2019 Board Elections

This page covers the 2019 Board Elections! For information about the current board elections, check our Annual Board Elections landing page.

We’re pleased to announce seven candidates for four open slots on the AIR Board of Directors. It’s an important decision and you get to decide who represents you. Please take some time to read the statements each candidate has thoughtfully prepared and consider your choices carefully. You’ll need about 5-10 minutes to read through them.

(YOU NEED THIS PASSWORD TO VOTE: AIRWAVES) 
CAST YOUR BALLOT HERE.
PLEASE NOTE: The password to the ballot is not your member login. It’s the one above. One ballot per IP address.

CURRENT AIR BOARD

*** Polls close on Friday, Feb. 22 at 5:00pPT ***


NOMINEES



Alex Kapelman (incumbent & Chair of the CEO Selection Committee)
Independent Producer and Co-Host, Pitch
New York, New York

Candidate Statement: I'm running for re-election because I love our community. I want to support, strengthen, and grow this community, and push all of us forward. To that end, I think I’m an asset to the AIR board because of my board experience, my industry knowledge, and my commitment to AIR’s mission.

I’ve been on the board for three years, and have served on the Programming Committee, am currently leading the search committee, and have just recently joined the Executive Committee. I’ve been privy to exciting conversations, and also tough ones, especially over the past few months. As the head of the CEO Search Committee, I’ve fielded and appreciated many of your thoughts and comments. I think it’s important that we both bring in fresh faces to the board, while also maintaining the institutional knowledge and stability that comes with it.

Outside of AIR, I have a unique understanding of how the podcast space works, which I believe is beneficial to AIR. I'm an indie producer myself, I've worked with a variety of podcast/radio orgs, I teach audio students, and I do consulting. I constantly ingest information about the industry, from the latest news, to who's getting paid what, to the best lessons from the latest Transom manifesto. My having this knowledge is an asset for AIR as an organization.

I believe strongly in advocating for independents, and producers in general. There are lots of issues today in the podcast industry, and as things rapidly change, I want to make sure we hold organizations accountable to aggressively seek and hire candidates of color, support them and listen to them when they take the job, and put them in front of the microphone. Everyone should get paid a fair and livable wage, and I’d like to see AIR aggressively advocated for all these issue on behalf of these issues.

Please feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments for me. I hope you’ll consider voting for me. Thanks.

Bio: I'm an independent producer and current head of the AIR CEO search committee. I'm the co-host of the critically acclaimed music journalism podcast, Pitch, which I started independently with Whitney Jones, and eventually was picked up by Audible, and featured in NPR, the BBC, and more. I teach audio reportage at NYU, and consult for brands interested in the podcast space, including Red Bull and the ACLU. Previously, I piloted, produced, and edited shows for Gimlet, WNYC, and Radiotopia. Several podcasts I've worked on have have graced the Apple Podcasts charts, including the #1 spot. My audio work has been featured in The Atlantic, New York Magazine, and BuzzFeed; I've contributed to NPR; and I've been highlighted as an industry thought leader by WIRED, Mashable, and Apple.

Brenda Salinas
Producer, Google News
London, England

Nomination Statement by AIR member Andrew Ramsammy: I've known Brenda Salinas since 2014 and since then I've been impressed with how proactive and outspoken she's been about her experiences as a latina in public radio. When I first met Brenda she was just exiting a very toxic environment however despite that situation she was even more committed in making sure that women like herself wouldn't repeat the same experience she had. Brenda has been leading our industry as a program partner to Doug Mitchell's Next Generation Radio program and often gives her speech "Protect Your Magic" to early to mid-career public radio reporters and producers. As well, Brenda has the unique experience in working in the startup world of audio, having joined Steve Henn's 60db, which was ultimately acquired by Google News. Her unique radio and start up business experience makes her an ideal candidate for the AIR board in providing not only governance but also a north star that will inspire the board, the staff, and AIR's next CEO. Brenda is just the type of person the board needs, the perfect mix of passion, resolve, poise, and voice that is needed in AIR and public media. Just one look at her bio and resume should create a favorable impression of the type of leadership Brenda could bring to the AIR network and the board.

Bio: I’m Brenda Patricia Salinas Paéz. I’m a trilingual public radio producer living in London. I was awarded the highly competitive Kroc Fellowship at NPR in 2012. Since then I have reported pieces for NPR’s flagship programs, Marketplace and PRI’s The World as well as a number of podcasts. I have a B.A. in Economics from Columbia University. I was one of the founding producers of the Texas Standard, a daily news magazine show that broadcasts state-wide from KUT in Austin. I helped re-launch NPR’s Latino USA as a full-hour show. I’m now working at Google thinking about the future of radio.

Emily Kwong
NPR Above the Fray fellow
Washington, DC / Mongolia

Nomination Statement by AIR member Laura Starecheski: Emily Kwong has already served for years as a reliable, passionate, inventive, astute appointed board member on the AIR board's programming committee. A champion of inclusion in our field, she has been a New Voices captain twice. She worked closely with AIR staff to plan and develop the first New Voices retreat at Third Coast, and helped launch the powerful "conference comrade" one-on-one mentorship program for New Voices scholars. She is a wonderful reporter, believes in radio reporting as a public service, and is a rising star in the field, just embarking now on an NPR Above the Fray fellowship reporting trip to Mongolia. Emily has experience as a community station-based reporter in Alaska and does beautiful work. She understands the AIR community and I believe that as an elected board member, she would help the community grow and push AIR to serve its members better.

Bio: Emily Kwong is an NPR Above the Fray fellow reporting on climate migration in Mongolia. Kwong most recently worked as a news reporter for KCAW in Sitka, Alaska, where she regularly reported on Alaska Native communities. Kwong taught digital storytelling in Hyderabad, India, then attended the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. She was a 2015 AIR New Voices scholar at Third Coast, and served as the New Voices captain in 2016 and 2017. Emily started her radio career with StoryCorps and was awarded "Best New Artist" award at the 2013 Third Coast Festival. She graduated from Columbia University.

Helen Barrington
Chief Creative Officer, Whiskey Lane Productions
Boston, Massachusetts 

Nomination Statement by AIR member Andrew Ramsammy: Helen's expansive public media experience makes her just the type of sage personality that the AIR board should leverage. Having worked at WGBH and WHYY, Helen brings a wealth of internal leadership experience and understands the complexity and dynamics of public media stations. Helen has been outspoken and vocal on a series of issues pertaining to our industry including emergency preparedness, sexual and racial harassment, cultural awareness, and overall promoting radical transparency. Helen is the person who's "been there" and can provide the right advice and guidance to help advise AIR through the board to get back on track. She's extremely committed to public media and often runs workshops and trainings at PRPD to new news and program directors. Helen is the type of person who can help navigate the political gauntlet that is public media with the right mix of diplomacy and provocation.

Bio: Helen Barrington is the Chief Creative Officer of Whiskey Lane Productions, a full service audio production house in Boston. She has spent 30 years in public radio and her current work encompasses collaborations with national networks and stations. Helen has worked at WGBH, New England Public Radio and WHYY, in news, program production and leadership. Her work has expanded into podcast production, including PRI’s Things That Go Boom and two independent projects: The Midpod about the 2018 midterm elections and Who Cares? a podcast about caregiving. Helen has a deep passion and commitment to excellence in journalism, with a critical, but creative ear for sound and great storytelling and writing. She enjoys helping anyone, from students to seasoned professionals, learn and hone the craft. Helen is also an assiduous student of leadership and mentoring leaders, and is a proponent of radical transparency in the act of leading.

Keisha TK Dutes
Independent Producer and Host, TK in the AM
New York, New York

Nomination Statement by AIR member Andrew Ramsammy: I've known TK since 2016 when I was her New Voices Mentor at the Third Coast Festival. Since then TK has blossomed into an incredible audio producer and really she's a mensch. She's on the path to completing her 1000th radio show "TK in the AM" and has become a highly coveted producer, having worked at BuzzFeed Audio. As a woman of color, TK not only represents herself in public, but has a strong desire to see our audio space become more open, transparent, and diverse. She's done this work through several podcast workshops that she's produced herself, she's created original audio events by producing radio dramas focusing on her community in Brooklyn, and most recently was asked to speak at the WerkIt Festival. I am continually impressed by how TK thinks about our industry and how her decisions in choosing who/what to work on has a ripple effect. She's committed to our craft by ensuring that producers are fairly and equitably paid for their work, and has taken a leadership position by mentoring and coaching other producers, which has created a more inclusive audio environment. I'd like to also say that TK was very supportive of me during a very tense time in my life when my mother became ill. Her natural "nursing" instinct kicked in and she would regularly check in on me. It meant a lot to hear her voice when things were getting rough. TK would be an incredible asset as an AIR board member.

Bio: Keisha "TK" Dutes is an independent audio producer and co-host of TK in The AM, live streaming morning show on Bondfire Radio. With experience spanning terrestrial radio (WBAI-NY) , online, podcast and audio drama, her life is in audio is all encompassing. Most recently, TK produced Buzzfeed's "Thirst Aid Kit." She is currently producing "The Weeksvile Project" an audio drama about a free Black community Brooklyn. She also spreads the gospel of radio and podcasting through workshops and mentorship, and was recently listed on Current.org's "Black Talents in Public Media You Should Know."

Maureen McMurray
Director of Innovative Content, New Hampshire Public Radio
Concord, New Hampshire

Nomination Statement by AIR member Andrew Ramsammy: Maureen McMurray has been on the leading edge of the audio space by leading NHPR's programs and podcasts. New Hampshire might be a small state, but make no mistake, what Maureen has been able to create for NHPR is akin to what a much larger and bigger station might be able to produce. Let's just say larger stations envy what Maureen has been able to create with her team. Maureen has been an advocate for creativity, the craft, and creating successful models that allow for the greatest audio to thrive in and to connect and engage with audiences. Maureen will be able to bring her insights of what stations are looking for when it comes to talent, training, and content. As well, her leadership as a woman in a space that has been dominated by men is a testament to her strong and clear voice that is pragmatic, transparent, and cuts through the noise that ultimately leads to action. There isn't a week that goes by that Maureen and I don't speak to one another, also centered on the mission of public media, and the work that she's doing that is progressing the world of audio forward.

Bio: Maureen McMurray is New Hampshire Public Radio’s first-ever Director of Innovative Content. She oversees NHPR’s programs and podcasts, and is responsible for audience development and engagement, partnership-management, and the overall sound of the station across platforms. She was previously the Executive Producer of NHPR’s Creative Unit, and helped launch the station’s first flight of original podcasts, including Civics 101, Outside/In, and 10-Minute Writer’s Workshop. She likes to brag that she began her radio career in 2002, before it was cool.

Thomas Reintjes
Independent Producer
New York, New York

Candidate Statement: I'm an independent Brooklyn-based producer, working with Germany's national public radio and other foreign media. I would appreciate the opportunity to serve on AIR’s Board of Directors. During the past few years I've come to realize that I really enjoy bringing people together. I have volunteered to organize a few study trips for small groups of journalists. Seeing how fruitful these trips were for the participants and what positive impact they had on their careers is something that makes me proud and happy and that I would like to do more of. Hence, I have started to learn about community-building, creating welcoming, safe, and inspiring gatherings and I took a three-day workshop in "The Art of Hosting" – all with the goal in mind to make fostering exchange between journalists a bigger part of my job. I can hardly think of a better place to do this than at AIR. One of my main concerns is inviting more international voices to AIR. I’m sure that producers in other countries have a need for networking as well, but might not know about AIR or feel like it’s not for them. Also, I’d like to help AIR getting better at connecting with existing communities abroad. Building or reinforcing bridges to initiatives like MIRP, the Meeting of Independent Radio Producers (where I currently serve as a board member), the international collaboration project Hostwriter, or the Global Investigative Journalism Network, and many other organizations could be extremely fruitful and beneficial. Another idea that I’ve given some thought is how technology shapes and changes our work as radio and podcast producers. I’m one who always tries new tools and I'm intrigued by how they influence the way I research, interview, record, write, or edit and communicate with team members. Some are just increasing efficiency, others are making the medium more accessible for a wider range of producers and change ways of collaboration between producers and editors. I strongly believe that the tools we have at hand influence the pieces we produce. Better, more affordable, easier to use tools can allow for new ways to tell stories. Some media companies like the Washington Post understand this and are maintaining their own content management systems. NPR has invested in software development as well. The New York Times is developing its own audio tools (such as a player for their website) as is This American Life. AIR should consider, what this can mean for independents in radio. A radio hackathon or a development fellowship are just two possible ways how AIR could strengthen its influence on the future of radio in the form of computer code. There are of course many ways AIR can move forward. Should I get nominated and elected, I’m looking forward to hearing other directors’ and members’ suggestions and ideas. Discussing them would be a pleasure for me—anticipating how they are benefitting our community as a whole as well as each individual member.

Bio: As a freelance radio producer, I cover stories at the intersection of science and society. I make 45-minute documentaries as well as 2-minute opinion pieces. Topics range from the ethics of weaponized robots to personal stories about scientists and their discoveries to a fictionalized outlook on Artificial Intelligence. I mainly work with Germany’s national public radio, Deutschlandradio. I’ve also done work for WNYC, MIT’s Technology Review, as well as companies, institutions, and podcasts. Some of my feature stories have won national awards in Germany. Since 2013, I’m based in New York City. Before that, I lived in Cologne, where I co-founded a production company after graduating from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in 2004, with a Master’s degree in technology journalism. After taking part in study trips to India, China and Russia, I co-organize fact-finding trips myself. A group from journalists.network went to Lapland in Sweden and Norway in 2013. In 2017, on behalf of the alumni organization of the Robert Bosch Foundation, I invited a group of ten international podcasters to New York City to learn from leaders of the podcasting industry.

I’d like to give a HUGE shout out to veteran audio engineer and "magician" Danny Bringer who comes to us from KQED Public Radio and On The House with the Carey Brothers. Thank you for vetting the nominations and selecting the ballot.

A GIANT thank you to AIR’s Community Liaison, An Uong, and to the rest of AIR's staff for their support, time, and enthusiasm.

Thank you so much to all the candidates who took the time to run this go-round. Finally, thanks in advance to you for participating in this important part of running our awesome network. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions.

Warmly, 
Tena Isabel Rubio, VP, Secretary & Election Chair, AIR Board|[email protected]
Danny Bringer|[email protected]