Sonja Jensen, the founder of Allegiance Software, is retiring after 40 years of serving the public media industry.
Jensen began writing software for Prairie Public Broadcasting in 1978. In 1989, Allegiance began selling its fundraising and donor management software to stations around the country.
“In the early days of the software development Sonja, working with Lois O’Meara, the Prairie Public Membership Manager, now Allegiance Fundraising Group Software Services Manager, developed the plan, wrote code, assisted in testing, and accompanied Prairie Public staff to public television and radio development conferences to learn more about the software needs of public media,” Allegiance said in a press release.
When sales grew in the ’90s, Jensen converted and installed software at over 200 public broadcasting stations and supervised the company’s growth from three employees to 25.
“It has been a professional privilege to work with Sonja for the last four years to evolve the Allegiance business,” said Rich Aukland, CEO of Allegiance Fundraising Group. “Both the team at Allegiance Fundraising and I are grateful for her contributions and her vision. We will do our best to honor her tireless work ethic and commitment to customers as we go forward.”
The East-West Center named CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison its 2019 George Chaplin Fellow in Distinguished Journalism.
Harrison presented an annual address at the center Oct. 1 that “focused on public media’s commitment to local journalism through innovative regional and state collaborations, covering local news that often is of national importance; and to editorial integrity through funding of programs such as the Public Media Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism,” according to a CPB press release.
Based in Honolulu, the East-West Center is an independent nonprofit organization that “serves as a resource for information and analysis on critical issues of common concern, bringing people together to exchange views, build expertise and develop policy options,” according to CPB. Past fellowship recipients include David Broder, Stanley Karnow and Fred Friendly.
Harrison has also been appointed to the voting council for the inaugural Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award, “which recognizes the achievements of exceptional American women of positive and notable influence on society,” CPB said. The award will be presented at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in February.
Content
Lisa Labuz is moving to the role of midday anchor on WBEZ in Chicago. Labuz has hosted the station’s Morning Edition broadcasts since 1999. Labuz will move to the 10 a.m.–3 p.m. slot after the station hires a new Morning Edition host. Until then, Greta Johnsen will serve as interim midday anchor.
Emily Elena Dugdale moves into a new reporting role Monday at KPCC in Pasadena, Calif.
Allison Pohle left WBUR in Boston to join the Wall Street Journal. She was previously a producer/director for On Point.
Trace Dominguez will host public TV’s Star Gazers when the show’s new season debuts Dec. 1. Dominguez launched one of YouTube’s first daily science shows, attached a 360-degree camera on a weather balloon to the stratosphere and co-hosted segments with President Obama during the White House’s Science Week. Star Gazers is distributed by South Florida PBS in Miami in partnership with Florida Atlantic University.
WFAE in Charlotte, N.C., has awarded a one-year reporting fellowship to Michael Falero. A recent graduate of the Transom Story Workshop, Falero will specialize in environmental coverage and provide daily general news and feature reporting. He has been a radio freelancer since 2017. Funded with donations from Holly and Paul Freestone, the Blumenthal Foundation and WFAE members, the fellowship gives young journalists experience with local news reporting.
Communications
The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority has named Chad Haney director of external relations. Before joining OETA, Haney was development director for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. He also worked as divisional director of resource development for the Salvation Army Arkansas/Oklahoma Divisional Headquarters and as a director of development for the Oklahoma State University Foundation.
Benae Mosby is the new director of marketing and communications at VPM in Richmond, Va. Mosby previously worked in communications and community relations at WAMU in Washington, D.C., for six years. Most recently she was manager of marketing and communications for MedStar Health in Washington since 2017.
Development
Elsa Heffernan is joining Pittsburgh Community Broadcast Corp., the licensee of WESA and WYEP, as director, sponsorship sales. She is currently director of partnerships at Niche.com and has also served as a partnerships associate at TripAdvisor. She starts in her new position Nov. 25.
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