Boston, Mass. - Dec. 12, 2025 – Boston public media producer GBH has awarded fellowships to eight outstanding producers, recognizing excellence, potential, and creativity. The recipients of the 2026 Fellowship Awards are Aidan Connelly, Elizabeth Gardner, Christina Monnen, and Erin Texeira for the Becton Fellowship; Kelsey Bresnahan Sousa, Bianca Hillier, and Melissa Pollard for the Margret and Hans Rey Fellowship; and James Jacoby for the Peter S. McGhee Fellowship.

“The 2026 GBH Fellowship recipients represent the highest standard of public media excellence and a profound dedication to our mission,” said GBH President and CEO Susan Goldberg. “Whether they are advancing innovative digital learning for children and young people, producing critical investigative journalism, or sharing America’s diverse cultural history, these eight individuals exemplify the talent and commitment that makes GBH a national leader. We are excited to support their continued professional development and see how their exceptional work evolves.”

Supported by the Becton Fund and named in honor of GBH’s former president, Henry Becton Jr., the Becton Fellowship honors promising GBH producers and content creators whose work reflects the organization’s commitment to public service.

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GBH’s 2026 Becton Fellows are:

  • Aidan Connelly: Connelly is a radio producer for GBH News’ Boston Public Radio. He produces daily news segments, long-form radio features, and Live Music Fridays, bringing acclaimed artists like Yo-Yo Ma to GBH’s Boston Public Library Studio. Connelly also produced GBH News’ special joint broadcast with WNYC and WLRN called Haiti on the Line. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Emerson College. 
  • Elizabeth Gardner: Gardner is a senior producer for GBH Education. She develops new educational media concepts and oversees video production for Social Studies, Civics, and History curriculum including PBS LearningMedia resources for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and FRONTLINE, and for youth-facing original digital series Why it Matters, Game Changers and the civic action program Youth Stand Up. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University and a Master of Journalism from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
  • Christina Monnen: Monnen is a science editor for the award-winning science documentary series NOVA. She conducts in-depth research on a wide variety of topics such as archaeology, engineering, medicine, evolution, paleontology, and astrophysics; oversees fact-checking for all NOVA content; and supports development of new shows. Monnen graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Biology and a concentration in Psychology.
  • Erin Texeira: Texeira is a senior editor for FRONTLINE, leading the Local Journalism Initiative. Under her leadership, the initiative has partnered with more than a dozen local outlets—from rural newspapers to regional public media stations—providing editorial guidance, financial support, and a powerful platform to elevate underreported stories. She oversees a team of reporters and editors focused on investigative reporting. Texeira is an alumna of UC Berkeley. 

The Rey Fellowship, made possible through a bequest from late author Margret Rey through the Curious George Foundation, honors GBH creators who work in areas that reflect Rey’s diverse interests, including science, public affairs, art, health, and children’s programming.
GBH’s 2026 Margret and Hans Rey Fellows are:

  • Kelsey Bresnahan Sousa: Bresnahan Sousa is a senior editor for the 23-time Emmy® Award nominated series ANTIQUES ROADSHOW. As a director and editor, she’s deeply involved in the editorial process for the popular series and co-produces scripted specials. Bresnahan Sousa is responsible for crafting episodes from start to finish, helping educate viewers about art and history. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • Bianca Hillier: Hillier is a reporter for The World covering topics such as human rights, art, and culture. Recently, her reporting has centered on global sports. She has covered more than 40 sports stories for The World and leads its coverage of major international events like the Olympics and the World Cup. Hillier graduated from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
  • Melissa Pollard: Pollard is a line producer for GBH Kids. Pollard has managed the production of more than 60 episodes of Work It Out Wombats!, through scripting, animation, post-production, and delivery to PBS. She began her career at GBH in 2000 as an associate producer on a multi-hour film for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. She went on to help produce more than a dozen documentaries for the series, including Victory in the Pacific for which she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Historical Programming. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Named after GBH’s former head of national programming, the Peter S. McGhee Fellowship is annually awarded to a mid-career filmmaker who has demonstrated exceptional promise in non-fiction television production, embodying the standards set by McGhee, including excellence, intelligence, fairness, passion, and scholarship.

GBH’s 2026 Peter S. McGhee Fellow is:

  • James Jacoby: Jacoby is a duPont, Peabody, and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer, and correspondent for FRONTLINE, known for crafting investigative narratives on critical social and political issues. His films have investigated a range of topics from police reform in urban America to the lives of former prisoners at Guantanamo to the rollback of environmental protections to the decades-long conflict between Israel, Iran and its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. Working with FRONTLINE producer Anya Bourg for the past decade, James has made a series of films focused on the tech titans. His FRONTLINE film, Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover, was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2024 Emmy Awards. Jacoby is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. 

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. GBH is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and 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 GBH 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; CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station, and as a partner to NEPM in Springfield. Dedicated to making media accessible to and representative of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to audience members who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. With PBS LearningMedia, GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide. GBH’s local programming includes Boston Public Radio, GBH News Rooted, Stories from the Stage, The Culture Show, and High School Quiz Show. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.