NPR Board Elects Jennifer Ferro as Board Chair

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, November 17, 2023 | 3:18pm CT

Jennifer Ferro

Jennifer Ferro is elected by the NPR Board of Directors as Chair of the Board. She joined the board in 2018. As CEO of KCRW-FM in Los Angeles, Ferro has worked to transform the institution from Southern California's flagship public radio station to a community that connects through the discovery of music, news and culture both in person, online and on the air.

"I am honored to take on the role of board chair and to help guide this critical organization to meet and serve the American people along with over 200 community public media organizations," said Ferro.

NPR's 23-member board of directors is comprised of 12 member directors who are managers of NPR Member stations and are elected to the board by their fellow Member stations, 9 public directors who are prominent members of the public selected by the board and confirmed by NPR Member stations, the NPR Foundation Chair and the NPR President & CEO.

Under her leadership KCRW completed a $50 million capital campaign and moved into its first-ever, stand-alone, state-of-the-art facility. KCRW's presence includes podcasts, original content features, live streams, a social networking community and mobile app. KCRW's live events programming has grown to reach over 250,000 people each year.

Ferro serves as a Senior Fellow for the Luskin School of Public Policy at UCLA. She is on the board of Marfa Public Radio, that serves rural west Texas. She is also a board member of the prestigious Trusteeship/International Women's Forum for Southern California and Chair of the NPR Board. Ferro was awarded the UCLA Award for public service and selected as one of the 500 Most Influential People in LA according to the LA Business Journal.

Ferro earned her Bachelor's degree from UCLA. She spent years as a youth soccer coach and co-founder of the Women's Coach Initiative to get more women youth soccer coaches on the field. She is also an active mentor to graduate and undergraduate students.