The mission of Greater Public is to shape the future of public and independent media by fostering resilience, sustainability, and growth. We believe that true public service requires access and representation for all American communities and are committed to building a public media industry where every individual can contribute and engage. By actively removing barriers and promoting equitable participation, we strive to create a vibrant and representative media environment where all voices are valued and heard.
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Our Values
Greater Public is committed to the values of:
- Accountability: We take ownership of our actions, decisions, and policies, and create transparent processes that actively seek and incorporate feedback.
- Authenticity: We practice humility and stay in a learning relationship with one another, both within and outside of the organization.
- Inclusiveness: We are committed to actively identifying and removing barriers that prevent full participation and access. We strive to create an environment where every individual feels welcome, valued, and is afforded opportunities to contribute and engage.
- Empowerment: We support and applaud the value and unique strengths brought by each individual. We encourage ourselves to take risks and understand failure as essential parts of meaningful growth.
- Community: We believe in building strong relationships and fostering connection.
We are dedicated to fostering a workplace where every individual feels valued, respected, and has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their background or identity. We recognize the importance of respecting individual identities and are committed to using respectful and inclusive language.
Our Actions
We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment and continuously improving our practices.
Our Access, Inclusion, and Belonging committee leads our efforts to foster a more inclusive organization. This group has been meeting weekly since 2020 to assess internal policies, practices, partnerships and initiatives. We have partnered with multiple experts to help us define our values, refine our language, and establish clear objectives. We have also implemented systems to track our progress and communicate outcomes within our organization.
Greater Public Board of Directors
Greater Public’s board of directors serves up to two 3-year terms. Board candidates are proposed by a nominating committee based on how their skills and experience complement and expand the capacity of the current board, and directors are elected by a full board vote. The board receives regular updates on the organization’s efforts to foster an inclusive environment.
Collecting Demographic Data
Demographic information is collected on a voluntary basis and utilized to understand the make-up of board members, staff, contractors, presenters and Greater Public members in an effort to improve Greater Public’s services.
Inclusive Recruitment, Hiring and Retention
Greater Public is a small organization that experiences low turnover in our staff and contract positions. We see this as a demonstration of positive work culture and job satisfaction. We also acknowledge that practices in the public media industry, like in many sectors, have not always resulted in equal access to opportunities. In 2021 we conducted a review of our past practices to understand their potential impact on access and fairness. As a result of this examination, we commit to the following:
- We Use Formal Hiring Practices: Using word-of-mouth referrals and “culture fit” criteria can give individuals unfair access to opportunities based on relationships instead of competencies. We commit to maintaining fair and formalized hiring processes to ensure fairness and transparency.
- We Examine Barriers to Fairness in Hiring: The structure of employment opportunities can inadvertently create barriers for some individuals. We commit to designing positions that minimize barriers to access, ensuring that we attract the most qualified applicants from a diverse pool of talent. This includes:
- Actively seeking applicants based on their qualifications and contributions to the organization’s goals
- Crafting job postings to attract a broad range of candidates, with language encouraging applications from individuals with non-traditional experience
- Collecting optional demographic data from applicants to understand the composition of the candidate pool
- Maintaining a structured interview process with bias mitigation techniques, such as providing time for interviewers to reflect on their own potential biases
- We Practice Inclusive Onboarding: An intentional onboarding process is essential for the successful integration and retention of new employees. We commit to onboarding every new employee and contractor with a formal process that emphasizes inclusion and connection. The process will include education about the public media industry, clear expectations and timelines, and solicitation of feedback.
- We Commit to Codifying Policies: Organizational expectations should be transparent and documented so all employees can have equal access to and understanding of how to succeed. We work to codify our policies and procedures to ensure transparency and inclusivity.
- Fair Compensation: We conducted a benchmark salary review and adjustment of staff positions in 2021 and in 2023 to ensure that all staff were compensated fairly. We commit to paying all Greater Public employees a living wage and equal healthcare and retirement benefits (not based on title or seniority).
- We Seek Diverse Perspectives: Relying solely on internal perspectives and existing networks limits the richness and effectiveness of our work. We actively seek and amplify a wide range of voices across all our platforms. We take the time to embrace viewpoints that may challenge our assumptions and broaden our understanding.
- Internal Communication: We commit to removing barriers to internal communication so all staff and contractors are aware of the organizational goals and initiatives. To continue our progress in this area, we’ve dedicated a staff role to streamlining communication channels, facilitating inclusivity initiatives, breaking down departmental silos, and maximizing tech resources.
- Professional Development: We provide opportunities for staff to engage in professional development related to inclusive workplace practices.
- Practicing Productive Conflict: Staff and contractors have participated in training focused on developing effective conflict resolution skills, and we have implemented ongoing practice groups to support skill development.
We cultivate relationships across the public media system with colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
We’ve implemented systems in most of our communication touchpoints with people who utilize greaterpublic.org to voluntarily provide demographic information. Internal monthly reports are made available to members of the Greater Public team to consistently measure and enable accountability.
To update your information in our records, update your profile in the Account Center.
Our Hour
In 2020, we launched Our Hour, a virtual community serving the needs of BIPOC, biracial, and multiracial individuals working within every area of the public media industry. Each year, an in-person gathering is hosted at the Public Media Development and Marketing Conference (PMDMC) to cultivate connections amongst the Our Hour community.
Network Growth
In 2021 we aspired to complete at least 100 cultivation activities with colleagues of diverse racial identities. We completed 115 cultivation activities that year, increased those activities to 234 in 2022; and 251 in 2023. Our focus on intentional network cultivation enriches our annual conference, webinars, and blog posts.
Roundtables
We publish all active Greater Public cohort groups, called Roundtables, and their criteria to make them transparent and accessible to all of our members. We also provided our Roundtable hosts with inclusiveness and facilitation training aimed at making all Roundtable cohorts welcoming spaces.
We support inclusive growth throughout public media.
In 2021, Greater Public conducted its inaugural survey on Diversity Equity and Inclusion practices within public media. In the fall of 2023, we conducted a follow-up survey revealing a deeper understanding of what influences perceptions of progress in creating equitable opportunities and how employees experience inclusion efforts within their organizations.
A Vision of Transparency and Inclusion
We envision a future for public media that includes:
- Organizational leadership that is representative of the surrounding community the organization serves.
- Multiple perspectives have equal value within public media organizations.
- Public media organizations practice a culture of transparency and accountability.
- Public media organizations’ staffs are representative of the communities they serve, and hold the range of competencies (including cultural, lived experience, etc.) needed to achieve the goals of the organization.
- Public media organizations maintain mutually beneficial community partnerships.
Our content, including webinars, blog posts, conference sessions, and training, focuses on building skills in these areas.
Inclusive Manager Program
This program, designed for leaders and managers in public media, addresses the complex challenges related to fostering an inclusive workplace.
Thought Leadership on Inclusive Practices
We maintain an ongoing commitment to sharing insights about inclusive leadership and practices on our blog and other platforms.
2025 marked the fourth year of the Audience Development Summit, a collaboration between Greater Public and PMCC, to bring together public media leadership, development, marketing, and content professionals to connect with and serve new audiences, which is essential for the future of public media.
We use our platforms to promote diverse voices in public media.
We recognize the importance of featuring a wide range of individuals and organizations in our conferences, webinars, and blog posts.
The Public Media Development and Marketing Conference (PMDMC)
We have implemented strategies to include diverse perspectives and representation among our speakers, panelists, and content of PMDMC. Our approach includes:
- Instead of creating separate sessions focusing on inclusivity, we now encourage all presenters to consider how their work incorporates inclusive practices.
- Each year we strive to increase representation from a wider range of station sizes.
- Each year we strive to increase accessibility at our in-person conferences through improved accommodations and an atmosphere of respect and belonging for all attendees.
- We prioritize diverse speaker representation to reflect the diversity of the public media landscape.
Greater Public Blog
Over the past five years, we have strategically expanded the content on the Greater Public blog to include a wider range of voices and perspectives. Our aim has been twofold: to strengthen our relationships with colleagues in the public media sector through content collaboration and to ensure that our blog reflects the diverse viewpoints and experiences within the industry.
We have made significant progress in achieving these goals. We have actively sought out contributions from media professionals outside of Greater Public, including colleagues at public media organizations and journalists familiar with the field. This collaborative approach has enriched our content and broadened the perspectives shared with our audience.
We have also focused on increasing the diversity of viewpoints represented in our blog. This commitment to diverse representation has been a core principle of our content strategy since 2019, and we have observed a consistent trend of improvement over the past five years. We are committed to continuing this progress and ensuring that our blog remains a platform for a variety of voices and perspectives.
Greater Public Suppliers and Service Providers
We are committed to ensuring that our contracted external service providers align with our organizational values, and we have engaged in conversations with each of our key vendors to discuss their commitment to fair and inclusive practices.
Greater Public Website
We are committed to ensuring that the fundraising content on our website reflects a range of perspectives and experiences. This content is primarily created by our team. We recognize the importance of incorporating diverse viewpoints into our content and are actively seeking ways to expand the perspectives represented. In 2024 we completed an accessibility audit on GreaterPublic.org that reported we are showing a deep commitment to displaying content in ways that are digestible and accessible. The audit also identified accessibility barriers that we are working to remedy on the site.
Advisory Group
In 2022, we established an advisory group of public media professionals, deeply engaged in Greater Public’s content and services, to provide feedback and insights on the accessibility and inclusiveness of our services and initiatives. This group has contributed to discussions on our overall goals and has provided valuable perspectives on various aspects of our work, including conferences, webinars, blog content, training opportunities, partnerships, and survey results.
Practitioners Cohort
In 2023, we supported the launch of a cohort for practitioners working on inclusion initiatives within public media. This cohort provides a community for practitioners to share knowledge, resources, and best practices. The group continues to meet regularly and is focused on developing shared values and supporting inclusion efforts across the industry.
Webinar Presenters
We are committed to ensuring diverse representation among our webinar presenters. We have implemented a system for presenters to voluntarily share their demographic information. Based on this data, we have observed a trend of increasing representation over the past several years. We continue to work to ensure that our webinar presenters reflect a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
Conclusion
Greater Public will continue work to remove barriers to access and foster an inclusive environment in public media. We are dedicated to demonstrating our core values through consistent action. By sharing our efforts, we hope to be in solidarity with the entire public media system about what a sustained, impact-focused commitment to inclusivity looks like. We believe in collaboration and open communication and we welcome feedback to support our ongoing journey.