The WBUR Executive Advisory Council is an advisory board composed of community and business leaders dedicated to supporting and advancing the mission of WBUR and its affiliated stations.

Members were appointed in November, 2005. The newly-formed Council held its first meeting on December 6, 2005.

The Council's membership includes two members from the Boston University Board of Trustees. Additional participants were recommended by Paul A. La Camera , General Manager of The WBUR Group, and Peter Fiedler, Vice President for Administrative Services at Boston University, Interim General Manager of The WBUR Group from October, 2004, to September, 2005, and current Chair of the WBUR Executive Advisory Council. All members were approved by Dr. Robert A. Brown , President of Boston University.

Members of the WBUR Executive Advisory Council:
James Bildner
Elizabeth Cheng
Richard DeWolfe
Steve Elman (Secretary)
Peter Fiedler (Chair)
Carol Fulp
Robert Gallery
Sumner Kaufman
Elaine Kirshenbaum
Peter Meade
Mary Jo Meisner
Thomas Mottl
William Poorvu
Richard Snyder
Micho Spring
 

James Bildner
General Partner, New Horizons Partners, LLC
James Bildner is General Partner of New Horizons Partners, LLC, a boutique venture philanthropy and venture capital firm specializing in catalyzing public policy issues in health care, education, the environment and the arts. Bildner is also president and founder of the newly-launched Literary Ventures Fund, a not-for-profit organization that uses the venture capital investment model to provide support literature and publishing.

Bildner is a trustee of The Kresge Foundation, Case Western Reserve University, Lesley University, Graywolf Press and Lizard Island Research Foundation in Australia. He serves on the boards of Olly Shoes, Chameleon Networks and Ed Nets, and is Chairman of ABC Wilderness Adventures and Purcell Mountain Lodge. Bildner is an Overseer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the National Council of Environmental Defense, and served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education, which advises the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of consumer education strategies concerning the Medicare program.

Bildner is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve School of Law. He earned his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College and his J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve School of Law. Bildner has written numerous articles and op-ed pieces for newspapers and magazines, including The Boston Globe, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Inc. magazine.

Bildner’s relationship with the station began during his days with J. Bildner stores, in which context he became a WBUR underwriter. He has previously served as a WBUR Executive Advisory Board member and as chair of WBUR’s Gala Committee (in 2004 and 2003). Bildner and his wife, Nancy, are generous contributors to WBUR and passionate supporters of the station.

Elizabeth Cheng
Vice President of Programming and Communications
WCVB-TV Channel 5
Elizabeth Cheng is Vice President of Programming and Communications for WCVB-TV Channel 5, Boston's ABC Television affiliate. In programming, Cheng works on the acquisition of syndicated product, strategic/long-range planning and the day-to-day scheduling of two major-market ABC affiliates, WCVB and WMUR-TV Channel 9 in New Hampshire. For WCVB communications, she helps shape station policy, oversees public and media relations and acts as station spokesperson. In production, she oversees WCVB's highly regarded nightly "Chronicle" program, as well as numerous local program specials airing on WCVB each year.

In addition, Cheng has been the creative manager of many award-winning series and specials for WCVB. Highlights include: executive producer for the daily production of "Good Day!"; producer of the nationally-acclaimed legal series "Miller's Court;" and executive producer of the award-winning weekly children's program "A Likely Story." The latter two series were nationally syndicated to stations across the country. She has also been the executive producer of such diverse specials as "POPS! Goes the Fourth" and "Holiday Pops" with the Boston Pops and Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. Both Pops specials were simulcast for 11 and 10 years, respectively, on the Arts and Entertainment Cable Network (A&E).

Cheng’s productions have earned recognition on both a national and regional scale, winning: a National Primetime Emmy Award Nomination; two National Association of Broadcasters Awards; two National Association of Television Programming Executives honors; a prestigious Gabriel Award; an Action for Children's Television Award from Peggy Charren; a Parents Choice Award; and six New England Emmys.

Currently, Cheng is Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and a committee chair and board member for Community Preparatory, an inner- city school in Providence, Rhode Island.

An honors graduate of Brown University, Cheng resides with her family in Rhode Island.

Richard B. DeWolfe
Managing Partner, DeWolfe & Company, LLC
Richard DeWolfe is Managing Partner of DeWolfe & Company, LLC and serves on the Board of Directors of Manulife Financial, the parent company of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.

DeWolfe additionally serves as Director of The Boston Foundation, Trustee of Boston University and Trustee of Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. He is a Director of O Beverage Corporation and an Honorary Director of National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). DeWolfe was formerly Chairman and CEO of The DeWolfe Companies, Inc., the largest homeownership organization in New England and the tenth largest independent in the United States. The DeWolfe Companies, Inc. was an American Stock Exchange listed company acquired by Cendant Corporation in 2002.

DeWolfe is a 1971 graduate of Boston University and has received the Boston University Distinguished Alumni Award, 2004; Boston University Roger “Moose” Washburn Memorial Award, 2002; Boston University Arthur Stevens Award, 1999; Boston University Thomas Fitzpatrick Memorial Award, 1996; and Boston University Metropolitan College Alumni Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession, 1991. He has been recognized as Greater Boston Realtor of the Year as well as Massachusetts Realtor of the Year, and is a Member of Omega Tau Rho.

Steve Elman
Retired Assistant General Manager, WBUR-FM
Formerly the station’s Assistant Manager, Steve Elman spent almost his entire radio career at WBUR. In the early 1970s he produced “The Jerry Williams Show” on WBZ-AM. In 1972, while producing the Williams show, he became a part-time jazz announcer on WBUR. Elman worked part-time for WBUR for several years in that role and in many others, during which time he was also Jazz and Popular Music Editor of the Schwann Record Catalog.

From 1976 to 1982, Elman worked as a full-time jazz announcer on WBUR and from 1982 to 1987 as a classical announcer. From 1987 until 1992, he produced “Performance Today” (an arts program) and then worked as Music Director. In 1992, Elman became WBUR’s Assistant General Manager and served in that role until his retirement in 2004. He is the co-author (with Alan Tolz) of Burning Up the Air, a biography of the late talk-show pioneer Jerry Williams.

In May, 2004, Elman became a member of WBUR’s Executive Committee, undertaking secretarial and organizational duties for the group as its Vice-Chair. He is Secretary of The WBUR Group Executive Council.

Peter Fiedler (Chair)
Vice President for Administrative Services, Boston University
Peter Fiedler is Vice President for Administrative Services at Boston University, a position he has held since June, 2005. Prior to that appointment, Fiedler served as Assistant Vice President from 2002 to 2005, overseeing all day-to-day operations of Boston University’s Media Group, Publications Production, IKON Express™ Copy Centers and Sports Broadcasting. He managed the University’s Media Services, Publications Production and Sports Broadcasting units from 1999 to 2002 as Assistant to the Executive Vice President.

Fiedler’s current responsibilities as Vice President include management and oversight not only of the Office of Human Resources and Student Health Services, for example, but also Sports Broadcasting, ISPS (Information Systems Planning and Support) and The WBUR Group. His formal relationship with WBUR-FM began earlier, however, when he was appointed by the Executive Vice President of Boston University to serve as Interim General Manager of The WBUR Group beginning in October, 2004. Over the course of a year in that role, Fiedler oversaw the day-to-day operations of the station while also engaging in analysis of its business management structure and financial health. Fiedler furthermore assisted in the recruitment of a new General Manager of The WBUR Group, chairing the Search Committee. His activities in this regard concluded in 2005 with the appointment of Paul A. La Camera.

Fiedler has 25 years of experience in television and media, including work as a field producer/director at WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston’s ABC affiliate, and as Director of Operations for WABU-TV, Channel 68, in Boston. He also served as Director of Operations, Vice President and General Manager of Target Productions, Inc., one of Boston’s largest audio and video post-production facilities, from 1986 to 1993.

Fiedler currently serves as Chair of the WBUR Executive Council.

Carol Fulp
Vice President of Community Relations
John Hancock Financial Services
Carol Fulp is the Vice President of Community Relations at John Hancock Financial Services. Fulp oversees John Hancock’s corporate giving program, which ensures that Boston youth most in need are served. With one of the largest corporate volunteer programs in Boston, John Hancock became the first Massachusetts-based company to be awarded the national Award for Excellence in Corporate Community Outreach by the Points of Light Foundation. Prior to joining John Hancock, Fulp served as Community Services/Human Resources Director for WCVB-TV, Channel 5, ABC-TV’s Boston affiliate. Prior to working at WCVB-TV, she was Manager of Employee Relations at the Gillette Company.

Fulp has received a number of awards for her community outreach efforts, including the African American Achievement Award from Boston Mayor Menino, the Pinnacle Award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers Award, the New England Women’s Leadership Award from the Colonel Daniel Marr Boys and Girls Club, the 2005 Women’s Business Executive Award, the YMCA Triangle Award and the Henry L. Shattuck City Champion Award.

Fulp was appointed by Mayor Menino as a co-chair of Boston 2004, the organization formed to bring the Democratic National Convention to Boston. She is also a co-chair of the upcoming Massachusetts Governor’s Conference for Women. She is the founder of a not-for-profit organization, Great Encounters For Girls, which provides scholarships for girls to attend summer camp. Fulp is a trustee of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, John F. Kennedy Library and Museum and a member of the board of overseers for Boston Symphony Orchestra and WGBH-TV. She is on the board of the Commonwealth Institute and also serves on the Women’s Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Boston Magazine listed Fulp as one of the 100 most powerful women in Boston and previously listed her as “One of Boston’s Ten Most Interesting Women to Watch.”

Fulp is a graduate of the University of the State of New York. She resides in Newton, Massachusetts, with her husband, C. Bernard Fulp, Chairman of GoBiz Solutions and Founder of Middlesex Bank & Trust Company.

Sumner Kaufman
President, Kaufman & Company LLC
Sumner Kaufman is President of Kaufman & Company LLC, a Boston-based investment banking firm involved in raising private capital, arranging mergers and acquisitions and providing corporate financial advisory services for middle-market-sized companies. He also serves as an outside Director for Leasing Technologies International, Inc. (LTI) and Verance Corporation.

Kaufman has been a member of WBUR’s Executive Committee since its inception more than 10 years ago. He is a consistent, generous contributor to the station and has a particular interest in and sensitivity to financial issues, as well as matters relating to electronic media.

Elaine Kirshenbaum
Vice President of Policy, Planning, and Member Services
Massachusetts Medical Society
Elaine Kirshenbaum is vice president of Policy, Planning, and Member Services at the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine.

As vice president, Ms. Kirshenbaum oversees several areas of the organization including Health Policy, Health Systems, Strategic Planning, Membership, and Continuing Education and Certification.  She has been associated with the MMS since 1996 and has worked in health care for over thirty years. 

Ms. Kirshenbaum is a trustee of Boston University and a member of the Board of Visitors of Boston University School of Medicine.  She is also a member of the Anti- Defamation League's Executive Board.

Mrs. Kirshenbaum earned her B.A., M.Ed., and M.P.H. from Boston University and is a graduate of the Harvard University Executive Program, Skills for the New World of Health Care.  She has two grown children and resides in Sudbury with her husband, a cardiologist.

Peter Meade
Executive Vice President
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Peter Meade directs Public Relations, Government Relations, Legislative Affairs, Community Relations, Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Communications in his position as Executive Vice President for BCBSMA. For his lifetime commitment to diversity and justice in the community, Meade has been honored with the 2003 Chairperson’s Award from the Anti- Defamation League of New England.

Meade is one of Boston’s most active and influential business/civic leaders and possesses broad experience in both the public and private sectors. During the administration of Boston Mayor Kevin H. White, Meade served the City of Boston as public safety coordinator and commissioner of parks and recreation. From 1983 to 1992, he worked as a radio talk show host at WBZ-AM, gaining a reputation for astute political analysis and commentary. Meade’s business background further includes serving as vice president at Warner Amex Cable Communications and president and CEO of The New England Council.

In addition, Meade is an active volunteer and leader for various not-for-profit organizations. He is a Knight of Malta and currently serves as Chairman of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. Meade co-chairs the MassInc Board of Directors and serves on the Board of Directors for the Anti- Defamation League of New England and the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. He also serves as an advisor for the New England Futures project.

Mary Jo Meisner
Vice President for Communications
The Boston Foundation
Mary Jo Meisner joined the Boston Foundation in November 2001 as Vice President for Communications, Community Relations and Public Affairs. In her current capacity, she is responsible for all of the Foundation's communications, media relations, public affairs, community outreach and civic leadership activities, including the Boston Indicators Project and helping shaping the Foundation's public policy initiatives.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Meisner spent 25 years in the newspaper business as a reporter, editor and news executive at newspapers throughout the United States. From April 1997 to February 2001, she was Editor and Vice Chairman of Community Newspaper Company, New England's largest newspaper publisher, with more than 1 million readers each week. The company was sold to the Boston Herald in February 2001.

From June 1993 to January 1997, Meisner was the Editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where she oversaw the merger of the afternoon Milwaukee Journal and the morning Milwaukee Sentinel in April 1995. Prior to joining the Journal as Editor in 1993, Meisner was Managing Editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. From 1987 to 1991, Meisner was City Editor of the Washington Post, where she was responsible for the coverage of the city of Washington and oversaw the investigations of then-Mayor Marian Barry.  She also has served as Metropolitan Editor of the San Jose (CA) Mercury News and Metropolitan Editor of the Philadelphia Daily News. She started her career as a reporter for the Wilmington News- Journal in Wilmington, Delaware.

She is a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and a board member of the International Press Institute (IPI), and previously served on the board of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association. She has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror three times and was chair of the 1996 ASNE Writing Awards. In addition, she has taught various writing, editing, journalism ethics and management courses at the Maynard Institute, The Poynter Institute and the American Press Institute.

She serves on the board of several Boston area organizations, including the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay, the Greater Boston Food Bank, the ACCESS Scholarship Program and the Board of Overseers of the Boys & Girls Club of Boston.  She lives in Boston with her son.

Thomas Mottl
Principal, Stratec Consulting
In his capacity as Principal of Stratec Consulting, based in Reading, MA, Mottl works as a probono venture adviser and management consultant to public agencies and the private sector on initiatives related to information technology, computing and telecommunication applications. The primary focus for his interests and involvements centers on strategic planning and related assessment and development of business strategies.

Prior to forming Stratec in 1995, Mottl was an operating Division Director and Corporate Vice President at TASC, a mid-sized ICT corporation. He worked in research and development at Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1968 to 1976 and was on the faculty and research staff of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan from 1959 to 1968.

Mottl serves as a member of the Board of Directors and as Secretary General to the internationally-based World Teleport Association in New York City. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of The Intelligent Community Forum, a not-for-profit think-tank that focuses on job creation and economic development in the broadband economy and CitySoft, an Internet software provider for associations, nonprofits and educational institutions. Mottl received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a B.S.E.E. from Purdue University.

Mottl currently chairs WBUR’s New Media Advisory Committee.

William Poorvu
William Poorvu is the Class of 1961 Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship Emeritus at Harvard Business School. For several decades he was responsible for and taught the real estate courses at HBS. He has authored several books and articles on real estate, the latest entitled The Real Estate Game.

Poorvu has been managing partner in a number of real estate companies and has served as consultant for various organizations in the private and public sectors. He is a founder and past Chairman of the Baupost Group L.L.C., an investment advisory firm for which he currently serves as Co-Chairman of its Board of Advisors. Poorvu has served as an independent Trustee of the MFS Group of Mutual Funds, a Director of CBL & Associates, Trammell Crow Realty Investors and Connecticut General Mortgage and Realty Investments. Poorvu also served as Treasurer, Vice Chairman, President, and Director of Boston Broadcasters, Inc., licensee of WCVB-TV Channel 5, Boston, from the company's founding in 1963 to its on-air launch in 1972 and ultimate sale in 1982.

In addition to his formal work responsibilities, Poorvu is a Life Trustee and former Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; a Trustee and Treasurer of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Trustee and Vice Chairman of the National Public Radio Foundation; member of the Investment Committee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York; and a former member of the Yale University Council and of its Investment Committee. He also was a member of the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Panel on America’s Overseers Presence in the 21st Century.

Poorvu has served on WBUR’s Executive Committee for more than five years.

Richard Snyder
Partner, Duane Morris LLP
As a partner for the Boston-based office of Duane Morris, Richard Snyder practices business, lending, real estate and international law. He serves as legal counsel and adviser to business entities, including for-profit and not-for-profit institutions, as well as domestic and foreign corporations. Much of his practice involves the development of business and legal initiatives and the supervision of large and complex transactions in which sizeable legal teams represent each party. He is a member of the American, Massachusetts, Vermont and Boston bar associations.

Snyder served as a White House summer intern and was a trial lawyer with the Department of Justice before entering private practice in 1966. He continues to be active in civic and charitable endeavors, serving in state and municipal positions, as well as chairing college and civic boards and committees. Snyder currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Overseers of Babson College.

Snyder is a 1966 graduate of Georgetown University (LL.M.), a 1963 honors graduate of Boston University School of Law, and an honors graduate of Babson College, where he majored in accounting.

Not only has Snyder served previously as a WBUR Executive Advisory Board member and chair of its Development Committee, he is also a generous contributor to and strong supporter of the station.

Micho Spring
Chairperson, U.S. Corporate Practice and New England
Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Micho Spring’s work at Weber Shandwick Worldwide (formerly BSMG Worldwide) focuses on enabling corporate clients to use communications strategies to better support their business strategies or respond to public policy challenges.

Spring has garnered extensive experience as a senior manager in both the public and private sectors. Her experience includes six years as President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Telecommunications Company, which provided high-tech telecommunications services to professional service firms, and four years as Deputy Mayor of the City of Boston. She also served as Chief of Staff to Boston Mayor Kevin H. White after four years of service in New York City government.

As a public official, civic leader and independent commentator, Spring has helped shape public debate on numerous issues in Boston and elsewhere. She has managed numerous political and public issue campaigns, in addition to appearing as a panelist on WCVB-TV's public affairs show "Five on Five."

Spring served on the host committee for the National Democratic Convention, Boston 2004, Inc., and is currently on the boards of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau; Brigham and Women's Hospital; Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce; John F. Kennedy Library; and The Boston Foundation; on the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and on the Advisory Board of the Taubman Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Spring is a director of Citizens Bank of Massachusetts.

Spring has received several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Women's Network, the Women in Business Leadership Award by the New England Business Council, and the Order of Isabel La Catolica Award presented by King Juan Carlos of Spain. Most recently, she received a 2003 Leading Women Award from the Girls Scouts of Greater Boston, Patriots' Trail Council and the Leadership Award by the Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce.

Spring is active in various Cuban-American charitable causes and lives in Boston’s Back Bay.