CPB Board of Directors Elects Rubydee Calvert as Chair and Laura Ross as Vice Chair

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 8, 2024) - The Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting, today unanimously elected Rubydee (Ruby) Calvert of Wyoming as chair and Laura Ross of New York as vice chair. They will serve one-year terms.

"I am deeply honored to be elected as the CPB Board Chair," said Calvert, who has served as Vice Chair for the past two years, "and look forward to working with my fellow Board members, CPB's leadership and staff, to support and strengthen public television and public radio stations across our great nation. Our mission has always been to provide trusted, engaging informational and educational content to all Americans, initiatives which will continue in my term as Chair."

Ross said, "After two years as Board Chair working with Ruby as Vice Chair, I look forward to continuing our work with my fellow board members and CPB to guide public media through these challenging times," Board Chairs typically serve no more than two consecutive terms.

Calvert worked at Wyoming PBS from its inception in 1983 until her retirement in 2015. She served as General Manager and President of the Wyoming PBS Foundation from 2006-2015. Prior to becoming General Manager, she was the Director of Programming for 24 years, leading the production team to create the station's signature series "MainStreet, Wyoming," and "Capitol Outlook." She has served on the boards of PBS, America's Public Television Stations, and the Wyoming State Board of Education, which she chaired for two years. She has served on the CPB board since 2018, having been reappointed by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate in December 2022. She served as Vice Chair from October 2022-October 2024.

Ross has served on the CPB Board of Directors since 2018. She was reappointed to the Board by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate in February 2022. She served as CPB Vice Chair from October 2020-October 2022 and Board Chair from October 2022-October 2024.

She is a retired attorney who served eight years as Chief of Staff to the Attorney General of the State of New York. Her career in government service began at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. She was a former Legislative Assistant to a U.S. Congressman from Flint, Michigan, and was appointed by President Obama to serve as a Public Delegate to the 64th United Nations General Assembly. Ross is currently a member of the Screening Panel for New York's Federal Judiciary. She was a Trustee of New York Public Media for three years, a Director of the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City for 12 years, a Trustee of WNYC public radio for seven years, President of NYANA, a refugee resettlement agency, a member of the Board of the Horace Mann School, a Trustee of the Citizens Budget Committee, and a Trustee for Turnaround for Children, an educational not-for-profit.