Comings and goings: Austin PBS appoints COO, Nashville PBS hires CDO …

Austin PBS in Texas has restructured its leadership staff.

Sara Robertson was named COO. Robertson most recently worked as CCO. She joined the station in 2005 as a marketing producer and has also been director of on-air marketing, creative director, VP of production and technology and SVP of production. Before joining Austin PBS, she worked for commercial television stations in Austin.

“Public media will endure because it is rooted in trust, service, and the belief that every community deserves access to fact-based storytelling that connects us to one another,” Robertson said on LinkedIn. “Even during these most challenging times, its purpose remains essential for our society and I’m even more inspired for the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

Robertson succeeds Lori Bolding, who will become CDO and will focus on major and mid-level giving. Bolding joined the station in 2013 and has also been acting CEO and SVP of development.

Laura Barnett became VP of membership and institutional giving. Barnett joined the station in 2019 as membership director and was most recently director of development. Before joining Austin PBS, she membership manager at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin.

Marianne Monoc was hired as CDO of Nashville PBS.

Monoc most recently worked as director of development and communications for the Central Asia Institute. She has also been VP of development for WTCI in Chattanooga, Tenn.; director of development for the Windham County Humane Society; director of development for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado; executive director of The Feline Fix; and director of development for Freedom Service Dogs of America.

“Despite the federal funding cuts, Nashville PBS is uniquely positioned for growth,” Monoc said in a news release. “With a rapidly expanding population, a tax base that is favorable to businesses, and so many opportunities for collaboration and connection, Nashville is a perfect backdrop for public media to thrive.”

Reveal announced several newsroom changes.

Brett Myers was promoted to EP of Reveal. He joined the organization in 2017 as senior radio editor and became interim EP in 2022. He has also been a facilitator for StoryCorps and held several producer roles at YR Media between 2006–17.  

Taki Telonidis was promoted to deputy EP. He joined Reveal in 2016 as senior supervising editor and has also been interim co-EP. Before that, he was senior editor for the public radio program State of the Re:Union.

Anna Yeo was hired as a digital producer. She previously worked as a motion graphics designer for STAT, a health-focused publication. She has also been a producer and host for Dynamo, a business-focused media company.

Artis Curiskis was hired as an assistant producer. Curiskis was most recently an editorial fellow for Reveal and was an EP of the COVID Tracking Project for the Center for Investigative Reporting, which previously oversaw Reveal.

Schuyler Mitchell became an assistant editor for Mother Jones. She previously worked as a columnist for Truthout and was a freelance fact-checker for The Drift, New York magazine and Business Insider. She has also worked for The Intercept as a communications and administrative associate, newsroom associate and associate editor.

Content

Lisa Rodriguez was named director of journalism for KCUR in Kansas City, Mo. Rodriguez joined the station in 2014 as an intern and has also been an associate producer, reporter, afternoon newscaster and news director. “Simply put: all of Lisa’s experience, combined with her grace and grit, make her the ideal candidate for this position,” said GM Sarah Morris in a news release. “She helped navigate the organization through some of its greatest challenges—from the COVID-19 pandemic to the rescission of federal funding, not to mention countless breaking news situations—and is universally respected and admired by her colleagues. She is the right leader for our future.”

Fellowships

Kadin Mills was selected as NPR’s 2025–26 Reflect America Fellow. Mills, the program’s sixth fellow, will begin his term in September. During the yearlong fellowship, which was created to “expand the diversity of voices on air and online,” Mills will work with NPR’s Education Desk and report on education in Indigenous communities across North America, according to a staff memo from Education Desk EP Steve Drummond and Fellowship Stewards Sara Richards and Natalia Fidelholtz. Mills is currently a freelance journalist for the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance. He was an intern for ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, and a freelancer for WBEZ in Chicago. Mills is a first-generation descendant of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of Lake Superior Ojibwe and also has German and Irish heritage. He has also been a Udall Foundation scholar of tribal public policy and was an Indigenous Journalism Fellow for the Indigenous Journalists Association.

Two public media journalists are among the 29 news professionals chosen for the fourth cohort of the News Product Alliance’s product management certification program. Over the next three-and-a-half months, the participants will receive training in audience development, revenue, sustainability, product design and stakeholder management as part of a partnership with the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. The public media participants are Michael Dougherty, director of digital strategy of Vermont Public, and Scott Cameron, managing editor of Indiana Public Broadcasting News based at WFYI in Indianapolis.

Mother Jones and Reveal named five editorial fellows:

• Jeffrey Kelly previously participated in NPR’s Next Generation Radio Project. He has also been an intern for the Oxford American, NBCUniversal and the Boston Globe.
• Cheyenne McNeill has worked as a national affairs fellow for Salon. She’s also been a reporter for EducationNC in Raleigh, N.C., and was a freelancer for The Guardian and Cosmopolitan.
• Anna Rogers has been a freelancer for Slate, Scientific American, Teen Vogue and Sierra magazine. She also worked as a science writer and newsletter editor for the National Human Genome Research Institute.
• Chasity Hale formerly worked as an editorial intern for NPR Music and was also an intern and freelancer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Brooke Henderson, a First Amendment fellow, will work with the legal team to assist with public records lawsuits, run FOIA workshops, help with legal research and observe the prepublication review of the organization’s editorial content. She previously worked as an associate editor of the California Law Review.

Send news of “comings and goings” to people@current.org