The NAB Leadership Foundation is honored to announce the class of 2020. This class comes from radio, television, software companies and more. Please join us in celebrating our next group of leaders.
Vice President/General Manager
KXXV-TV/ The E.W. Scripps
Waco, Texas
Adam has worked in TV and radio since 2004 and currently holds the position of vice president and general manager for Scripps stations KXXV Waco and KRHD Bryan, Texas. Prior to this, Adam served as vice president and general manager for KERO, the Scripps station in Bakersfield, Calif., from 2016-2018. Chase, an Oklahoma native, attended Northeastern State University and has a bachelor's degree in business administration.
printVice President/General Manager
KXXV-TV/ The E.W. Scripps
Waco, Texas
Vice President and General Manager
Fox Carolina/Meredith Corporation
Greenville, Sc.
Holub got his start at WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio, as a production engineer. He then joined Hart Associates, Inc, a full-service ad agency in Toledo as their senior writer and producer. While there, he worked on campaigns for several Fortune 500 companies.
In 1997, Holub was named promotion manager and sports marketing director at WAXN and WSOC-TV in Charlotte, N.C. He was part of the management team that was awarded the television rights for the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, WNBA’s Charlotte Sting and the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
In less than three years, he helped bring WAXN, a true independent station, from seventh to fourth overall rated station in the market. He also launched “Action News at 10 p.m.,” and in less than one year it was the number one rated 10 p.m. newscast in the market. Holub’s creative services team in Charlotte became the most-award winning staff in the market.
Holub joined KTVU and KICU-TV in San Francisco in 2001 as the director of Marketing, where he was responsible for the management of the Creative Services, Design, Program Services and Retail Services departments. He helped KTVU continue and expand its dominance as the ratings leader in the Bay Area and increased ratings on KICU across all dayparts.
In 2013, Holub joined WGCL and WPCH-TV in Atlanta as creative services Director. He helped move WGCL to third place in a number of newscasts for the first time in the history of the station and increased ratings in every single time period on WPCH.
An active member of the community, Holub currently serves on the advisory board for Page Turners Make Great Learners. He has also served on the executive leadership team for Go Red for Women with the American Heart Association and has volunteered for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Vice President and General Manager
FOX Carolina/Meredith Corporation
Greenville, Sc.
Vice President, Finance
WTTG FOX 5/WDCA FOX 5 Plus
Washington, D.C.
Sue Diviney joined WTTG and WDCA, the FOX-owned duopoly in D.C., as vice president of Finance on January 23, 2017. Sue is responsible for all financial functions for the duopoly and reports to Patrick Paolini, vice president and general manager.
Previously, Sue worked for CNN for fifteen years, most recently serving as senior director of Finance, where she managed financial responsibilities for CNN-U.S. including programming, newsgathering, digital, election coverage and special events.
Sue graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, Mercer University with an Executive Master of Business Administration in International Business and passed the CPA exam.
Vice President, Finance
WTTG FOX 5/WDCA FOX 5 Plus
Washington, D.C.
General Manager
KHBT/Riverfront Broadcasting LLC
Humboldt, Iowa
Kathi Kolar’s career in broadcasting began in 1994 in sales at KIAQ and KTLB in Fort Dodge, Iowa. In 1997, she moved to Des Moines, Iowa, as the local sales manager of KJJY and KRKQ. In 2000, Kathi found herself on the other side of radio working for an advertising agency, bringing on 22 new clients to the agency, placing and producing all print, billboards, television and radio for her clients.
In 2005, Kathi moved to Tallahassee, Fla. to work for WWOF/WQLT/WANK/WHTF for a short period. In late 2006, Kathi found her way back home as the market manager at KHBT-FM in Humboldt, Iowa, and became the general manager in 2016. Kathi takes pride in focusing on the success of her staff and the Humboldt community.
General Manager
KHBT/Riverfront Broadcasting LLC
Humboldt, Iowa
Vice President/General Manager
WJXT and WCWJ
Jacksonville, Fla.
Bob Ellis is the vice president and general manager of WJXT and WCWJ, the Graham Media Group, Inc. (GMG) duopoly in Jacksonville, Fla. He has held the position with WJXT since 2009 and added WCWJ duties in 2017 after GMG completed its acquisition of the station from Nexstar Broadcasting. Under Ellis’ leadership, WJXT has widened the gap as the most-watched television station in Jacksonville. In 2013 Ellis was named General Manager of the Year for markets 25-50 by Broadcasting and Cable Magazine, the industry’s leading trade publication.
Ellis has helped WJXT sharply focus its efforts to leverage their News4JAX news brand to its digital platforms. The station’s news4jax.com is Jacksonville’s number one source for local news and information, distancing itself from all other local media in the market including newspapers. In 2014, news4jax.com earned the national Edward R. Murrow award as the best local television website in the United States. On WCWJ, he has worked to strengthen its local brand in the market developing and launching several local programs including “The Mark Brunell Show,” a weekly Jacksonville Jaguars football show featuring the former Jaguars quarterback and “JaxBest,” a comprehensive local online guide to all the best places to see, eat and experience Jacksonville.
Ellis has led WJXT in launching several innovative projects to emphasize its popular station brand, The Local Station. WJXT turned Jacksonville’s annual July 4th fireworks show into a prime-time television event celebrating the active and former military members at the two military bases located in the market. He also started “PositivelyJax,” a station-wide project that inspires viewers by telling stories about people and organizations leading positive efforts to make Jacksonville a better place to live. The station has turned the market’s regional spelling bee into and prime-time broadcast event, televised the first-ever local high school musical into a prime-time show, and created “Bold City Showcase,” a one-day high school football event featuring six local teams in three games played on one field, all broadcast live on WJXT. In 2014, Ellis won the Station Excellence Emmy Award from the Suncoast chapter of National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Before joining WJXT, Ellis had been news director of WDIV, the Graham Media Group, Inc. station in Detroit. Previously he served in many other management roles at WDIV including assistant news director and executive producer of Special Projects. He began his TV career in sports; his first job was producer of the football and basketball coaches’ shows at Michigan State University. Ellis is an 11-time Emmy winner and has earned several regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and state broadcast association honors throughout his career.
In addition to serving on the board of the Florida Association of Broadcasters, Ellis is very active in the Jacksonville community. He is a trustee with the Jacksonville Chamber; serves on the board of Goodwill Industries of North Florida; is a member of the advisory board of the Career Academies for the St. John’s County School District; is on the board of High School 9:12, a local organization helping to prepare students for college and is a board member for Take it to Heart, a nonprofit program in Jacksonville focused on educating minority women about heart disease.
He is also a member of the Chairman’s Club for the Jacksonville Sports Council, the organization dedicated to generating economic impact and growth through sports in Jacksonville, including running the annual Gator Bowl college football game played each January.
A Michigan native, Ellis is a proud graduate of Michigan State University and holds a BA in Radio, Television, and Digital Communication. He and his wife Melanie have two children.
Vice President/General Manager
WJXT and WCWJ
Jacksonville, Fla.
President and Co-founder
vCreative
Babson Park, Fla.
Jinny is the leader of a growing technology company that services over 4,000 local radio, digital and TV stations, networks and national media companies with cloud-based workflow solutions.
She is an advocate of women’s causes. She has been involved with Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio and the Association of Women in Media since 2008 and has been a judge for the Gracie Awards. Jinny is a co-founder and board member for a nonprofit that rescues preteen and teen girls out of sex trafficking in Honduras. She also serves on the board of her local church. Jinny tries to set an example to young women by balancing her work life to spend as much time as possible with her husband, four daughters, two sons and grandson.
Radio has always been a part of Jinny’s life. Her father owned a radio station for over 30 years and she was married to a station manager for 15 years. Prior to her career in radio, Jinny was a manager at Red Lobster, where she was instrumental in opening three new restaurants. In 1994, Jinny left the workforce to be a work-from-home mom with Mary Kay Cosmetics. By 2001, she had been awarded the Unit Queen of Sales and Recruiting for five consecutive years and earned a May Kay company car as a result of her sales and recruiting achievements.
Her official radio career began in 2001, where she worked various positions from copywriter, on air personality, sales and production. In 2003, Jinny began a freelance production company, TLCreative Advertising, LLC, which offered copywriting, voice-overs and production services to businesses and media agencies. Jinny was hired in 2004 as creative services director for the St Pier Group, owned by Tony Renda. In 2005, she won her first of four PAB awards for commercial production. That same year, her husband John developed a web-based workflow application that helped her maximize her creative time and get home on time. That continuity workflow software continued to develop and in 2008, launched to the radio industry as vCreative.
President and Co-founder
vCreative
Babson Park, Fla.
Station Manager
WFMV-FM/Glory Communications
Columbia, S.C.
Kevin E. Felder is a Columbia, S.C., native and class of 2000 graduate of Wake Forest University. A radio professional of twelve years, Kevin rose in the ranks from account executive to local sales manager at WFMV in Columbia, S.C., and now serves as station manager of Millennial FM 95.9, one of the nation’s only 24-hour FM Christian hip hop/pop radio stations.
An avid member of Columbia’s business scene, Kevin has served as co-organizer of “1 Million Cups Columbia,” a weekly program designed to connect, educate and engage entrepreneurs. He is also recipient of The State Newspaper’s “20 Under 40” Award, presented to rising business stars under the age of 40 who are committed to improving life in South Carolina’s capital city.
Kevin is the proud husband of his college sweetheart Dr. Tisha Felder, proud father of three and proud member of the broadcast industry.
Station Manager
WFMV-FM/Glory Communications
Columbia, S.C.
Director of Sales
Cox Media Group Atlanta
Atlanta, Ga.
Jaleigh Long is a 16-year veteran of the media industry. In her career, she has sold and managed in small, medium and large markets including Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana and, currently, Atlanta. Jaleigh became general sales manager for Cox Media Group in Atlanta in 2014 and was promoted to director of Sales in early 2017.
Growing and developing top talent is her main priority, as it makes a meaningful impact on both the business and the people. Her current focus is staying up to date with new concepts and ideas that lead to more focused methods to meet targeted business goals.
Director of Sales
Cox Media Group Atlanta
Atlanta, Ga.
Director of Operations
WOOD TV/Nexstar Media
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Kevin Ferrara is the director of Operations at Magis Media, in Kalamazo, Mich. With more than 30 years in broadcasting and 18 years senior management experience, Kevin builds and supports high performing teams that innovate to grow audience and revenue shares.
Kevin was instrumental in the effort to identify and develop the brand at WOOD-TV in 2003 as part of a long-term strategy to build loyal viewers for television and digital. His successes at WOOD have been noted throughout the LIN, Media General and Nexstar Media groups. As a result, he has consulted with numerous markets to help build brands, launch lifestyles programming and improve revenue.
In 2017, Kevin led projects to develop two downtown street view studios for WOOD to expand news coverage and engage the broad geography the station serves. He’s developed exclusive partnerships with the biggest events in West Michigan, driving viewership and revenue growth for the station. Kevin’s big picture vision has allowed the station to form unique relationships with large organizations, local governments and clients.
Kevin is most proud of the talented people he’s recruited and developed. He believes that without a team that has a clear understanding of the organization’s goals and an appreciation of the value they bring to the table, none of his successes would have been possible. Kevin is passionate that an operation’s unique competitive advantage is its people.
Kevin serves on multiple committees supporting community efforts including the Children’s Hospital, Arts Council and the local Downtown Development Authority. Married to Laura for 25 years, he is the proud father of two adult children, Alex and Wally.
Director of Operations
WOOD TV/Nexstar Media
Grand Rapids, Mich.
News Director
WREX-TV/Quincy Media, Inc.
Rockford, Ill.
Josh Morgan is the station manager and news director at WREX-TV in Rockford, Ill. Josh joined WREX and Quincy Media in March 2013. Rockford is Josh’s third television market after working at both WLUK Green Bay, Wisc., and WPSD Paducah, Ky. Since Morgan joined WREX, the station has won more than 100 state, regional and national journalism awards. Those honors are highlighted by 12 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, including four straight awards for Overall Excellence. In 2018, WREX won the National Murrow Award for Overall Excellence, the first National Murrow in the station’s 65-year history. WREX was also a proud finalist for a 2018 Service to America Award.
Josh serves as the current president of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association (INBA), a position he was elected to in 2018. Josh has served on the INBA board since 2017. His professional goal is to become general manager at WREX and eventually have the opportunity to take on a leadership role in Quincy Media.
Personally, Josh loves to travel and play golf. He’s visited 45 of the 50 states and has a trip planned in 2020 to knock out the last five. He’s also visited 10 countries abroad, playing a round of golf in as many of them as possible! Josh is married to his wife Kristin, who is also the evening anchor at WREX. While they don’t have any kids yet, their three rescue dogs Koda, Rudy and Griffin keep them plenty busy!
News Director
WREX-TV/Quincy Media, Inc.
Rockford, Ill.
Market Manager
KXLY/Morgan Murphy Media
Spokane, Wash.
Tery Garras is a 28 year radio veteran, currently serving as market manager of the Queen B Radio Group and Phase 3 Digital in Spokane, Wash. Queen B Radio has a cluster of seven radio stations in Spokane, focused on live and local programming. Phase 3 Digital is a full service digital marketing agency.
Tery started her career at KIOK-FM in Kennewick, Wash., on the administrative side of the business. From there she moved into local sales in the Spokane market, progressing through sales management roles before becoming the market manager of Queen B Radio four years ago. She has been with Queen B Radio for a total of 18 years and was named one of Radio Ink's Best Radio Managers in the fall of 2018.
When Tery is not devising strategies to help businesses grow and trying to stay on top of the new digital trends, you'll find her spending time with her husband, four children, two grandsons and dog.
Market Manager
KXLY/Morgan Murphy Media
Spokane, Wash.
General Sales Manager
Urban One
Richmond, Va.
Currently, Brittney serves as the general sales manager and internship coordinator at Radio One Inc. in Richmond, Va., where she is responsible for recruiting and developing new talent, leading the local sales team and increasing annual revenue. Brittney was quickly recognized as a top-performing, competitive sales leader with high impact results in meeting and exceeding sales goals, acquiring new accounts, growing key accounts and boosting overall team morale. She was promoted into sales management just two short years after coming to the company as an account executive.
Prior to coming to Radio One, Brittney worked in Washington, D.C., for Katz Media Group, iHeart Media and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. At Katz Media Group, Brittney supported over 50 TV stations and 200 markets nationally with billing over $20 million during peak political months.
For her efforts, Brittney has been featured in Radio Ink as an “African American Future Leader in Radio” and “Future Most Influential Women in Radio.” A career learner, Brittney has completed such competitive leadership and mentorship programs as the RAB/BMI/MIW “Rising through the Ranks” Women in Radio Program, the MIW Mildred Carter Mentorship Program, the Leadership Development Program and Executive Development Seminar hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters Education Fund (NABEF), and the fifth annual “Best of the Best” Leadership class selected by the Virginia Association of Broadcasters.
Always looking for ways to impact the next generation of media stars, Brittney has served as a repeat speaker for the NABEF’s Media Sales Institute and was a speaker at the 2016 Radio Show.
Brittney is a proud graduate of Howard University. She is a current member of the Junior League of Richmond, the Howard University Alumni Chapter in Richmond and serves on the Board for Central Virginia African American Chamber of Commerce.
Brittney lives daily by these words from the late Steve Jobs, “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.”
General Sales Manager
Urban One
Richmond, Va.
General Manager
KSWV Radio
Santa Fe, N.M.
Estevan Gonzales is a radio broadcast owner that has experience in engineering, business, government relations and project management. As an independent radio owner, Mr. Gonzales is focused on hyper-local content and programming that includes talk, local sports and a music selection that is unique and entertaining. Mr. Gonzales is results-driven and champions workflow efficiency practices and organizational excellence processes. His professional aspiration is to grow his broadcasting company into a broadcasting network. Mr. Gonzales is a graduate of New Mexico State University and Stanford University and is a project management professional. He resides in Santa Fe, N.M., with his wife Adi-Risa Gonzales and their three kids Adaiah, Asher and Amarisa. In his spare time, Mr. Gonzales enjoys spending time with his family and cultivating relationships.
printGeneral Manager
KSWV Radio
Santa Fe, N.M.
Senior Vice President Media Sales
WXTV-TV/Univision Communications
New York, N.Y.
Antonio Roman is the senior vice president of Local Media New York Sales for Univision New York. Antonio leads the company’s N.Y.-based sales teams across TV, digital, radio and experiential marketing. In this role, Antonio works closely with Univision clients in the tri-state area to help them engage audiences and implement effective advertising and sales strategies to meet evolving market trends.
Most recently, Antonio served as senior vice president of National Sales, leading the Television Group advertising sales operations across the country with offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta and Detroit. He managed a portfolio of 97 properties with a focus on sports and entertainment franchises in more than 50 markets, regularly outperforming growth projections.
Prior to joining the National Sales team in 2012, Antonio served in various positions within Univision since starting with the company in 1996, including account management, local sales management, business development and network sales among his many roles. Antonio started his career as an account executive for a Dallas-based advertising agency and as a broadcast buying supervisor at an advertising agency in San Antonio. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón and resides in Westchester, N.Y. with his wife and three children.
Senior Vice President Media Sales
WXTV-TV/Univision Communications
New York, N.Y.
President and General Manager
KVUE/TEGNA
Austin, Texas
In 2016, Kristie Gonzales joined KVUE as president and general manager, leading one of the top television stations in Central Texas, owned by TEGNA Inc. She manages a staff of more than 125 employees who produce 33 hours of award-winning live news and programming each week. Under her leadership, KVUE became the most-watched news station, winning five out of seven weekday news time periods among the coveted demographic of adults aged 25 to 54 in the May 2019 ratings period.
"Kristie is a rising star in this industry…" - TEGNA Media President Dave Lougee.
Before moving to Austin, she was the promotion and digital brand manager at WABC New York, the most-watched local station in the country. Previous to WABC, Kristie held management positions at various television stations across the country, including creative services and local programming director at WTVD North Carolina and creative services and public affairs director at KSFN Fresno, Calif. She also spent nearly five years in Philadelphia, Pa., as a promotion producer, creating marketing campaigns for WPVI.
Kristie is a dynamic and adept leader with experience creating strategic campaigns that harness the power of digital platforms to grow audiences in highly diverse markets. She was nominated in 2013 to represent ABC-owned television stations on the Disney ABC Television Group Hispanic Task Force. In May 2016, she was honored with the Latino Trendsetter Award where she shared her motto, “As you climb, lift.” In 2017, Austin’s Tribeza Magazine named her a “Driver of Style” and in 2018, she was named to “Austin Under 40” by the Young Women’s Alliance and Young Men’s Business League. In 2019, Seedling Mentors named her a “Fab Five” along with Austin mayor Steve Adler.
Committed to her professional and personal communities, Kristie is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and serves on the board of directors for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Make-A-Wish Central and South Texas, the SAFE Alliance, United Way for Greater Austin and Vision for Equality. She is vice chair of Communication for the Austin Chamber.
Originally from Southern California, Kristie was raised primarily in Albuquerque, N.M., where she graduated summa cum laude with double honors from the University of New Mexico. She studied painting and minored in journalism.
President and General Manager
KVUE/TEGNA
Austin, Texas
News Director
WLKY-TV/Hearst Television
Louisville, Ky.
Andrea Stahlman is news director for Louisville, Ky,’s highest rated broadcaster, Hearst Television’s WLKY. During Stahlman’s two-plus decades in news management, she has overseen the operations of a 60+ person news team, managed the production of numerous high-profile news specials and regular programs and executed coverage of countless breaking news events.
During this time, WLKY has been honored with numerous Regional Murrow Awards, Regional Emmy Awards and Associated Press Awards, but the station is also recognized for its active support and commitment to many local causes and charities in the Louisville area.
Stahlman is committed to developing strong reporters, anchors, photographers and producers who are passionate about adhering to the highest ethical standards. Her career-long commitment to the culture and credibility-building practices of Hearst Television have made her a proud company leader.
Stahlman is an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame and a graduate of the Hearst Management Institute. She also serves as the Region 8 Director for the Radio Television Digital News Association and is a board member for the Kentucky Associated Press Broadcasters.
While managing the demands of her career as a news executive, Stahlman also is a proud mother of three boys from age 6 to 17.
News Director
WLKY-TV/Hearst Television
Louisville, Ky.
Partner Success Manager
Futuri Media
Jacksonville, Fla.
AJ Vaughan is the partner success manager for TopLine at Futuri Media, working with TopLine’s radio markets across the United States on revenue development, training and engagement. He joined Futuri Media at the beginning of 2019, coming from Cox Media Group in Jacksonville, Fla.
In his 12-plus years at Cox Media Group, he held roles of account executive, local sales manager, digital sales manager and general sales manager. During his tenure at Cox Media Group, he held leadership roles in training and development, event/sponsorship sales, digital revenue and Cox Corporate Research initiatives.
AJ started his broadcast sales career with Clear Channel Radio (now iHeartMedia) in sales roles in Huntington, W.Va., and Columbus, Ohio, just after graduating with from Ohio University with a focus on media sales and management.
Partner Success Manager
Futuri Media
Jacksonville, Fla.
Vice President, Sales Operations
Tribune Media
Dallas, Texas
Melanie Webb is corporate revenue operations lead for TEGNA. In this role, she is responsible for sales operational excellence across the organization. Prior to this role, she worked for Tribune Media as vice president, Sales Operations for its Broadcasting division for four years. There, she was responsible for strategic and tactical leadership for Tribune’s sales systems and processes, traffic operations and related analytics of the company’s portfolio of 42 broadcast television stations.
Webb started out in the industry as a sales assistant at Blair Television in Atlanta and worked her way up over the years. She has worked in a variety of large markets for the NBC owned-and-operated station group, including Atlanta, New York and Chicago, before joining TEGNA-owned WFAA in Dallas as an account executive in 2005. During that time, she grew in her responsibilities there by also managing both national and local sales teams during her tenure at the station. After 10 years at WFAA, Webb moved to Austin as director of Sales at KVUE.
Webb is an honor graduate of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., which is also her hometown. She’s involved in a variety of media organizations and in 2010 was nominated by American Women in Media for their Award of Excellence for Station Sales Management. Webb lives in Dallas with her husband and two children.
Vice President, Sales Operations
Tribune Media
Dallas, Texas
Vice President/General Manager
KGWN-TV/Gray TV
Cheyenne, Wy.
Tregg White is the vice president and general manager of KGWN-TV in Cheyenne, Wyo. KGWN-TV is owned by Gray Media Group and is the affiliate station for CBS, NBC and CW networks in the Cheyenne television market.
Tregg joined KGWN in 2007 as the station’s news director. A year later, he helped create a station in Fort Collins, Colo., through KGWN-TV’s digital subchannel and later named station manager of the station’s Colorado operation.
Prior to joining KGWN, Tregg spent 11 years in news serving in various positions such as reporter, anchor and executive producer. In 23 years, his career in television broadcasting has split nearly equally between news, sales and station management.
Married with three children, time away from the station is spent with the family and attending his kids’ extracurricular activities. Tregg is also active in the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters, currently serving as the chairman of the board of directors.
Vice President/General Manager
KGWN-TV/Gray TV
Cheyenne, Wy.
