PHILLYCAM ANNOUNCES 2021-2022 BOARD DIRECTORS

Bringing experience in community engagement, people centered journalism, non-profit management and television and radio production to the board.

Philadelphia (May 10, 2020) — Today PhillyCAM – the community media center that trains Philadelphians in broadcast production and airs original content on Philadelphia’s public access television and WPPM 106.5 FM – announced the election of eight members to its Board of Directors.

Via an online ballot, PhillyCAM members elected Sharp Hall, Charlene Horne, Diana Lu, Michelle Kim, and Kristine Villanueva, and re-elected Elizabeth Estrada, Susan Hauck, and Anthony Mazza bringing the board total to 19. They will serve on the board for a 2-year term.

Also joining the board are two newly appointed members -- Shelley Wolfe, appointed by the Philadelphia School District, and Lynn Williamson, appointed by the Free Library of Philadelphia.  

The PhillyCAM board recognized outgoing Board members — Charles Gregory, Melanie Harris, Lorne Peart, and Lauren Settles — for their service.  Gregory, Harris, and Settles termed off after having served the organization for six years.

Here is a link to video statements for all the new members talking about what they hope to bring to their board service.

BIOS

Newly Elected Board Members:

Sharp Hall, of West Philadelphia’s Cedar Park, helped build the studio for PhillyCAM’s radio station, WPPM, in 2016. He currently leads the operations team at Connectify, Inc, a local company providing VPN service to customers and is involved with Prometheus Radio Project, a local non-profit advocating on behalf of community radio stations. He’s worked as a software developer and system administrator. He interned at public radio show “Echoes” and also served on the Board of The Hacktory, a local maker space.

Charlene Horne, a Mt. Airy native, has a 40-year career in broadcast television, having risen from through the ranks at CBS3 from intern to the station’s video production supervisor. Having recently retired from CBS3, Charlene renewed her passion for community empowerment. She has sat on several Boards, including Tap Team II Dance Company, Freedom Theatre, and currently serves on the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists’ Executive Board as its Vice President of Broadcast. She runs her own media company, Phoenix Rising Productions, and understands what’s needed to support video production and impactful visual storytelling. Her work has earned several honors including an Emmy and a Philadelphia Association of Black Journalist Impact Award. She has been inducted into the Pennsylvania Broadcast Hall of Fame and the 2020 NATAS Silver Circle.

Diana Lu, of West Philadelphia, is a city planner who has spent more than ten years in the nonprofit, public, and media sectors working on economic development, placemaking, and resource redistribution. Currently, she manages the Germantown Info Hub, a community-centered journalism project that shares information for and by Germantown residents, and serves as the Community Engagement Editor for Root Quarterly, a Philadelphia-based print journal. Previously, she served as the Community Engagement Editor for WHYY’s PlanPhilly and as the Director of Partnerships and Outreach for Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, a public-private initiative focused on strengthening businesses through revenue generation and local job creation. She received her Masters in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and B.A. in Urban Studies and French from Vassar College. She serves on the Board of the Independence Business Alliance (Philly’s LGBTQ chamber of commerce), the finance committee for Women’s Community Revitalization Project, and steering committee for hotpot! Philly. In 2018, she was honored by Governor Tom Wolf’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs for her work in economic development and community engagement in the AAPI community.

Michelle Kim, of South Philadelphia, works at SEAMAAC’s Civic Engagement division. She earned her Masters of Education at Penn Graduate School of Education and then taught as a Social Studies and English teacher in the Philadelphia School District for several years. At the National Liberty Museum, she managed 5+ youth programs as well as a team of talented, innovative educators, and museum docents. She is Korean-American and her work focuses on creating a more inclusive community where immigrants and refugees have a seat at the table.

Kristine Villanueva, of South Philadelphia, leads Resolve Philly's initiative Equally Informed, which provides actionable news to communities in the city affected by the digital and information divide. Before Resolve, she was the audience engagement editor at the Center for Public Integrity, where she launched an investigative journalism project on the rise of anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also worked at POLITICO, Free Press News Voices New Jersey, and Spaceship Media. She is a proud Rutgers-Newark alum and CUNY Graduate School of Journalism alumna and adjunct.

Newly Appointed Board Members:

Lynn Williamson is the Chief of Neighborhood Library Services for the Free Library of Philadelphia, responsible for 49 neighborhood libraries and three regional libraries. Her primary focus is community engagement with all of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods. During her career, Lynn has served in various roles, including front line reference librarian, branch manager, government documents expert, and acting head of library materials purchasing. Originally from Middletown, Ohio, Lynn is a nature lover, recovering runner, and proud mother of two voracious readers.

Shelley Wolfe, is the Executive Director of PSTV the Education Channel for the School District of Philadelphia. She is a highly recognized collaborative change agent with an extensive background in the nonprofit sector and the entertainment industry. Through her experience she focuses on bridging industries through partnerships, technology, and media.She has spent 23 years working in community television, running three PEG stations across the country that encompassed numerous channels.

Returning Members:

Elizabeth Estrada, of South Philadelphia, is the engagement editor at WHYY’s PlanPhilly. She is also a Cuban American multimedia producer dedicated to using the power of media to amplify local stories. From supporting independent filmmakers at various film nonprofits like Firelight Media and New York Women in Film & Television to working with youth at the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and interning at The Pulse podcast, her work is about empowering individuals to share their stories. Elizabeth is a 2018 CAMMY Award winner for her work on “Atrevete,” a bilingual special radio program that shares stories in both English and Spanish.

Susan Hauck, of Chestnut Hill, is Dean of Flexible Learning Options and Academic Technology at Community College of Philadelphia, where her responsibilities include providing strategic leadership for the College’s PEG Channel, CCPTV. This is Susan’s second term on the PhillyCAM Board. She provided leadership by serving as the Chair of the facilities committee and currently serves on the finance committee. She is a graduate of Temple University and Drexel University. She previously worked at a cable television news station and later at A&E.

Anthony “Ant0” Mazza, a Northeast Philadelphia (Mayfair) native and current Fishtown resident, has been a DJ/Programmer on WPPM since shortly after the station launched in 2017. He originally got involved with community media in 2000 at West Philly’s Radio Volta, a community-based, collectively operated, internet radio station. He then spent 10 years in development and administration with Prometheus Radio Project, a national organization, also based in West Philly, that led the fight at the FCC and Congress to get community radio stations on the air. This is his second term on the PhillyCAM Board, having served previously as Treasurer.

The full list of our board directors also includes: Denise James, Derwood Selby, Ernest Owens, Gigi Nikpour, Jihad Ali, Kyle Odum, Shameka Sawyer, Micheal Mitrione, and Pascale Valle.