 Telly Award for a public service video.
William J. Jones, with almost 30 years of service, is a Community Banking Division Manager for the East Central and Lower Midwest divisions within U.S. Bank. Headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky, Mr. Jones is responsible for all community banking operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. The division is comprised of over $17 billion in deposits and $10 billion in loans with 4,500 employees.
Mr. Jones is currently serving as a member of the board of directors for the Commonwealth Fund for KET (Kentucky Educational Television). Previously, Mr. Jones was Chairman of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Paducah Chamber of Commerce in 1992, a past member of the Economic Development Partnership Board of Kentucky, President and later a member of the board for Leadership Kentucky Alumni, Chairman of the Salvation Army Capital Campaign, “Investing in Paducah’s Youth – Our Future,” Co-Chair of a capital campaign for the building of a free standing Hospice facility at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, KY, Chairman of the Paducah McCracken County Joint Sewer Agency, Chairman of the Greater Paducah Economic Development Council, and on the board for the Four Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Jefferi K. Lee currently serves as the General Manager of WHUT-TV on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Lee was President/CEO of the Bio-Defense Research Group, Inc., a biotech company located in Columbia, MD that developed a new product invented at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which protects occupants of buildings by neutralizing biological warfare agents passing through the building’s air distribution system.
Previously, Mr. Lee was the President of Black Entertainment Networks and Executive Vice-President of BET Holdings, Inc. a cable programmer specifically targeting the African American community. He played an integral role on the team that took BET Holdings, Inc. public, which established the organization as the first black-owned company traded on the NYSE. Mr. Lee was responsible for the launching of several affiliated networks, i.e. BET International, MSBET, BET Radio and BET on Jazz.
Mr. Lee has been recognized for his outstanding work in the cable and television industries by the National Association of Black Journalist, the National Association of Minorities in Cable (NAMIC), and the National Association of Broadcasters. He is a former member of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) and has served on several boards including the National Academy of Cable Programming, and the Board of Directors for the Big Brothers of the National Capital Area. Mr. Lee is a member of the FCC Federal Advisory Board on Diversity. He is an Elder in the Olive Branch Community Church and serves as the Co-Founder of The Brandon Carrington Lee Foundation.
Molly M. Phillips is the Executive Director and General Manager for Iowa Public Television (IPTV), where she is responsible for leading Iowa’s only statewide broadcasting network. She has worked for IPTV for 25 years, serving the network in several capacities. Prior to her two years as General Manager, Ms. Phillips was the Director of Communications and responsible for advocacy at the state and federal levels for nearly 15 years.
An active member of the community, Ms. Phillips is a volunteer mentor for Everybody Wins! Iowa, a nonprofit organization designed to match elementary school students with business community mentors. She also volunteers with Hope Ministries, where she delivers dairy products to the Family and Children Center and serves meals to the homeless. Ms. Phillips is active in the Dallas Center-Grimes school system.
About APTS
The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization established in 1979. The mission of APTS is to conduct – in concert with member stations – advocacy, planning, research, communications and other activities that foster a strong and financially sound public television system providing essential public services to all Americans. Its affiliate APTS Action, Inc. promotes the legislative and regulatory interests of noncommercial television stations at the national level through direct advocacy and through grasstops and grassroots campaigns designed to garner bipartisan congressional support. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
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