Giving Tuesday Spotlight: Mentoring & Inspiring Women In Radio

It’s Giving Tuesday and Radio Ink is spotlighting non-profit organizations dedicated to making a difference in the radio community. Today, we talk about Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio with MIW Board President Ruth Preslaff.

Radio Ink: For those new to MIW, what is your mission?

Ruth Preslaff: We are all about mentoring women in audio. It is such a clear-cut mission that we can, as a board, look at everything that we do through the prism of how are we helping women in the industry. Over the years, that has taken many flavors. It used to just be one specific mentorship for senior women in the business. From that, we have expanded to all sorts of partnerships and different lanes within the business.

Radio Ink: MIW and Radio Ink have a connected history. Can you tell us a little bit about how MIW got started?

Ruth Preslaff: When Radio Ink did the very first Most Influential Women in Radio list 30 years ago, a group of those women got together and said, “It’s great that we have the influence, how can we use it to help other women in the business?” And from that small group, Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio was founded.

I was on the list, I think, starting the second year and I remember going to our Lipstick and Lobster dinners, and it would be maybe 10 of us around one table. Now we are selling out Maggiano’s every year in Las Vegas and Lipstick and Lobster has become an event that people fly in just to go to that event.

It’s become just a really powerful, interesting, wonderful organization.

Radio Ink: And you’ve grown way beyond that first mentorship. You all launched several new mentorships this year, including the Digital Sales Mentorship and several in tandem with state broadcast associations. How do you all choose areas of mentorship and what goes into creating those programs?

Ruth Preslaff: So there are a couple of things. The state program started, I think it was three years ago. As a board, we decided to look at where we think there’s a need, how we can more broadly influence the industry, and who would be great partners to share in this mission.

For that last area, Erica Farber said we should be talking to the SBAs. So we first reached out to [Minnesota Broadcasters Association President] Wendy Paulson and this has now flourished into a great program. We partner with the state broadcaster to choose one woman in that state. Not only does she get mentoring in terms of her career and the things that we normally do, but the state associations are involved in very interesting lobbying and efforts in Washington and add a whole other flavor.

So that’s been great and that’s something that we’re just rolling out new states and renewing old states every single year. Of course, we’re going for coast-to-coast domination here. We want to be able to offer this across the country.

In other instances, it’s a matter of “where do we think the need is?” Do we have the mentors who could help other women doing the same thing? And do we think that there’s a broad enough pool of mentees that would be interested in applying?

This is how we have broadened into engineering, and that’s something that we do with Michelle Duke and the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation. We’re on year two of that program. We want to get more into traffic and operations, sales, digital, and, of course, programming. Behind the Mic is a fairly new mentorship for women on air.

If there’s a career track in this business, we want to be there to help them grow in it

Radio Ink: For those who donate on Giving Tuesday or beyond, how do their gifts help the MIW mission?

Ruth Preslaff: Every mentee is awarded a trip to the NAB Show in Las Vegas so that they can meet people, network, and learn. And there is a high and hard cost to that. So every single dollar that we get that we can put towards sending a mentee to this program is huge and hugely beneficial.

When we talk about Giving Tuesday, know that you are supporting women in the industry, and therefore supporting growth in the industry. Every time we talk about mentoring women, we 100% believe there’s a huge upside for the radio industry, because we’re helping to keep and grow talent.

You mentioned Lipstick and Lobster during NAB Show. What else is on the agenda for MIW in 2025?

Ruth Preslaff: Sheila Kirby will be taking over as President of the Board and our mission is clear. Our agenda every year is how will we continue with the mentorships that we see are working and bring more to the industry? Everything goes through that lens: does this help women grow within the industry?

Radio Ink: And what’s the best way to donate to MIW or to find out more about what you all offer?

Ruth Preslaff: RadioMIW.com! There’s a nice, big donate button there. We also have a lot of social media on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn around Giving Tuesday and giving in general. But we welcome everybody to visit and to give.

Read more of Radio Ink‘s Giving Tuesday spotlights with Broadcasters Foundation of America President Tim McCarthy here, the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation here, and Alliance for Women in Media President Becky Brooks here.