BOSTON (March 7, 2019) – Ann M. Fudge, the former chair and CEO of global marketing communications companies Young & Rubicam Brands, has been elected Chair of the Board of Trustees for Boston public media producer WGBH. At the March 6 meeting the board also elected Marcia Blenko, Mohamad Ali and Carmichael Roberts as trustees.

Fudge succeeds Rick Burnes, who is stepping down after nine years of service on the board, the past five as chair. He will become Chair Emeritus.

“We are extremely fortunate to have this extraordinary group of civic and business leaders join with WGBH to advance our educational public media mission,” said Jonathan Abbott, President and CEO of WGBH. “Ann Fudge is a widely respected leader whose depth of experience across corporate and creative organizations makes her ideally suited to help WGBH navigate the opportunities in the changing future of media.”

Ann Fudge
Fudge joined the WGBH Board of Trustees in 2015 and was elected Vice Chair in 2018. In addition to her executive roles at Young & Rubicam, she has led divisions at Kraft Foods and General Mills. She serves on the boards of Novartis and Northrop Grumman, chairs the U.S. Programs Advisory Board of the Gates Foundation, is Senior Trustee of the Brookings Institution, and past trustee at Morehouse College.

“I am honored to take on this role and to build on the work of Rick Burnes to further the mission and vision of WGBH,” said Fudge. “WGBH is truly the gold standard of public broadcasting — a beacon of outstanding creativity and innovative technology, a media organization uniquely committed to serving its audiences. I am excited to help contribute to its continued success and look forward to working with the tremendous talent that makes WGBH so special.”

Marcia Blenko
Marcia Blenko served as chair of the WGBH Board of Overseers and in that capacity has been an ex officio member of the WGBH Board of Trustees since 2016. She is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company, where she co-founded and led the firm’s global organization practice and co-authored the book Decide & Deliver: Five Steps to Breakthrough Performance in your Organization. She also serves on the boards of Education Resource Strategies and The World Wide Web Foundation.

Mohamad Ali
Mohamad Ali is the CEO and President of Carbonite, a leading data protection company. He previously served as Chief Strategy Officer at Hewlett-Packard, and Vice President at IBM. He serves on the boards of Oxfam America and iRobot Corporation.

Carmichael Roberts
Carmichael Roberts is the founding partner of Material Impact, a General Partner at North Bridge Venture Partners and a senior member of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. He previously worked in business development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals and at Sentry Products, a life science venture wholly owned by Union Carbide Corporation. He is a trustee of Duke University.

About WGBH
WGBH is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur and more than a dozen other primetime, lifestyle and children’s series. WGBH’s television channels include WGBH 2, WGBX 44, and the digital channels World and Create. WGBH TV productions focusing on the region’s diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black and
High School Quiz Show. WGBH Radio serves listeners across New England with 89.7 WGBH, Boston’s Local NPR®; 99.5 WCRB Classical Radio Boston; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also is a major source of digital content and programs for public radio through PRI/PRX, including The World and Innovation Hub; a leader in educational multimedia with PBS LearningMedia™ providing the nation’s educators with free, curriculum-based digital content; and a pioneer in services that make media accessible to deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired audiences. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont Columbia Awards and Oscars. Find more information at wgbh.org.