Laura Evans joined Georgia Public Broadcasting in 2015 and serves as the station’s director of education. She leads the GPB education team in the creation, curation, and distribution of educational resources across Georgia and to educators around the nation via PBS LearningMedia. GPB’s education team provides training and outreach to thousands of educators, kids, and families each year, and they develop innovative learning resources, including educational games, virtual field trips, video series, and XR experiences. As a former classroom teacher of 11 years, Laura understands the daily challenges educators and families face in wanting to ensure their children are learning and thriving. Through networking and collaboration with other members of the public media education community, she has been able to grow and enhance GPB’s education division and services over the last seven years to better support the learning ecosystem of families, educators and students.

Laura welcomes the opportunity to strengthen the relationships with other education leaders as co-chair of the Education PLC Executive Committee. She is honored to share the experience and expertise she has gained in her role at GPB. She believes we are stronger as a system when we learn from and share with each other. Laura continues to be inspired by her public media education colleagues and uses that inspiration to guide and focus the work she does at GPB.

Cathy Cook is the Director of Education at WQED Multimedia, where she has made significant contributions to early childhood education and professional development. With diverse roles and exceptional skills, Cathy drives educational initiatives and brings positive change. She had a fruitful career working with Head Start, impacting children, families, and daycare providers. Cathy's educational experience spans from teaching kindergarten to high school students and serving as a community service liaison. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from the Pennsylvania State University. Cathy is recognized for her work and has been invited to speak at local and national events. She actively engages with educational organizations and serves on committees, including the PBS Station Leadership Committee and the NETA Education Peer Learning Community. In 2022, Cathy was honored with the Bobbi English Champion for Children Award from Sesame Workshop, PBS, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. With a passion for education, she continues to shape the field at WQED Multimedia and beyond.

Lindsey Foat comes to NETA with over a decade of public media experience. After working in various public radio newsrooms in college, she spent the beginning of her career as a reporter and producer specializing in community engagement at Kansas City PBS. There she led award-winning content and engagement efforts focused on veterans, managed an array of PBS/CPB grants, coordinated Indie Lens Pop-Up community screenings, and had a lot of fun creating some unusual community and education projects, including a Mister Rogers Kindness Crawl. In recent years, Lindsey has worked with both The Kansas City Public Library and The Rabbit hOle, an immersive museum for children's literature, to develop digital content, social media, creative communications strategies, and community events. She is delighted to be back in the public media neighborhood, and looks forward to connecting with you!