Five Community Leaders Join WMFE|WMFV Board of Trustees
New appointees are Markita D. Cooper, Geraldine Gallagher, PhD, CFRE, Joshua Snyder, Rich Reiner and Tricia Smith Edris; 2020 chair and vice chair are Anne E. Kelley and Donna Mackenzie
ORLANDO — The Board of Trustees at Community Communications Inc., which operates public radio stations 90.7 WMFE and 89.5 WMFV, has grown with new board members who add legal, fundraising and strategic expertise to the governing body.
[caption id="attachment_140104" align="alignright" width="110"]
Erika Pulley-Hayes[/caption]
Community leaders Markita D. Cooper, Geraldine Gallagher, Joshua Snyder and Rich Reiner were elected on Dec. 1 and attended their first Board meeting on Feb. 26. Tricia Smith Edris was elected on Feb. 26.
Erika Pulley-Hayes, who joined the organization as president and CEO in January, was also elected as a staff officer of the Board on Feb. 26.
Community Communications is working to ensure that its Board also reflects the communities of Central Florida. And for the first time in WMFE's history, women are in all three leadership positions.
“I'm excited to welcome these leaders who bring a diverse set of skills that will help strengthen our organization's service to the public,” Pulley-Hayes said.
[caption id="attachment_145341" align="alignleft" width="110"]
Markita Cooper[/caption]
Markita D. Cooper is a law professor at Florida A&M University College of Law in Orlando, teaching in the areas of tort law and employment law. As a former Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Cooper served on the senior administrative team that led the College of Law to achieve full accreditation by the American Bar Association. Cooper previously served on WMFE's Board from 2011-2016 and currently is one of the voices for WMFE's sponsorship announcements.
[caption id="attachment_145342" align="alignright" width="110"]
Geraldine Gallagher[/caption]
Geraldine Gallagher, PhD, CFRE, has served as Valencia College Foundation president and CEO since 2001. She supports the work of a 45-member volunteer board and has facilitated private giving of more than $68 million. During her tenure as Valencia’s professional fundraiser, the foundation disbursed $56 million and grew net assets to $104 million from $17 million. She earned degrees in journalism and education from Northwestern University and attained CFRE certification in 2000.
[caption id="attachment_145343" align="alignleft" width="110"]
Joshua Snyder[/caption]
Joshua Snyder is the vice president of business development at PowerDMS, a SaaS company in Downtown Orlando with 100+ employees whose investors include Ballast Point Ventures and Frontier Capital. He and his team are responsible for identifying growth opportunities, developing strategic alliances, and serving as the voice of the company to their network of partners. He is also responsible for guiding the company’s strategy for product and corporate development.
[caption id="attachment_145344" align="alignright" width="110"]
Rich Reiner[/caption]
Rich Reiner, owner of Reiner Consulting, has held a variety of executive-level positions within Adventist Health System, from which he retired in June 2015 after 30-plus years of service. From 2006 to 2015, Reiner served as AHS Executive Vice President and the President/CEO of the AHS Multi-State Division. In this role, he oversaw strategic direction and operations for 23 hospitals and related entities in nine states.
[caption id="attachment_147954" align="alignleft" width="141"]
Tricia Smith Edris[/caption]
Tricia Smith Edris is the chief consumer officer and senior vice president for AdventHealth. Edris leads AdventHealth’s consumer initiatives and provides executive oversight for consumer research, innovation, experience, and digital strategy. She has over 30 years of experience at AdventHealth in various roles including managing the enterprise service excellence program and leading the adoption and integration of the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.
“We are extremely fortunate to have these five talented individuals as members of our Board of Trustees," Board Chair Anne E. Kelley said. "They will assist us greatly in delivering on WMFE and WMFV’s core mission of presenting high-quality content that earns the interest, involvement and support of the people we serve.”
Continuing in leadership roles in 2020 are Kelley, the 33rd board chair and chief credit officer of Northstar Financial Group, and Vice Chair Donna Mackenzie, CEO of Bright Impact.
Here's a complete list of the 2020 Board of Trustees.
About Community Communications Inc.:
Community Communications Inc. is a non-profit, member-supported, community-based public broadcasting company that operates 90.7 WMFE-FM, metro Orlando’s primary provider of NPR programming; 90.7-2 Classical; and 89.5 WMFV, public radio for The Villages, Leesburg and The Golden Triangle. Part of the community since 1980, Community Communications focuses on providing quality national and local news and programming. Visit wmfe.org and wmfv.org for more information.
# # #
MEDIA INQUIRIES: Please contact Communications & Marketing Specialist Jenny Babcock at jbabcock@wmfe.org or 407-273-2300 ext. 112.