Update From The Board
by Louis Stanley
Associate General Manager / Executive Director FPRAZ
Mark Dioguardi, Chair of Friends of Public Radio Arizona (FPRAZ), and the twenty-member board are excited to continue building and strengthening the collaborative partnership between our communities and Maricopa County Community College District's (MCCCD's) public radio stations, KJZZ 91.5 and K-BACH 89.5.
On deck for this fiscal year are a number of initiatives designed to engage our audiences for both stations, including audience research, digital marketing, and the renovation of the existing KJZZ newsroom. The Board approved a 2013-14 budget including expenditures to transform the KJZZ newsroom into a state-of-the-art collaborative news space. FPRAZ was please to accept the lead gift for this nearly half-million dollar project from long-time listener and member, Deeann J. Griebel, and board members continue to work with staff to identify additional support.
The Board has formed a quasi endowment for KJZZ, at the Arizona Community Foundation, thanks to a gift from the Estate of Virginia M. Sorenson. The KJZZ Strategic Initiative Fund at ACF, restricted by the FPRAZ Board, can be accessed for matching monies in the development of dedicated support for launching and sustaining important new local and regional news desks. Station leadership in collaboration with FPRAZ Board intend to launch an Innovation Desk, covering science, health and technology, a regional Energy Desk, covering the emerging and changing technologies around energy and an Economic Desk focused on Arizona businesses and the State economy in this fiscal year. The Board looks forward to working with all members, listeners and community partners to secure and support these goals.
