Greenwich Harbor Partners Assists Chalkbeat in Recruiting Board Members
October 22, 2020 – Although boards of directors are considered the backbones of organizations, director recruiting has grown markedly more challenging, say recruiters who conduct searches in that area. As a result, companies continue to turn to executive search firms to help find new board members.
Recently, Greenwich Harbor Partners partnered with Chalkbeat to expand its board, recruiting Karen Wishart, executive vice president of Urban One, and Roberto Yañez, president and GM of Local News New York for Univision. “It was a pleasure working with Elizabeth Green, founder of Chalkbeat, and the nominating committee to find new board members,” said Carrie Pryor, managing director of the search firm. “Chalkbeat has such an important mission providing essential reporting on education issues in local markets across the country.”
“As for-profit local new organizations retreat from in-depth news reporting, Chalkbeat provides an essential service reporting on local education news and issues,” Ms. Pryor said. “Part of the assignment was to recruit candidates who truly understood local news reporting on a national scale and could help represent diverse communities and views across the country. Karen Wishart and Roberto Yañez each have decades of experience in local news reporting and we expect they will be very helpful to Chalkbeat.”
Ms. Wishart is chief administrative officer of Urban One, the largest distributor of urban content in the country. She was previously president and CEO at Curzon Executive Search & Staffing. She spent eight years as executive VP, chief legal officer and secretary to the board at Urban One subsidiary TV One from 2005 to 2013. Before that she was VP, business affairs at Scripps Networks for nearly nine years.
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Mr. Yañez is president and general manager of Univision Local News New York (TV, radio and digital). He is a 34-year multi-media broadcast veteran, serving 24 of those years with Univision the No. 1 Spanish language media outlet and America’s Hispanic superbrand. As the Hispanic population continues to lead every key financial growth KPI, Mr. Yañez’s two decades of brand connection and optimization helps companies emotionally engage with this consumer via relevant cultural awareness aptitudes.
Chalkbeat is a non-profit news organization committed to covering the effort to improve schools for all children, especially those who have historically lacked access to a quality education. Chalkbeat’s support comes from a diverse mix of sources, including sponsors who pay for opportunities to share messages with our readers and donors who believe in its mission.
Veteran Recruiters
Greenwich Harbor Partners’ principals, Carrie and Ted Pryor, have worked in industry as general managers and investors and have direct professional experience with the types of issues that face their clients. The firm’s client roster includes IBM Cloud Services, Media General, Marlin Equity Partners, DIRECTV, SpinMedia, ReelzChannel TV and Keurig Green Mountain, among others.
Greenwich Harbor Partners Places Four Board Members for Teach for America
Greenwich Harbor Partners recently partnered with Teach for America to expand its board of advisors and recruited Elizabeth Thompson, chief people officer of Southeastern Grocers; Cindy Reynolds, chief philanthropy officer of Baptist Health; Riley Keys, general manager of Fanatics; and Kevin Hyde, managing partner of Jacksonville, Foley and Lardner.
Ms. Pryor has over 20 years of senior executive search experience. She has recruited board directors, CEOs and their direct reports, as well as partners for private equity firms. In addition to her board seat with the New York Pops, she serves as an advisory board member for Constellation Ventures. A veteran of the internet space since the early ’90s, she has deep experience in digital media, entertainment and private equity.
Ted Pryor focuses on senior-level assignments for general management, sales, marketing and digital transformation. He specializes in recruiting executives using his four years as CFO and CEO of a venture-backed start-up, 10 years at General Electric Capital and 20 years in international finance and investment banking. Mr. Pryor has served on public, private and non-profit boards and chaired the audit committee for the Boston Celtics. In executive recruiting, he has focused on business services, digital marketing, e-commerce, ad sales, place-based advertising, communications and customer service for growth companies and large national brands.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
