WASHINGTON – June 2, 2022 – America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) today announced the election of Adrienne R. Fairwell, general manager of Arizona PBS, to the APTS board of trustees. Ms. Fairwell will serve as professional trustee of APTS and a director of the APTS Action, Inc. board, effective June 1, 2022.
“We are delighted to welcome Adrienne Fairwell to our board of trustees,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of APTS. “Having served in leadership roles in both a state public television network and a university licensee, Adrienne will bring a particularly helpful perspective to our work in planning the future of public television stations and creating innovative ways to be of greater service to our communities through our public service missions of education, public safety and civic leadership.”
“Despite the uncertainty and unprecedented challenges we’ve faced as a country over the last few years, public media has stood strong, serving as an essential resource provider, storyteller and community assembler,” said Fairwell. “Recognizing the importance of these roles, I am honored to have been elected to the APTS board of trustees and look forward to participating in the ongoing discussions regarding the future of public television and how we might better serve our respective communities.”
Ms. Fairwell took the helm at Arizona PBS in April 2021 and subsequently led the station through a truly transformational year. After overseeing the completion of a comprehensive market study last summer, she led the development and implementation of a five-year strategic plan, focused on growth, diversity and innovation. In addition, Ms. Fairwell restructured her executive team to better capitalize on record revenue and membership growth and oversaw a restart of the station’s local production activities, which were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to joining Arizona PBS, Ms. Fairwell served as the assistant general manager of South Carolina ETV (SCETV) and Public Radio (SC Public Radio) and the vice president of marketing, communications and development, respectively. She was responsible for SCETV’s brand management, promotional and advertising efforts, public relations, audience engagement, revenue activities, partnership development, multi-platform content generation, studio and field production, local and national programming, broadcast programming, traffic and government transparency work.
Before joining SCETV, Ms. Fairwell completed several stints leading marketing and communications efforts for various state agencies in South Carolina, including the S.C. Department of Commerce, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce and the S.C. Department of Revenue. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in human resources development from Webster University. She has earned the internationally recognized Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) designation, and the Certified Public Manager professional designation. Ms. Fairwell is civically engaged, and she and her husband Michael share two children.
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About APTS
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
Contact:
Stacey Karp
202-654-4222
skarp@apts.org