Widening the Lens
For everyone, 2021 was a year of challenges and constant adjustment, with continued recalibration and reassessment of priorities and focus. GBH used this time as an opportunity to further change the ways we make media and engage with our communities. We consciously widened our lens, broadened our perspectives, questioned our assumptions and expanded our frames of reference. We focused on details, to see the systems at play, their intricacies and their nuances.
We have discovered people, topics, insights and exchanges that we may have overlooked in the past. As we widened the lens, we collaborated with new creators, who delivered more diverse content and viewpoints. As a result, we’re more connected to our community than ever and inspired to examine and celebrate our common humanity.
Our mission remains our North Star: to enrich people’s lives through programs and services that educate, inspire and entertain while fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of learning and the power of diverse perspectives. In 2021, GBH engaged in a strategic planning process to guide a path for our future that would leverage GBH’s distinctive capabilities to be the pacesetter for public media in an ever-evolving media landscape. Supporting that work are four strategic pillars: growing audiences who consume and are inspired by our content; cultivating informed, engaged and vibrant local communities; building a high performing, diverse and effective organization and generating revenues to sustainably support these efforts. The foundation for everything we do is bolstered by our commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; innovation; growth and sustainability; and a collaborative and accountable culture.
GBH continued to play a leadership role in public media by building a durable, sustainable and measurable commitment to enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility— in our staff, content, news coverage and news sources, storytellers, audiences and our vendors and suppliers. We created key new positions to facilitate our continuing growth and evolution with our first-ever Chief Inclusion and Equity Officer Yemisi Oloruntola-Coates and the promotion of Donna Danielewski to become our first Executive Director of Accessibility. GBH joined Public Media for All, a coalition of public media workers led by people of color, raising awareness of the effects of a lack of diversity, equity and inclusion in public media, and sharing solutions for individuals and organizations.
GBH also recommitted to our responsibility to cover climate change, one of the most urgent crises of our times. GBH continues to feature the environment, environmental justice, conservation and climate change through investigative journalism, history, science and children’s programming, as well as local and international journalism.
Together with our communities and audiences we created opportunities to experience fresh perspectives, greater insight and closer bonds as Americans and as citizens of the Commonwealth. Together, we widened the lens.
GBH is simply the air that we breathe.
Journalism
Whether it was GBH News’ distinctive in-depth coverage of Boston’s historic mayoral race or FRONTLINE’s investigative journalism that covered the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan as well as the hundreds of civil rights-era cold cases in the U.S., GBH delivered the bigger picture, both nationally and locally. With live and streamed coverage, digital series, events and podcasts, GBH News provided content wherever our audiences were seeking news, analysis, context and unbiased reporting. GBH News earned three New England Emmy Awards. We concluded the yearlong reporting project COVID and the Classroom with CLASS of COVID, a 30-minute retrospective. Election 2021: Boston’s Race into History provided complete coverage of the historic mayoral race with a new television program, a newsletter, a virtual event and in-depth, curated digital content. The year 2021 was GBH News’ best year on 89.7 since 2018, reaching growing audiences across every time period and in every age group. Boston Public Radio had its most successful year since 2017, and both morning drive and evening drive audiences grew by more than 20% over 2020. The virtual event series The State of Race rolled out six live panel discussions that engaged key community partners and drew a robust online audience.
More JournalismScience
NOVA, now in its 49th season, has produced 900 episodes since it premiered in 1974. In 2021, this peerless science documentary series produced a stellar lineup of programs that widened the lens of science on today’s problems, puzzles and mysteries. With its mission to engage and inspire people around science, NOVA delivered podcasts, digital series, broadcast films and more to audiences around the world. With host Alok Patel, the biweekly “NOVA Now” podcast digs into the science behind the headlines and introduces listeners to the scientists, engineers, mathematicians and more who are working to deepen our understanding of the world. NOVA’s documentary Decoding COVID-19 brought viewers into the frontlines as doctors strategized to stop the spread and researchers raced to develop treatments and vaccines. The program won a 2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. Highlighting the importance of bringing more perspectives, insight and equity to all aspects of science, NOVA’s Picture a Scientist placed the spotlight on women in the sciences. Through the stories of a biologist, a chemist and a geologist, the film takes an investigative approach to examining systemic gender and racial biases in the sciences. Sciencing Out, a three-part video series, features women science communicators — historical figures paired with contemporary ones — and focuses on three communication strategies: engaging the public, building trust and visualizing data.
Children's Media & Education
For 50 years, GBH Kids’ groundbreaking children’s programming has emphasized inclusion. It began with the experimental series ZOOM, created almost entirely by children. ZOOM’s inclusivity and diversity helped shape the next generation of programs, which have focused on social-emotional learning, literacy, arts and creativity, STEM topics and civic engagement. Arthur, the first daily animated series on PBS, debuted in 1997, building a sense of connection and acceptance and presenting issues of health and emotional well-being with kindness and humor. After more than 250 half-hour episodes and seven one-hour specials, the 25th and final season will premiere in 2022. The series will live on with new content on new platforms, including a podcast and TikTok channel. Arthur, the longest-running kids animated series in history, is known for teaching kindness, empathy and inclusion through many groundbreaking moments to generations of viewers. Even over the last couple of years, Arthur continued to help kids understand the issues around them in such digital shorts as Wearing a Mask! Arthur on Racism: Talk, Listen and Act and Get Out the Vote! The Peabody Award-winning Molly of Denali, the first nationally distributed children’s program to feature an Alaska Native as the lead character, returned for Season Two. Molly of Denali has a television reach of more than 29.3 million viewers and over 4 million users and 400,000 users on PBS KIDS digital platforms each month. Scribbles and Ink, the character-driven, digital interactive series designed to let kids imagine and draw their own adventures, was recognized with Kidscreen’s Best Alternative Game award. The GBH Education team created a variety of multimedia resources for both the formal classroom and informal learning spaces. We continued to enhance the resources of PBS LearningMedia, curating free standards-aligned videos, interactives and lesson plans, ensuring that high quality content is available to learners everywhere. During the 2020-21 school year, 19 million users visited 99 million pages, including 82 million video streams.
More Children's Media & EducationHistory, Arts & Culture
Producing and presenting arts programming is a critical part of our mission — connecting communities and audiences through free, accessible offerings featuring dance, music, theater, painting and more. GBH’s commitment to developing new, innovative ways to connect audiences to history, arts and culture deepened during the pandemic at a time when our audiences needed it the most. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE’s 33rd season revealed a panorama of U.S. history by digging into the lessons of the past and exploring multiple perspectives and demographics to inform our complex present. Voice of Freedom told the rich life story of contralto Marian Anderson, exploring fundamental questions about talent, race, fame, democracy and the American soul. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is diversifying its roster of filmmakers, opening the door to new voices. GBH Fraser Performance Studio and Calderwood Studio played a starring role in giving music lovers a front row seat to live performances — from jazz to Baroque to opera. Supported by the Tällberg Foundation, GBH filmed “Jazz for the Planet,” a concert created to inspire positive climate action. We invited JazzBoston to livestream its JazzNOW series from our studios and hosted a performance recorded by world-renowned pianist Jonathan Biss that was later made available on the IDAGIO classical music platform. Boston Baroque moved its entire 2021-22 season to Calderwood, which was streamed live online. Open Studio with Jared Bowen visited with photographers and artists across the region and MASTERPIECE celebrated its 50th season with a diverse docket of drama and mystery. ANTIQUES ROADSHOW wrapped up a quarter century of discovery with its 2021 broadcast season including four first-time special Celebrity Edition episodes visiting the homes of famous fans to learn about their treasures. Later, ROADSHOW was back on the road in 2021 filming invited guests on closed sets at five distinctive historic locations for next season.
More History, Arts & CultureFinancials
GBH entered 2021 positioned for a strong future, thanks to the supporters who contributed to our extremely successful Campaign for GBH: Leadership in the Digital Century, which closed at the end of 2020. As a leading producer in the public media system reaching millions of people every week across multiple platforms, GBH has dedicated itself to continually broadening our perspectives, content, creators and audiences.
Continue to FinancialsLeadership
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President and Chief Executive Officer
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Chief Operating Officer
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Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
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Chief of Staff and Senior Director, Board Relations
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Vice President, National Programming
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Chief Marketing Officer
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General Manager for Television
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Vice President, Human Resources
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Vice President, Children’s Media and Education
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General Manager for Radio and News
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Vice President and General Counsel
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Vice President, Digital Services
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Executive Director, Strategy and Business Development
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Vice President, Development
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Vice President, Financial Planning and Business Services
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Chief Technology Officer
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Chief Inclusion and Equity Officer
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Vice President, Sponsorship and Membership
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Chair
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Vice Chair
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Vice Chair
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Vice Chair
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Chair Emeritus
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Chair Emerita
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Chair Emeritus
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Chair
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Senior Director
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Chair
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Bunker Hill Community College, Chair
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Care Dimensions
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Marsh & McLennan Agency – Northeast
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Suffolk Construction
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Morgan Stanley
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Cabot Corporation
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Mittcom
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Welch & Forbes
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ADB Marketing Communications
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MassChallenge
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Massachusetts Teachers Association
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Finn Partners
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Arcadia
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Hometap
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HATCH the Agency
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Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
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Jackson & Co.
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Dover Rug & Home
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Exploration School (EXPLO)
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Harvard Business School
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STKing Associates
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Rapid7
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The Castle Group
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Newton-Wellesley Hospital
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SunBug Solar
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Greenberg Traurig, LLP
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Atlantic Strategies
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National Trust for Historic Preservation
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NorBella
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Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
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Gentle Giant Moving Company, Inc.
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Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
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Boston Digital
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Cambridge Savings Bank
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Sametz Blackstone Associates
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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
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Museum of Science
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Liberty Mutual
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PowerOptions
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Tsung-Megason c/o Compass
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British International School of Boston
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The Annie Selke Companies
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Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
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ArtsEmerson
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The Children's Hospital Corporation DBA Boston Children’s Hospital
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Co-Chair
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Co-Chair
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President, Abrams Foundation
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Chief Executive Officer, International Data Group (IDG)
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Director, Wallace House, Knight-Wallace Fellowships and Livingston Awards
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Managing Director, Warburg Pincus
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Independent Consultant
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Director, Documentary Film Program, Sundance Institute
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Partner, President, and Chief Operating Officer, Nardello & Co.
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Director of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication; Co founder and Chair of Cortico
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Senior Advisor and Executive-in-Residence, General Catalyst
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Vice President, News Performance, Talent & Partnerships, Gannett and the USA TODAY Network
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President, Tow Foundation
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Retired Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation
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Retired Founder and CEO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
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Nobel Laureate and Paul J. Thomas Professor of Molecular Genetics and Director of the Jonsson Center for Molecular Genetics, UT Southwestern
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Senior Advisor, TA Associates
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Chairman, Hearst Corporation
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Partner, First Round Capital
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Division of Infectious Diseases, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
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Principal Trustee, Neil and Anna Rasmussen Foundation
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Co-Founder and Former CTO, American Power Conversion Corp.
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Retired Chairman, EMC Board of Directors
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Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, The AES Corporation
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President and Trustee, LSB Leakey Foundation
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Former Chairman and CEO, Dupont Photomasks, Inc.