TPT Leadership

Sylvia Strobel

PRESIDENT & CEO
[email protected]

Sylvia Strobel joined Twin Cities PBS (TPT) in February of 2020. As the CEO of one of our nation’s foremost PBS stations, she is leading the organization into an exciting new future: expanding TPT’s content, distribution, and funding strategies to take full advantage of 21st century tools, technologies, and consumer interests.

You can learn more about Sylvia’s vision and the strategic plan she has for TPT here.

Sylvia has worked for more than 30 years in the public media industry as an executive and attorney, with positions at ideastream, American Public Media Group, Pennsylvania Public Television Network, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Assuming the role of CEO and President at TPT is a homecoming for Sylvia. Her passion and dedication to public media was developed in her first public media role—Legal Intern in TPT’s legal department. Sylvia has served on numerous national boards and commissions, including the board of NPR, the Alliance for Women in Media, the Association of Junior Leagues International, and the FCC’s Advisory Committee for Diversity in the Digital Age. She currently serves on the boards of the MacPhail Center for Music, The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, the Mary T. and James J. Hill Library Foundation, and Latino Public Broadcasting. Sylvia received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from St. Olaf College, her Juris Doctorate (JD) from Mitchell|Hamline College of Law, and her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business.

Amina Jaafar

CHIEF INCLUSION & STRATEGY OFFICER
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For nearly 15 years, Amina has worked to advance diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and social and racial justice, across higher education and the nonprofit sector both nationally and internationally. Amina most recently served as the Assistant Vice President in the Office for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota, where she provided oversight for education programming, strategic planning and communications, evaluation, and campus climate initiatives. Through her work, Amina focuses on cultivating strong working relationships to create cultural change; facilitating challenging conversations to help individuals and communities move towards understanding and partnership; and providing strategic direction to help organizations meaningfully advance their DEI work.

In addition to her leadership role at the University, Amina also served as an affiliate faculty member in the College of Education and Human Development, where she taught courses on developing intercultural competence, intercultural communications, and the social and cultural foundations of education. Amina received her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development from the University of Minnesota, where she studied how representations of BIPOC communities impact policy and practice.

Jennifer (Jenn) Schmidt

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
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Jenn oversees Finance, Accounting, and Building Services at TPT. Her focus, in addition to providing financial leadership to the management team, is to design and deliver efficient processes related to high quality financial information and TPT’s physical environment. Prior to joining TPT, Jenn held leadership positions in Finance at several Minnesota organizations including Archway Marketing Services, Pearson, Ameriprise, US Bank, and Pillsbury. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with Accounting emphasis at Augsburg College and is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

Elizabeth C. Allen

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER
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Elizabeth Allen oversees the development and implementation of organizational strategies to support TPT’s revenue goals. Leading our revenue units—including Membership, Major and Planned Giving, Institutional Giving, and Sponsorships teams—Elizabeth and her team drive funding support by connecting the values and mission of the funder to TPT’s exceptional work to educate the communities we serve. Before TPT, Elizabeth held leadership roles at Socrata where she worked with government entities to build best-in-class transparency initiatives to enrich the lives of their citizens; and at Reeher where she was committed to help colleges and universities find more high-value donors and access to the tools and information they need to measure their performance. Outside her professional roles, Elizabeth is an avid volunteer. She currently serves as Treasurer of the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and as a member of the Board of Directors for the St. Paul Area Chamber. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Opus School of Business at the University of St. Thomas.

Christian P. Siebeneck

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
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Christian comes to TPT from Ideastream Public Media in Cleveland, Ohio where he was the Chief Technologist. At Ideastream Christian was responsible for the Technology team which included all of IT, Production, Radio Operations, Building and Facilities, Radio and Television Engineering. Before coming to Public Media Christian served as CEO/CTO to a regional telecommunications company which provides Telephone, ISP, and Cable television’s services. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Technology from Kent State University.

Christian has been an innovator throughout his technology career. He has worked to build solutions that bridge technology gaps within organizations while removing technology barriers. At TPT Christian is responsible for the strategic vision of all technology and innovation. He will lead the technology and production services teams to develop solutions to enhance our viewers experience online and over the air, while building solutions for the staff at TPT to better collaborate and innovate.

Deb Ekeren

VP, HUMAN RESOURCES
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With over 25 years of human resources leadership experience, Deb has been instrumental in building exceptional workplaces by aligning human resource practices with strategic goals. She believes passionately that one of the most important ingredients to a successful organization is a dynamic, inclusive, respectful and engaging workforce. She brings experience leading human resources within the nonprofit sector at The Center for Victims of Torture, Council on Crime & Justice and Chrysalis. In addition, she has collaborated with a number of other organizations as a human resources consultant, partnering with leaders during periods of change. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hamline University and a Master of Arts in Human Resource Management from St. Mary’s University. She also holds SPHR and SHRM-CP certifications.

Lynn Farmer

VP, MARKETING
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With over 25 years of marketing and business experience, Lynn Farmer brings for-profit, nonprofit business, and higher education marketing acumen to TPT. She worked at Target Corporation for 18 years in successive roles, including merchandising, marketing, and strategic business capacities. After an accomplished career at Target, Farmer established her own consulting firm, Farmer Consulting, using her skills to build capacity for nonprofits and small businesses. In 2016, Lynn charted a new course at Hamline University, bringing her enterprise skills to reshape Hamline’s marketing department and launch new brand and website initiatives.

Lynn has served as a moderator at the Minnesota Marketing Summit and the American Marketing Association Symposium on Higher Education. Lynn has also been involved with numerous community organizations. She currently serves on the board of the Minnesota Independent School Forum and formerly served as board chair of the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) and Brightwater Montessori School. She also volunteers for organizations like The Brand Lab and Achieve Minneapolis.

Lynn received her Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Howard University. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

Melinda Hoke

VP, PHILANTHROPY
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Philanthropy has been Melinda Hoke’s career, inspiring donors and organizations through Major Giving, Planned Giving, and Capital Campaigns. A veteran in Public Media, she led teams at Minnesota Public Radio’s campaign for the expansion of MPR’s headquarters and the recent Campaign for TPT, which raised funds for capital, programs, and endowment. She served the people with disabilities community for Courage Center and grew major and planned giving programs at the University of Minnesota throughout colleges and campuses, along with transformational capital campaigns. Recently, Melinda served as PBS Advancing Philanthropy faculty and volunteers as a speaker, consultant, and mentor for PBS stations, AFP, and MPGC. Receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Performance from Wartburg College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Therapy from University of Minnesota, she established a clinical music therapy practice in chemical dependency and served the NAMT to write the credentialing program for professional certification of music therapists.

Kristin Pederson

VP, TPT EDUCATION
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Kristin Pederson joined Twin Cities PBS in 2001 to lead educational outreach and public relations for DragonflyTV, an Emmy Award-winning national PBS children’s science series. Her roles within TPT have since varied, but they have held a distinct emphasis on science, health, history, gender equity, and cultural responsiveness. She has developed, contributed to, and/or led projects supported by the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Institutes of Health, and NASA, as well as multiple corporations and foundations.

While Kristin focused on multiple STEM projects, such as SciGirls and When Whales Walked: Journeys in Deep Time, she has developed and led outreach, engagement, and promotion on many of TPT’s award-winning general audience projects. These include Depression: Out of the Shadows, The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s, The New Medicine, FAT: What No One Is Telling You, Slavery by Another Name, and Constitution USA with Peter Sagal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Speech communications from Saint Olaf College and a Master of Arts in English and Communication Development from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO.

David Preston

VP, MEMBER SERVICES
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As Vice President of Membership & Viewer Services, David Preston leads a team of staff and volunteers who advance the station’s legacy of viewer support by welcoming and stewarding over 110,000 members. A native Minnesotan, David received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Minnesota and has worked at Twin Cities PBS for more than 35 years. During that time, he has been instrumental in building one of the largest and strongest membership programs in the nation. He is also a leader in the PBS system and for more than a decade has served on the PBS Development Advisory Council where he provides guidance on fundraising to stations and is an expert mentor and trainer to station staff nationwide. In 2014, David was awarded the PBS Development Professional of the Year award in recognition of his positive impact.

Michael Rosenfeld

VP, NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS
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As Vice President of National Production at Twin Cities PBS, Michael Rosenfeld oversees programs about history, science, and American society for national broadcast on PBS. Michael is an award-winning filmmaker and writer with extensive leadership experience in documentary production and digital media. As an executive producer and production company president, he has led a number of legendary series, including many National Geographic Specials and Signature Series. In a career spanning network, cable, and public television, Rosenfeld has won dozens of industry awards, including 11 News & Documentary Emmys. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Haverford College.

Lisa Washburn

VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL
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With over two decades of experience working in media law, Lisa Washburn brings a wealth of knowledge to TPT that will be essential as the organization shifts to a focus on multiplatform content models. She comes to TPT from her position as VP/Associate General Counsel for Nexstar Media Group in Chicago. Previously, she was Assistant General Counsel for Tribune Media Company, until its acquisition by Nexstar in 2019.

Washburn has provided legal counsel on all aspects of broadcast television operations and in support of company strategic initiatives, including FCC regulatory compliance, program production, editorial, newsgathering and pre-publication review, subpoena and litigation management, intellectual property-creative services support, newsroom talent employment matters, and digital/online publishing. Washburn has a BA from the University of Iowa and a J.D. from DePaul University.