Comings and goings: General counsel leaves CPB, NPR Foundation board elects chair …

Evan Slavitt, EVP and general counsel, is leaving CPB Monday.

Slavitt was hired as general counsel at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. He will continue to advise CPB as a consultant. He joined the corporation in 2024 as SVP and general counsel and was promoted last year.

Before joining CPB, Slavitt was chief legal officer for Paper Excellence, a pulp and paper products manufacturer. Before that, he was SVP, general counsel and corporate secretary for Kyocera AVX Corporation, a manufacturing company, and was founding partner of Bodoff and Slavitt LLP.

The NPR Foundation elected John Buoymaster as board chair for a three-year term.

Buoymaster will succeed John McGinn, who has served as chair for two consecutive terms. Buoymaster is joining the NPR board of directors as he assumes the role.

Buoymaster joined the NPR Foundation board in 2013. He previously served as a board member for KQED in San Francisco and Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties.

He previously worked as managing director of Pathstone and was a VP in the San Francisco office of J.P. Morgan & Co.

George Graham, co-founder of WVIA Public Media’s radio station in Pittston, Pa., will retire at the end of the year.

Graham was WVIA Radio’s first employee in 1972, ahead of the station’s first broadcast the following year. “Little did I know after joining WVIA right out of college to engineer a new radio station, that 53 years later I would still be here,” Graham said in a news release. “… I have been blessed with wonderful colleagues who have shared these values and who have become dear friends. … These are challenging times for Public Broadcasting, but I am confident that WVIA will continue to embody those values as we move into the future.”

In addition to his engineering work, Graham hosts Mixed Bag, WVIA’s longest-running program. He created and continues to produce All That Jazz, a weeknight program, and is creator and host of Homegrown Music, a weekly series launched in 1976 to spotlight regional artists.

Outside of his work for WVIA, Graham is director of A&R for Chiaroscuro Records, a jazz label. 

“George Graham is not just a radio host—he’s an institution,” said WVIA CEO Carla McCabe. “His passion for music, his unwavering support for local artists, and his excellence as a broadcaster and engineer have defined WVIA’s sound and soul for over 50 years. His legacy will resonate long after his final sign-off.”

Vermont Public announced changes to its radio programming.

Mary Williams Engisch became host of The Frequency, a daily public-affairs podcast. English joined Vermont Public in 2011 as a board operator and announcer. She will continue hosting All Things Considered on weekdays.

Engisch succeeds Mitch Wertlieb, who is developing a local sports program set to launch next year. Wertlieb will continue hosting Vermont This Week, a television and radio program he began hosting last year. Wertlieb joined Vermont Public’s radio station in 2003 as a Morning Edition host.

“Anyone who’s listened to The Frequency or Morning Edition knows I’ve got a soft spot for sports,” Wertlieb said in a news release. “I love it, and we’re going to have a blast digging into Vermont sports, and even a bit of the regional and national scene, too.”

Development

Connie Wray was hired as a development officer for PBS Reno in Nevada. Wray most recently worked as a host for commercial radio stations in Reno. She has also hosted The Next Stage, a television series focused on local businesses and nonprofits, for local Fox affiliate KRXI. “Throughout my career, I have worked to connect people through stories that uplift and inspire, and it feels like every path has led me to this moment,” Wray said in a news release. “To join PBS Reno, where education, storytelling, and community come together, is a lifelong dream fulfilled.”

Fellowships

The Poynter Institute selected four public media journalists for the ninth cohort of “Power of Diverse Voices: Writing Workshop for Journalists of Color,” which offers four days of instruction in November and one-on-one coaching. The public media reporters in the 17-member cohort are Emmanuel Camarillo, education reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times; Esther Yoon-Ji Kang, a housing reporter for WBEZ in Chicago; Blanca Torres, a producer, reporter and newsletter editor for KQED in San Francisco; and Christopher Young, a reporter and anchor for WMNF in Tampa, Fla. Eric Deggans, a critic-at-large for NPR, is among the instructors.

Current Reporter Austin Fuller contributed reporting to this column.

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