Patricia de Stacy Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The Honorable Patricia de Stacy Harrison is the president and chief executive officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the leading funder of public radio and public television programming for the American people. Under her leadership, Ms. Harrison has strengthened public service media through the strategic focus of CPB in three important areas: Digital: CPB investments in innovation and technology; Dialogue: CPB investments in local community engagement, partnerships and service; and Diversity: CPB investments in and commitment to diversity of content, talent and service.

To formalize this commitment, Ms. Harrison established the first Diversity and Innovation Fund for public media — radio, television, online and mobile.

In 2011, Ms. Harrison created American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen, a nationwide public media initiative to help communities across the country identify and implement solutions to the high school dropout crisis. To date, over 75 stations in over 30 states, and Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, are working with more than 1000 local partners and schools to encourage students to stay on track to graduation.

Ms. Harrison is also chairman of the Leadership Council of Women and Girls Lead, an innovative public media initiative designed to focus, educate and connect women, girls and their allies across the globe to address the challenges of the 21st century. In August 2012, she was included on the Forbes list of “Women Changing the World in Media” for establishing Women and Girls Lead and her continued leadership on the project.

Prior to joining CPB in 2005, Ms. Harrison served as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. A former entrepreneur, Ms. Harrison is a frequent speaker and writer on the subjects of leadership, communication strategy and constituency building. She is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the 2008 Leadership Award from the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the U.S. Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award. She also sits on the boards of the National Italian American Foundation, The American University in Rome, the Meridian International Center and IREX.

Ms. Harrison received her B.A. from American University, Washington D.C., and an honorary doctorate from the American University of Rome in 2002. She is a former Thomas Colloquium on Free Enterprise guest lecturer at Youngstown State University in Ohio and was a visiting fellow at the Institute for Public Service of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, in 2002, and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in 1992.