Position and Candidate Specification

President and Chief Executive Officer

PREPARED BY:
Leslie Hortum
Kristine Johnson
Kaitlin Hayes

May 2024
Assignment: 62155-002

Confidential: This document has been prepared for the exclusive use of the client named. Because it contains confidential information, its use should be
controlled and limited to the executives concerned. This information is given in good faith and is believed to be correct but may require verification.

AAMEbRICAo'S uPUtBL ICt ThELEeVIS ION STATIONS

Organization

America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization established in 1979 to
ensure a strong and financially sound noncommercial television system for the American public, and to help
member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership. APTS works,
through its affiliate organization, APTS Action, to secure more than $1 billion in federal and state funding (from
40 state governments) to support public media nationwide. This work includes direct advocacy by APTS
government relations professionals, marshalling a nationwide grassroots advocacy network called Protect My
Public Media, encouraging public television station general managers to be in frequent contact with their
elected officials, managing a Leadership Council of distinguished people from all 50 States to lend their influence
to the cause of public television, and leading the work of a group of expert government relations consultants at
both the federal and state government levels.

APTS provides strategic planning for the public television station community, including the development of
spectrum-based service and business opportunities for stations, conversion to the NEXTGEN TV broadcast
standard, adoption of best practices in diversity, equity and inclusion, and other system-wide initiatives. APTS
hosts an annual Public Media Summit in Washington, D.C., bringing together hundreds of public media
executives, community partners, national leaders and technology experts from around the country to explore
strategic and leadership issues facing the system.

APTS and its partner organizations operate the Grant Center for Public Media, helping stations identify and
secure grants from private foundations and government agencies. APTS represents public television stations in
regulatory proceedings of the Federal Communications Commission and other federal agencies. The
organization has established strategic partnerships with the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and other
authorities to pursue our public safety mission.

Based in Crystal City, Virginia—in the Washington, D.C. metro area—APTS and its affiliate APTS Action have
consolidated annual revenue and budget of approximately $6 million, 15 full-time employees, and multiple
consultants. While APTS is a relatively small organization, the leadership balances an outsized responsibility for
the sector. Working in collaboration with other national organizations, APTS is accountable for securing $1
billion in federal and state funding annually as a highly visible representative of public television in the federal
and state legislatures.

Position Summary

The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will assume leadership of an association with an engaged
membership operating over 300 public television stations in the U.S. The CEO will guide APTS to serve the needs
and interests of members, tirelessly striving to enhance member experience and address emerging trends in the
sector. In close partnership with other public broadcasting organizations, the CEO will champion the essential
role public media plays in American society and secure critical financial support for public television nationwide.

Alongside an accomplished leadership team and an esteemed Board of Trustees, the CEO will shape a long-term
strategy around advocacy, regulatory affairs, member value, revenue growth, and effective financial
management. In parallel, the CEO will lead and develop a cohesive senior management team organized around
principles of high performance, inclusion, and transparency.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Reports to Board of Trustees

Executive Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Team Vice President, Finance, Administration, and Membership

Vice President, Government and Public Affairs
General Counsel
Executive Assistant

Other key Corporation for Public Broadcasting
relationships Public Broadcasting Service

National Public Radio
Congress and other relevant legislative/regulatory bodies

DESIRED OUTCOMES 
Sustain and grow federal and state funding for the sector; identify entrepreneurial opportunities to

diversify revenue streams to strengthen public television; increase other assets and contributions.

 Partner with the Board of Trustees and APTS leadership to define and execute long-term strategy,
considering critical future factors in the public media landscape. 

Cultivate and maintain outstanding relationships and partnerships across the industry and with federal,
state, and local authorities; establish self as a credible and trusted partner to key stakeholders (e.g.
stations, lobbyists, policymakers, regulators). 

Collaborate with key stakeholders in a nonpartisan capacity to further the mission of education, public
safety, and civic leadership.

 Continue to broaden the perception of public television by communicating APTS’s compelling vision and
the sector’s value proposition beyond television and radio programming.

 Embrace technological and digital evolution, positioning APTS and its membership to adopt and
capitalize on innovations and opportunities to strengthen public television.

 Retain and expand membership, encouraging all stations to participate, with special effort to include
those historically unengaged.

 Promote community within public television, ensuring a united front in advocacy efforts.

 Engage leadership team and wider staff around the common vision and objectives; maintain and
deepen a cohesive culture that attracts, motivates, and retains high-caliber staff. 

Drive organizational performance and accountability, including strengthening the leadership and
building a well-rounded executive bench.

Candidate Profile

APTS seeks a respected leader to take the organization forward at this critical moment. The ideal candidate will
have a passion for public media and will have led within a similarly complex environment. While this is not a
pure advocacy role, an understanding of and credibility within the Halls of Congress will be key to the CEO’s
success. It is likely that this individual will have worked in an advocacy capacity, a government relations role, or
will have led either a membership organization or public media organization previously.

IDEAL EXPERIENCE

Evidenced mission alignment and understanding of public media’s value proposition; solid understanding of the
media business and emerging technologies therein

Political acumen: experience cultivating and leveraging bipartisan relationships to advance a policy agenda at
the federal- and state-level

Business savvy and revenue generation: experience growing revenue and business opportunities on behalf of an
organization

General leadership and management ideally in a membership context

Reporting to or serving on a volunteer Board

CRITICAL LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES

Visionary Leadership

 Maintains and grows government funding while creatively exploring alternative revenue streams to
future proof organization and sector.

 Works with the governance structure to develop a strategic vision for APTS that strengthens its value
proposition to members, associate members, and potential members, with a clear understanding of the
future direction of public media.

 Ensures the APTS governance structure enables efficiency and long-term success of the organization
without compromising the ability to engage multiple voices.

 Evaluates existing and explores new initiatives for members that add value.

 Embraces technology and digital innovation, educating membership and fostering adoption of new
initiatives and opportunities.

Collaborating and Influencing

 Leverages existing and builds new relationships to advance the APTS legislative and regulatory
objectives, advocating and lobbying to influence legislation, regulations, and policies.

 Effectively builds consensus among multiple stakeholders that contribute to the organization and its
activities, collaborating with all stakeholders to reach shared objectives.

 Continues to build the national profile of public television, conveying the value proposition of and
essential services provided by public media in American society.

 Creates strategic alliances and partnerships with a nonpartisan approach.

 Serves as a credible advocate, spokesperson, and ambassador for APTS and public television writ large.

 Cultivates entrepreneurial and potentially revenue generating relationships on behalf of public
television sector.

Leading People

 Recruits, engages, inspires, and empowers a diverse, motivated, and high-caliber staff; nurtures and
develops a committed, connected leadership group. 

Weathers impending retirements to maintain organizational stability and a high-performing core senior
leadership team.

 Continues to cultivate a strong internal culture and cohesion of the wider staff; creates an environment
of continuous professional development within a high-performance culture of innovation in pursuit of
sustainable value creation.

 Sets up practices to reinforce transparent and clear communication between senior leadership and
throughout the organization.

OTHER PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

 Passion for public media
 Entrepreneurial spirit
 Strong communication and listening skills
 Humble with a servant leader mentality 
Innovative with a risk-orientation
 Unimpeachable integrity and ethics
 Skilled consensus and coalition builder
 Diplomatic, nonpartisan style

APPLICATIONS AND NOMINATIONS

The search for the next Chief Executive Officer of America’s Public Television Stations is being assisted by
Spencer Stuart. If you wish to submit application materials or nominate someone to serve as the next CEO,
please email: APTSCEO@spencerstuart.com.