Today, WYPR announced a new chairman of the station’s board of directors and four new members. Matthew Martin, executive vice president and retail market manager for PNC Financial Services Group, will succeed Darcy C. Carroll as Chairman.
Martin has been with PNC Financial Services Group for nearly two decades and oversees PNC’s 135-retail-branch-banking network in Greater Maryland. He has been on the WYPR board of directors since 2015.
“I am honored to be elected as Board Chair for WYPR,” said Martin. “Our on-air programs, both from NPR as well as content produced locally by our staff, WYPR has never been more relevant and important to our city, our state and our nation. Public Radio is a lifelong passion, and I could not be more excited to work alongside our new general manager LaFontaine Oliver.”
WYPR also announced the election of four community and business leaders to its board: Sandra Banisky, Charlie Fenwick, Jr., Joey Price, and Ernst Valery.
Sandra Banisky is Abell Professor in Baltimore Journalism for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Prior to joining the Merrill faculty in 2008, Banisky was Deputy Managing Editor for news at The Baltimore Sun. As Deputy Managing Editor, she oversaw reports from the metro, foreign, national, sports and business desks and developed front-page stories from every department. Banisky was also The Sun’s Deputy Managing Editor for metro after serving as National Editor and, prior to that, National Correspondent and a Local Reporter. Banisky holds a law degree from the University of Baltimore and was admitted to the Maryland bar.
Charles C. Fenwick, Jr., a long-term underwriter and supporter of WYPR, is the former owner and president of Valley Motors, Inc. Fenwick also had a career as an amateur steeplechase jockey, earning 105 wins. He is executive director of Shawan Downs and serves on the board of trustees for Gilman School and GBMC HealthCare.
Joey Price, MS HRMD is the CEO of Jumpstart: HR and host of Business, Life, & Coffee podcast. Price began his career as a human resources assistant before becoming CEO of his own HR consulting firm, which focuses on growing small businesses and startups through cutting-edge HR consulting services. He serves on the board of governors for The Center Club and is chairman of the young members committee. Price has been named by SHRM’s HR Magazine a “Top 30 HR Professional Under 30” and was recognized by the Baltimore Business Journal as one of its “40 Under 40.”
Ernst Valery is the founder and president of Ernst Valery Investments Corp. and president and oo-managing member of Stuart Alexander and Associates, Inc. Ernst Valery Investments Corp. is a private, minority-owned real estate and small business investment firm established in 2001, and Stuart Alexander and Associates, Inc. is a real estate development company established in 1975. Combined, the platform is known as SAA | EVI. Over the past 20 years, Valery has been involved in helping launch small businesses that anchor and level the playing field, a range of development projects, and the preservation of affordable housing in undervalued neighborhoods and cities across the United States. Valery is also active in social entrepreneurship and volunteer work, including a collaboration with a team of professionals and graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Community Innovators Lab (MIT CoLab). He is also involved in efforts to incubate businesses around the world that help alleviate poverty and increase the earning potential of low-income individuals, families, and communities.
All four members will be serving three-year terms with WYPR.
“We couldn’t be more grateful to these newly-elected board members for agreeing to serve during these unprecedented times when both our community and industry are experiencing seismic changes that will require deep self-examination and new strategies,” said LaFontaine E. Oliver, President and General Manager. “WYPR’s success depends on connecting with local communities and bringing in-depth insight into the issues that matter to listeners throughout the greater Baltimore region. Our dedicated Board members play an essential role in helping to extend those connections and guiding the decisions that will ensure that WYPR continues to grow its service, across platforms, to our diverse family of communities.”
As WYPR’s Board welcomes four new members, the station would like to recognize three retiring members: Frank Boston, Cheo Hurley, and Jack Machen. Boston joined the Board of Directors in 2008 and served for 12 years on the Development and Outreach Committees, Hurley joined the Board in 2017 and served on the Development Committee, and Machen joined the Board in 2005 and served on both the Governance and Development Committees. Machen also served as Chair of the Board from 2010 to 2014.
