Comings And Goings: Software Exec Jo Lambert Elected Chair Of NPR Board, CPB SVP Departs …

Yes LambertCOO of the software company Olo, was elected chair of the NPR board, succeeding Jennifer Ferropresident of Kcrw in Santa Monica, Calif.

Lambert

Shawn TurnerGM of WKAR Public Media who joined the board in 2024, was elected to serve as vice chair. He succeeds Lambert, an NPR public director since 2022.

“I am honored to step into the role of Board Chair at this consequential moment for NPR and the public media system,” Lambert said in a news release. “The past year has clearly demonstrated our incredible resilience and the profound, mission-critical strength of our 50-state Network. With strong momentum behind us—reflected in growing audience and donor support—I look forward to working with NPR’s leadership and the entire Network to chart our course ahead.”

Prior to her current role at Olo, which provides software for restaurants, Lambert held executive positions for American Express, PayPal and Yahoo.

Turner, a former deputy White House press secretary for national security during the Obama administration, has led Michigan State University’s dual licensee stations in East Lansing since 2022. After leaving government service, Turner taught communications at MSU before his appointment to WKAR GM. His public service career includes serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for 21 years and communications roles for the National Security Council and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Deborah Carr, SVP of operations and strategy for CPB, is leaving the corporation.

“As part of our wind down, our remaining colleagues will continue to depart over the next few months,” said a CPB spokesperson in an email to Current. “Deborah has completed her work and we’re very grateful for her long tenure at CPB.”

Carr joined CPB’s HR department in 1996 and later became director of radio Community Service Grant policy and administration. She’s also worked as VP of media strategy operations, director of business and administration and VP of operations and strategy.

Gilbert Bailon, executive editor of news platforms for Chicago Public Media, no longer works for the company.

Bailon told Current that he was offered a temporary undefined role as chief of staff. “My job would have been eliminated after three months. I turned it down. My job was eliminated. I did not resign.”

Bailon joined WBEZ in 2023 as executive editor. Before that he was executive editor for KERA in Dallas. He’s also been editor-in-chief of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and editor of Up to datea Spanish-language newspaper, website and sister publication to the Dallas Morning News.

On LinkedIn Bailon wrote, “I’m heading back to the Dallas area after two years at Chicago Public Media. Plans for the next phase are cooking in the oven. But through the end of the year, it will be botas, barbacoa y beerongas con amigos and familia in the Lone Star State. I’m always game for flautas or tacos in Oak Cliff. Nos vemos pronto. La lucha sigue.”

Content

Jennifer Pak joined NPR as its China correspondent for the Beijing bureau. She most recently covered China as a correspondent for Marketplace. Before that she reported on South China for The Telegraph and worked as a producer and later a Malaysia correspondent for the BBC. In a newsroom memo to NPR staff, Chief International Editor Didi Schanche highlighted Pak’s language skills and knowledge of English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish and French.

Governance

American Public Television announced the results of its June 2025 board of trustees meeting. Rob DunlopCEO of Cascade PBS in Seattle, was appointed board chair for a two year-term; he succeeds former Houston Public Media GM Lisa Trapani Shumatewho left the station in May. Becky MaguraCEO of Nashville PBSsucceeds Dunlop as vice chair for a two-year term. Linda O’Bryona consultant for THEwill serve a one-year term as treasurer and finance committee chair. Shumate will continue to serve on the board for one year as chair emerita, a non-voting role. Trustees who began three-year terms on the board include Jennifer Cookexecutive director of WUCF in Orlando, Fla.; Debbie HamlettGM of Milwaukee PBS; Jim RademakerGM of WGVU Public Media in Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Donald Youngexecutive director of the Center for Asian American Media. Trustees whose terms on the board have ended are Ronnie AgnewGM of NJ Advance Media; Steve McGowanSVP of research for Reelz; and Candice Seigermanaging partner of Adret Advisors.

Fellowships

The Poynter Institute selected five public media journalists for its final Essential Skills for Rising Newsroom Leaders workshop of 2025. The group includes Sydney Dauphinaisnews director for KRBD in Ketchikan, Alaska; Tim Petersonmanaging producer of Wisconsin Today for Wisconsin Public Radio; Christina Phillipssenior news editor of New Hampshire Public Radio; Cynthia Rodrigsenior editor for Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting; and Phoebe Taylor-Vuolonews director for WSKG Public Media in Binghamton, N.Y. The week-long workshop convenes a total of 31 newsroom managers in early December at Poynter’s St. Petersburg campus for hands-on training, lectures, group discussions and feedback sessions with coaches.

Independent filmmakers

Firelight Media distributed $580,000 in unrestricted grants to 18 filmmakers for their documentary projects. The grants range from $20,000 to $50,000 and can be used for development, production, post-production or distribution costs. “The elimination of federal support for public media has created a manufactured crisis for documentary filmmakers, especially those from Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities who have historically relied on public media and CPB-funded initiatives,” said Firelight CEO Loira Limbal in a news release. “We launched the Firelight Fund knowing there is an urgent need for timely, community-led storytelling about what frontline communities are experiencing right now.” The projects selected are:

Lori Webster’s Signs & Wonders focuses on a Black woman, Valerie McMillan, who is the only hearing child of Deaf adults (OHCODA) and became a professional sign language interpreter to bridge generational gaps.
Diego Estrada Bern’s The Weight of a Dream (working title) follows a Venezuelan Taekwondo expert living in Aurora, Colo., as he chases a dream of competing in the world’s top MMA organizations and grapples with the challenges of living in a new country.
Assia Boundaoui’s Within Sight and Sound chronicles two years of anti-war advocacy in Chicago related to the Israel-Hamas war.
Christopher Frierson’s Untitled Cop City Project explores how, in the wake of protests in 2020, the city of Atlanta announced plans to construct the largest police training facility in America.
Aurora Brachman’s Dear You documents how Grace James escaped an abusive marriage and fled to the U.S. from Kiribati, then found herself trapped in the U.S. asylum system for a decade.
Lauren Waring Douglas’s Rooted features Germaine Jenkins, who created an urban farm on a city lot and brought fresh produce to a food desert in North Charleston, S.C.
Christina Ramirez’s Norma follows Sister Norma Pimentel, a Catholic nun who has placed herself on the frontlines of America’s immigration crisis and faces backlash that threatens her career.
Sara Chishti’s Taxi Driver recounts the plight of immigrant taxi drivers caught in New York City’s predatory medallion lending scheme.
Christina DiPasquale’s Barrio Television recounts how Puerto Rican activists disrupted public television in the 1970s to create Realitiesthe first bilingual Latino series in U.S. history.
Sarah Krusen’s Soft blends archival imagery and interviews to explore the idea of “modern exhaustion” and how some look to heal.
Shiraz Ahmed’s No Discount reveals how Detroit’s safety net cracked during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enrique Pedraza-Boteros’s S.E.C.T.O.R. B documents how fears about autonomous surveillance systems are shaping the ways that some people move and gather.
Razi Jafri’s Uncommitted focuses on Arab and Muslim American activists who launched a movement in 2024 protesting what they saw as the Democratic Party’s silence on calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Marialuisa Ernst’s A Place of Absence follows the Caravan of Mothers, a group of Central American women traveling in search of lost loved ones.
Hao Wu’s TikTok Never Dies documents how three TikTok creators join a lawsuit against the federal government and discover that they must work with President Donald Trump to save the platform from being banned.
So Yun Um’s Americana Bang Bang explores Asian American perspectives on gun ownership.
Sonia Desai Rayka’s Untitled Camera Workshop Film follows a group of children who are navigating the uncertainties of asylum as they take photo walks across New York City to document the homes they’ve built and the places that have grown more hostile to them.
Elise Hu’s Windswept examines how four different teens from Los Angeles deal with the upheaval of their lives after catastrophic wildfires, asking “When your world burns down, how do you grow up?”