Eric Hyyppa is the President of the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Prior to joining NETA, Eric served for 11 years as Director and General Manager of MontanaPBS in Bozeman, Montana. He has a background in Information Technology, including a BS in Computer Science from Montana State University. He is a PBS veteran, with over 25 years in public broadcasting and extensive experience in television production, including work for every major network and many independent companies. He is a former member of the Society of Motion Picture Television Engineers and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

Eric is past chair of the board of directors of the National Educational Telecommunications Association, past chair of the board of trustees of America’s Public Television Stations, past chair of public television’s Affinity Group Coalition, and past co-chair of the Organization of State Broadcasting Executives. He has also served on the board of directors of PBS as well as the board of directors for the Montana Broadcasters Association.

Eric resides in Columbia, South Carolina with his wife Alexis and daughter Annika.

After 30 years in broadcasting, Amy Burkett still loves the business of connecting through media. She’s thrilled to lead the renaissance of WTVI PBS Charlotte, a viewer supported service of Central Piedmont Community College, as general manager since June 2013. Before that she spent 14 years at WLVT PBS39 in Bethlehem, PA as executive vice president. She began her career in commercial television working at network affiliates as an anchor/reporter for nine years.

Over the last 18 years Amy’s studied the art of leadership and received her John Maxwell certification as a trainer, speaker and coach in 2012. New York Times bestselling author John Maxwell has written more leadership books than anyone.

She’s lead teams to four national PBS awards, 37 Emmy nominations, six Mid-Atlantic regional Emmys, two Mid-South regional Emmys, six Pennsylvania Association of Broadcaster’s Awards, five Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas awards and one regional Edward R. Murrow Award.

Amy is originally from Ohio and holds a bachelor’s of science degree in broadcast journalism from Bowling Green State University.

The Honorable Patricia de Stacy Harrison is the longest-serving president and chief executive officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which serves as the steward of federal funding for more than 1,500 public radio and television stations and producers throughout the United States. Since she joined CPB in 2005, she has increased support for education and journalism and advanced public media in three major areas: Digital innovation and acceleration, Diversity of content, talent, and service, and Dialogue, focused on local community engagement and increased public-private partnerships.

To advance CPB's educational mission, Ms. Harrison created the American Graduate initiative, one of public media's most successful and extensive collaborations, with stations nationwide joining with national partners and thousands of local and diverse organizations to help students stay on the path to a high school diploma. Due in part to the American Graduate program, the national graduation rate has risen to an unprecedented level, and participating communities are now better equipped to help students graduate and find the best path to employment. In 2016, Ms. Harrison was honored for her leadership of American Graduate with the Promise of America Award from America's Promise Alliance. In the area of journalism and reporting, CPB, under her direction, initiated local and regional journalism collaborations increasing the number of station-based public broadcast journalists and strengthening public media's role as a primary source of trusted news. In 2017, the World Affairs Council-Washington, D.C., honored CPB with the Global Communications Award for its outstanding commitment to education and journalism. Ms. Harrison was named a 2019 George Chaplin Fellow in Distinguished Journalism by the East West Center for her significant contributions to promoting quality journalism.

In 2010, Ms. Harrison established the first Diversity and Innovation Fund, resulting in groundbreaking projects to increase diversity in media production and storytelling. In 2008, she was honored with the Leadership Award from the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and in 2019, CPB was honored by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers with the Lisa Quiroz Media Advancement Award for efforts in fostering the development of Latinx and diverse communities in media. Under Ms. Harrison's leadership, CPB has become the driving force for digital transformation, positioning public media national organizations and local stations to provide audiences with a personalized media experience paired with high quality content and engagement.

A sought-after speaker regarding leadership and opportunity for women, Ms. Harrison has a strong record of support for the advancement of women in business. In 2010, she launched the Executive Communications Coaching Initiative for women general managers in public media. She served as chair of Women and Girls Lead, an innovative public media initiative to educate and connect women and girls worldwide to address education, health, and safety challenges. In 2012, she was included on the Forbes list of "Women Changing the World in Media" for her work with Women and Girls Lead. The founder of the National Women's Economic Alliance Foundation, she authored two books, A Seat At The Table: An Insider's Guide for America's New Women Leaders and America's New Women Entrepreneurs. Prior to joining CPB, Ms. Harrison served as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. She received the U.S. Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award for her leadership in creating "Partnerships for Learning" (P4L), a global initiative providing young people with education and career opportunity, and CultureConnect, a program utilizing American leaders from business, government, sports, and the arts to provide mentoring and master classes for young people worldwide.

Ms. Harrison is the recipient of many awards and honors, most recently the Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, the David Lynch Foundation Lifetime in Service Award, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award in 2017.

Ms. Harrison received her B.A. from American University, Washington, D.C., and honorary doctorates from the American University of Rome in 2002 and the School of Public Affairs, American University, in 2017. She is a former Thomas Colloquium on Free Enterprise guest lecturer at Youngstown State University in Ohio and was a visiting fellow at the Institute for Public Service of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, in 2000, and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in 1992. She is a member of the Board of Advisors at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and a member of the Board of Directors of The Ellis Island Honors Society. In 2019, Ms. Harrison was appointed to the voting council for the inaugural Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award, which recognizes the achievements of exceptional American women of positive and notable influence on society. In 2020, Harrison was nominated by the U.S. Department of State to serve on the International Task Force of the United States Semiquincentennial Commission. The Commission was established by Congress to organize the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. She is the Chairman Emeritus and a board member of the National Italian American Foundation.

coming soon

Before becoming Chief Programming Executive and General Manager of General Audience Programming, Bugg served as Vice President of General Audience Programming, where she oversaw the PBS editorial team and led the strategy across all genres, including news, public affairs, documentaries, history, science, natural history and arts programs.

Prior to joining PBS, Bugg served as Vice President of Diversity and TV Content at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In this role, she provided strategic leadership and was responsible for CPB’s efforts to advance diversity across public media through the collaboration and support of content creators, distributors and partnering organizations.

Bugg also previously worked at PBS as Director of General Audience Programming, where she led efforts to develop a portfolio of drama, performance and cultural programs. She also held several programming roles in history and public affairs at PBS. Prior to joining PBS, Bugg spent 12 years in programming, production and operations for several Discovery Communications networks.

Bugg holds an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, an MA in Journalism from American University and a BA in Communications from Old Dominion University. She is a member of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications and Women In Film and Video. Through the T. Howard Foundation, she also mentors diverse and underrepresented college students and young professionals interested in media

As Vice President of PBS LearningMedia, Brittain oversees PBS’ flagship digital teaching and learning resource for preK-12 educators and students. She is responsible for setting the vision for the service and delivering media-centric content and learning experiences that center education equity, diversity, and inclusion. Previously, Brittain served as the Senior Director of Strategy and Operations for PBS Education. In that role, she was responsible for operationalizing strategic goals around several initiatives, including early learning and secondary education content, teacher engagement, school readiness, and professional learning. Prior to PBS, Brittain served as Program Director at the National Crime Prevention Council, where she collaborated with school districts, educators, and community-based organizations to engage students in a law-related education and civic engagement program.

She is an advisor for Go, Grow, Be, an organization committed to supporting families who care for children with specialized needs in the Washington, DC area since 2018.

As Vice President, Education for NETA, Timothy leads NETA’s team to strengthen and amplify Public Media’s education mission. His team supports Professional Development, Education Services, NETA Peer Learning Communities, NETA Awards, and the NETA Conference. Prior to NETA, he was the Director of Development and Marketing with WGVU Public Media where he led the Development & Business Development team as well as Marketing, Outreach, Art, and Education areas.

He was with WGVU for twelve years, two as an Underwriting Sales Representative and the past ten years as Director of Development and Marketing.

Timothy is a proud Air Force Veteran, having served from 1990 – 1998 working with the 439th Military Airlift Wing and the 127th Air Wing as a PERSCO Team Member and the 110th Fighter Group as a Weapons Loader on A-10 Aircraft and has been deployed domestically and overseas in support of several Air Force operations.