Meet The 2025 Board Candidates

Jeffery Abramowitz

Jeffery Abramowitz is the CEO of the Petey Greene Program and past Executive Director of Justice Programming at JEVS Human Services. Jeff was born and raised in Philadelphia, currently lives in Fishtown, and for the past five years, has the honor of creating and hosting the Looking Forward Radio Show at PhillyCAM. Jeff also is the producer and host of the national Behind Every Employer Podcast and sits on several local and national boards including Philly Truce and the Coalition on Adult Basic Education.   
Jeff was a lawyer in Philadelphia when poor choices sent Jeff on a five-year journey through the criminal legal system and now has dedicated his life to working at the intersection of education, workforce development, and criminal justice. Jeff will always be indebted to PhillyCAM for giving him the opportunity to share his story and the stories of others facing the challenges of life.

Steffani El Barouki

Nominated by Esperanza

Steffani has a diverse professional background, including freelance writer, photographer, and videographer for local nonprofit organizations like Concilio and Esperanza. Her career evolved when she became the first producer of Atrevete at PhillyCAM, leading a team of 18 volunteers and producing 24 shows. Later, she became a bilingual interpreter for the School District of Philadelphia, which led to her role as a Spanish teacher at a private Christian school. She teaches photography and serves on her church's media team.
Shaffani’s passion for education led her to teach at Esperanza College in the Department of Media and Technology, where she is also an academic advisor and continues to mentor students. Steffani has a strong interest in immigration and served on the board of Esperanza Immigration Legal Services. Steffani’s experience in education, media, and community service, combined with her deep connections within the local Hispanic community, gives her a well-rounded perspective. She brings leadership, cross-cultural communication, and a passion for empowering underserved communities, to PhillyCAM board service. 

Rachel Courtney

Nominated by Community Legal Services

Rachel Courtney is completing her first term on the PhillyCAM Board and is excited to keep working! In her time on the board, Rachel has co-chaired the WPPM Steering Committee and has been working with the committee to re-examine the station's policies and procedures to bring it up to speed with all the changes since the station's founding. She has worked at nonprofits almost her entire career and has been involved in community media for over 10 years. She is proud to have the opportunity to help PhillyCAM grow, change and adapt for another two amazing and challenging years.

Sharp Hall

Sharp has been a software developer for 10 years. He works for the Brown Brothers Harriman bank, where he builds cybersecurity dashboards. Sharpe has been involved in various radio projects and organizations from interning at the public radio show Echoes and Prometheus Radio Project. Before that Sharpe got his start running the website and hosting a show on his college radio station and volunteering at PhillyCAM to help build the WPPM studio. His focus is on the technical aspects of media production, including audio engineering and broadcast engineering.

Sharp Hall has been a PhillyCAM board member since 2021. Formerly the PhillyCAM board secretary, and is currently PhillyCAM's treasurer.

Charlene Horne

Nominated by William Way LGBT Community Center

Charlene Horne is an experienced videographer, editor and multi-multimedia content creator and current PhillyCAM Board Chair. She began her career at CBS Television in Philadelphia and spent several decades there as the Video Production Supervisor for Eyewitness News. She earned a reputation for being a dedicated and highly skilled professional who consistently went above and beyond to contribute to the success of the news operation. 
Charlene is an Emmy-award winning editor and a Philadelphia Association Of Black Journalists “Impact Award” honoree. She has been inducted into The Broadcast Hall Of Fame as well as The Silver Circle for the NATAS Mid-Atlantic Chapter.   
In addition to serving as PhillyCAM’s Board Chair, Charlene serves on two other boards, PABJ’s Executive Board, where she works with aspiring journalists, and Garden State Film Festival. Her efforts have helped to deepen the GFFS’s commitment to the inclusive selection and showing of diverse films, showcasing her love of filmmaking and the arts.

Michelle Kim

Nominated by Termite TV

Michelle is an organizer, an advocate, educator, and dog mom. She cares deeply about equity and racial justice as well as convening/connecting with her community. Formerly, she used to work at an immigrant and refugee justice organization (SEAMAAC) where she was an organizer. She also used to teach in the School District as a high school English teacher. Michelle brings her skills in professional development, teaching, curriculum development, and project management to Board service at PhillyCAM. 

John Myers

John Myers is the Co-Founder of Rowhome Productions, a Philadelphia-based audio production agency specializing in podcasts, radio documentaries, and audio tours. Rowhome’s clients include organizations like BlackStar, Asian Arts Initiative and Temple University. 
John’s professional roots are in public radio; he spent 20 years working as a producer for WXPN and WHYY on the nationally distributed NPR shows World Cafe and Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

John was also a founding member of the Audible Originals team. He has taught radio production as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer. John lives in West Philly with his partner, two teenage sons, and a dog named Ellie. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and seeing live music.

Trenae Nuri

Trenae Nuri has soared in the podcasting world. She's currently the host of City Cast Philly -- the news daily podcast that explores Philadelphia. On the show, Trenae has conversations covering a range of community and cultural stories, news and events, and the Philadelphians who are working hard every day to make this city better. 

Formerly, Trenae was the producer of The Wall Street Journal's What's News and Secrets of Wealthy Women podcasts. She has also hosted both WSJ's Your Money Briefing and Minute Briefing podcasts. She was also a reporter and producer for WHYY’s 90.9fm Morning Edition and Radio Times with Marty-Moss-Coane. In 2015, Trenae was in the inaugural journalism cohort that launched PhillyCAM Voices, a community news magazine style show produced by PhillyCAM members. She’s also hosted season 2 of Philadelphia Young Playwrights podcast Mouthful. 

Dr. Shannon McLaughlin Rooney 

Nominated by Community College of Philadelphia

Dr. Shannon McLaughlin Rooney is the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Strategic Communications at Community College of Philadelphia. In this role, she leads the strategic enrollment management unit, the offices of institutional assessment and institutional research, and the office of strategic communications unit. Shannon's research, which focuses on journalism and public memory, has been published in Digital Journalism, Journalism, and Journalism Studies. Her dissertation, "Memory, Margins, and Materiality: The Philadelphia MOVE Bombing," earned the Cultural and Critical Studies Division dissertation award from AEJMC.

Shannon lives in Philadelphia’s Mt. Airy neighborhood with her husband, Chris, and also serves on the community advisory board for WHYY and the board of directors for Diversity Talks.