Monday night, the KBOO Board of Directors appointed Celeste Carey and me, Jenna Yokoyama, Interim Co-Station Managers for the next 6 months. Celeste and I will be working closely with staff, volunteers, and the board to continue moving forward toward our goals, both strategic and communal. We would both like to thank the KBOO Community for entrusting us with such an important role at KBOO. As programmers and volunteers ourselves, we understand how important this institution is to not just Portland, but to all those who share our station's values.
And now the elephant in the room... Over the last couple weeks I've been asked many times, "how is the station doing?" by someone with a worried look. Yes, we're having manager and staff turnover. Yes, we're looking for board members to fill open seats. All this change has been stressful and painful at times. People are still healing and needing resolution. Entire communities within KBOO are still waiting to be heard after feeling sidelined for years. My point, we're going through a lot as a station. It's frustrating. It's confusing.
So where do we go now? The short answer: not far. The first goal Celeste and I have is to address the backlog of work we've found suddenly on our laps, and at the same time, support the staff through the backlog of operational and daily duties they are responsible for. We hope that we can bring some relief to an already overworked staff so that they can do what they do best-- support our dedicated volunteers in creating great radio.
The long answer is that it's going to take some time and hard work to get us to a place where we're feeling good culturally, financially, and strategically. I don't know about everyone else, but I have a lot of hope around this. We have a strong group of talented volunteers. Our board is comprised of a group of dedicated people and has room to add even more dedicated and knowledgeable people. Our staff works hard and have held our KBOO ship steady these last 10 months. My point, we got a lot of pluses so I think we'll be good, if not better in the near future if we continue to work together as a community.
Thank you for your patience, your worry, your work, and your dedication.
Jenna, Interim Co-Station Manager