Miami’s Friends of WLRN Announces Newest Board Members

MIAMI - Dec. 23, 2013 - PRLog -- Friends of WLRN, one of South Florida’s most prominent civic groups, has appointed seven new members to its board of directors. Friends of WLRN provides fundraising support for South Florida's public media stations: 91.3 FM, the region’s NPR news station, and WLRN Television, PBS Channel 17. Board members help guide the future direction of the station and public media in South Florida, and are responsible for setting policy and overseeing the organization’s wellbeing.

The board’s new members represent some of the region’s most active sectors: Carlos Blanco of AT&T Mobility; Dwight Hill of Sabadell United; Diana Parker of CBRE, Inc.; Flora Perez of Ryder System, Inc.; Randel Ransom of SABMiller Latin America; G. Frederick Reinhardt of Espirito Santo Bank; and Tadd Schwartz of Schwartz Media Strategies.

“The Friends of WLRN board is among South Florida’s most engaged group of volunteer leaders,” said board chairman and Bilzin Sumberg shareholder Michael Kreitzer. “With the media landscape changing at such a rapid pace, the need for a robust public media platform has never been greater. Our newest members each bring invaluable experience in their fields of work. Their involvement will be essential to WLRN’s vitality over the coming years.”

The Friends of WLRN board of directors includes 15 leaders from South Florida’s business and civic communities. The newly elected board members of Friends of WLRN include:

·         Carlos Blanco is currently vice president and general manager of AT&T Mobility in South Florida and the former president of BellSouth International in Ecuador. He previously served as chief operating officer of Telefonica Moviles in Venezuela.

·         Dwight Hill is executive vice president at Sabadell United Bank and a former assistant vice president at Pan American Bank.

·         Diana Parker is a licensed real estate broker in Florida and senior vice president with CBRE, Inc.

·         Flora Perez is vice president and deputy general counsel of Ryder System, Inc. and was a lawyer with the international law firm of Morgan Lewis & Bockius in Miami. She previously served as assistant controller for Cargill International Corp.

·         Randel Ransom is senior vice president of SABMiller Latin America and former chief marketing officer at Miller Brewing Company. He previously served as senior vice president of trademarks at Coca-Cola North America and chief marketing officer at FEMSA Cerveza.

·         G. Frederick Reinhardt is chairman and chief executive officer at Espirito Santo Bank and former executive vice president at BNC Financial Group, Inc. He previously served as a director and global banking group head at Merrill Lynch USA.

·         Tadd Schwartz is founder and president of Schwartz Media Strategies and a former partner at Miami-based rbb. He previously held an executive position with public relations giant Weber Shandwick and worked on the Washington, D.C. staff of former Florida Senator Bob Graham.

“Friends of WLRN has built a presence that resonates within the South Florida community,” said Victor Kendall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Friends of WLRN. “Its capacity to attract board members of this caliber is a reflection of WLRN’s next growth cycle.”

Established in 1974, Friends of WLRN cultivates individual, foundational and corporate funding for 91.3 WLRN, South Florida’s NPR news station, and PBS Channel 17.

Media Contact:

Aaron Gordon, aaron@schwartz-media.com; (305) 962-3292