ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 16, 2004 - The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has named Ronnie Gunnerson Senior Advisor, Foundation Relations. In this role, Ms. Gunnerson will lead PBS' efforts to increase national foundation support for its major programming and education initiatives. Ms. Gunnerson first began working with PBS as a consultant in October 2003; she will continue to report to Judy L. Harris, Executive Vice President, PBS Businesses.
"We are so pleased to have Ronnie join us as a full-time member of the PBS team," said Ms. Harris. "In just the short time that she has been working with us, she has been tremendously strategic and effective. The planning grant we recently received from the Knight Foundation to create a new digital service focused on public affairs programming is just one example of what she is accomplishing. We all look forward to creating even more success together."
Prior to joining PBS, Ms. Gunnerson spent many years in leadership positions in the field of public affairs. From 1996-2003, she served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.). In this role, she created the company's community relations and corporate philanthropy programs and also oversaw employee communications, corporate media and state government relations.
Ms. Gunnerson began her tenure at TBS, Inc. in 1993 as Vice President of Public Relations for Turner Home Entertainment (T.H.E.). She was promoted to Senior Vice President of Public Relations for T.H.E. in 1995 and served in that capacity until 1997, when she assumed responsibility for corporate affairs.
A graduate of the University of Southern California with a Master's degree in public relations, Ms. Gunnerson also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from California State University, Long Beach.
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 349 public television stations. Serving nearly 90 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet.
Press Contacts:
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