Boston, MA – October 3, 2023 – GBH, the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America, today announced new appointments to its Executive Leadership Team.
Shane Miner, currently the Chief Technology Officer at GBH, will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer. Edward Wilson, an accomplished nonprofit leader and fundraiser, will join GBH as Chief Development Officer, and Debra Adams Simmons, a talented journalist, storyteller, and media executive, was named Senior Director of Editorial Projects, a new role at GBH.
“Shane’s expertise in digital transformation and his knowledge of the public media system, along with Ed’s pacesetting fundraising abilities and Debra’s gift for telling stories in a big way, will all help GBH become an even stronger organization that continues to lead the public media system,” said Susan Goldberg, president and CEO of GBH. “I’m thrilled to have them at such an important time in our industry.”
As Chief Operating Officer, Shane Miner will assume responsibility for GBH’s day-to-day operations, including Finance, Legal, Sponsorship, Membership, HR, and Technology. Miner started at GBH in 2014 as the Senior Director of Media Technology and served as the Chief Technology Officer for the last four years. He came to GBH from Nebraska Public Media, where he served as the IT Director. Previously, Miner worked in academia teaching and working with technology. He earned degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of South Dakota.
“Over the past decade, I’ve had the pleasure of helping GBH transform from a traditional broadcast company into a multiplatform media organization,” said Miner. “I’m looking forward to helping the organization continue to grow and evolve, leading the industry as technology and audience behaviors continue to change.”
In his time at GBH, Miner has led the reinvention of nearly all of the organization’s technology infrastructure and is respected across public media for his expertise, knowledge, and strategic acumen. He will become COO effective immediately.
Edward Wilson will join GBH on Nov. 6 as Chief Development Officer. He will be responsible for GBH’s fundraising strategy and leading a major gifts-focused, comprehensive development program that secures philanthropic support from individuals, families, and institutional sources.
“GBH is a storied institution, both in New England and as a national leader in public media,” said Wilson. “I’m honored to be joining the organization and look forward to building relationships with new audiences and donors.”
Wilson joins GBH from The Trustees of Reservations, the nation’s oldest land conservation organization, based in Boston. Wilson has a proven record as a highly successful fundraiser and innovative development team leader with deep relationships in the greater Boston philanthropic arena and proven success at maintaining traditional donors while also reaching those who are younger and more diverse.
At The Trustees, Wilson led the largest campaign in the organization's history, raising more than $217 million in five years. He significantly expanded individual giving, planned gifts, public grants, and corporate and foundation support for The Trustees.
Prior to The Trustees, Ed was a strategic consultant at World Monuments Fund. From 1993 to 2013, he held various roles at Earthwatch Institute, culminating in being its President and CEO.
Debra Adams Simmons is Senior Director of Editorial Projects at GBH, a new role. Simmons will help identify, create, and develop content working with and across GBH brands, as well as external partners.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to create meaningful, multifaceted, cross-foundational editorial projects for the largest producer of public media,” Adams Simmons said.
Simmons worked for six years at National Geographic, where she was Executive Editor, History and Culture, focusing on major projects that integrated magazine, digital, podcast, television, newsletter, social, and special events, on subjects ranging from race and gender to the mysteries of Stonehenge and the search for wrecked slave ships. She also served for a year as Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Before joining National Geographic, Adams Simmons was a Vice President in the news division of Advance Local and was the editor and managing editor, respectively, at the major newspapers in Cleveland and Akron; she has held other senior editorial and reporting roles in Norfolk, VA; Detroit; Hartford; and Syracuse.
She also has been a seven-time juror of the Pulitzer Prizes and a fellow of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
“These new leaders join a talented team of executives and colleagues at GBH,” Goldberg said. “Together, we’re focused on growing, innovating, and connecting with audiences wherever they are about what matters to them.”
About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. It is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. Dedicated to making media accessible to and inclusive of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to those who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide with PBS LearningMedia and has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.
