Public Media Infrastructure has appointed Jeannie Ericson the organization’s inaugural CEO, with the executive stepping into her new role on August 3. Ericson joins PMI from Public Media Venture Group, where she worked in support of public media modernization efforts.
Before PMVG, she spent a decade leading tech strategy for large corporations at Candid Partners and later as an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company.
As Executive Director, she helped lead public media’s Integrated Media Association to a 400% increase in membership ahead of the group’s acquisition by PMDMC, now Greater Public. Earlier in her career, Ericson helped Coca-Cola implement digital firsts in the 90s, creating internal training and marketing materials with audio and video. She later joined IBM in 1998, guiding teams for a decade as she connected Fortune 50 Clients to tech solutions.
PMI was founded by American Public Media Group, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, New York Public Radio, PRX, and the Station Resource Group, through a five-year, $47 million grant from the now-dissolved Corporation for Public Broadcasting, before it lost its federal funding in 2025. The grant will support distribution modernization, emergency alerting infrastructure, and other tech designed to strengthen the more than 1,300 public media stations across the country.
PMI Board of Directors Chair LaFontaine Oliver said, “Jeannie is exactly the kind of visionary, collaborative leader this moment demands. She possesses the strategic perspective, entrepreneurial mindset, and deep understanding of both technology and public media necessary to build this organization from the ground up and allow us to serve and evolve the American public broadcasting system. With a rare combination of technical fluency and rich experience both inside and beyond the industry, we’re confident she is the right person to grow PMI into a vital system-wide resource.”
Ericson added, “Public media has long been a model of what’s possible when organizations work together in service to the public. This moment represents an extraordinary opportunity to build on that tradition by helping stations collaborate in new ways, share resources more efficiently, and create the tools necessary to meet the needs of current and future audiences. Local stations are the heartbeat of public media, and I’m honored to lead PMI as we work alongside them to forge a stronger, more resilient future.”
