The WBUR Executive Advisory Council is composed of Boston-area community and business leaders dedicated to supporting and advancing the mission of WBUR and its affiliated stations.

The new council formed under WBUR General Manager Paul A. La Camera held its first meeting December 6, 2005. Since that date several new members have been appointed to replace original members.

During the appointment process, all Executive Council candidates are recommended by La Camera and Peter Fiedler, Vice President for Administrative Services at Boston University, interim General Manager of The WBUR Group from October, 2004 to September, 2005, and Chair of the Council. All candidates are approved by Boston University President Robert A. Brown prior to serving. Of the 15 Council members, two serve on the Boston University Board of Trustees.

The Council meets on a quarterly basis. WBUR Staff Director Susan McCrory serves as Secretary.

The Council convened most recently on July 15, 2009.  This meeting was open to the public.

Members of the WBUR Executive Advisory Council:

• James Bildner
• Elizabeth Cheng
• Richard DeWolfe
• Peter Fiedler (Chair)
• Robert Gallery
• Sumner Kaufman
• Elaine Kirshenbaum
• Peter Meade
• Mary Jo Meisner
• Thomas Mottl
• William Poorvu
• Douglas Rauch
• Richard Snyder
• Micho Spring

James Bildner
General Partner, New Horizons Partners, LLC
James Bildner is General Partner of New Horizons Partners, LLC, a boutique venture philanthropy and venture capital firm specializing in catalyzing public policy issues in health care, education, the environment and the arts. Bildner is also president and founder of the newly-launched Literary Ventures Fund, a not-for-profit organization that uses the venture capital investment model to provide support literature and publishing.

Bildner is a trustee of The Kresge Foundation, Case Western Reserve University, Lesley University, Graywolf Press and Lizard Island Research Foundation in Australia. He serves on the boards of Olly Shoes, Chameleon Networks and Ed Nets, and is Chairman of ABC Wilderness Adventures and Purcell Mountain Lodge. Bildner is an Overseer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the National Council of Environmental Defense, and served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education, which advises the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of consumer education strategies concerning the Medicare program.

Bildner is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve School of Law. He earned his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College and his J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve School of Law. Bildner has written numerous articles and op-ed pieces for newspapers and magazines, including The Boston Globe, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Inc. magazine.

Bildner’s relationship with the station began during his days with J. Bildner stores, in which context he became a WBUR underwriter. He has previously served as a WBUR Executive Advisory Board member and as chair of WBUR’s Gala Committee (in 2004 and 2003). Bildner and his wife, Nancy, are generous contributors to WBUR and passionate supporters of the station.

Elizabeth Cheng
Vice President of Programming and Communications
WCVB-TV Channel 5
Elizabeth Cheng is Vice President of Programming and Communications for WCVB-TV Channel 5, Boston’s ABC Television affiliate. In programming, Cheng works on the acquisition of syndicated product, strategic/long-range planning and the day-to-day scheduling of two major-market ABC affiliates, WCVB and WMUR-TV Channel 9 in New Hampshire. For WCVB communications, she helps shape station policy, oversees public and media relations and acts as station spokesperson. In production, she oversees WCVB’s highly regarded nightly “Chronicle” program, as well as numerous local program specials airing on WCVB each year.

In addition, Cheng has been the creative manager of many award-winning series and specials for WCVB. Highlights include: executive producer for the daily production of “Good Day!”; producer of the nationally-acclaimed legal series “Miller’s Court;” and executive producer of the award-winning weekly children’s program “A Likely Story.” The latter two series were nationally syndicated to stations across the country. She has also been the executive producer of such diverse specials as “POPS! Goes the Fourth” and “Holiday Pops” with the Boston Pops and Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. Both Pops specials were simulcast for 11 and 10 years, respectively, on the Arts and Entertainment Cable Network (A&E).

Cheng’s productions have earned recognition on both a national and regional scale, winning: a National Primetime Emmy Award Nomination; two National Association of Broadcasters Awards; two National Association of Television Programming Executives honors; a prestigious Gabriel Award; an Action for Children’s Television Award from Peggy Charren; a Parents Choice Award; and six New England Emmys.

Currently, Cheng is Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and a committee chair and board member for Community Preparatory, an inner- city school in Providence, Rhode Island.

An honors graduate of Brown University, Cheng resides with her family in Rhode Island.

Richard B. DeWolfe
Managing Partner, DeWolfe & Company, LLC
Richard DeWolfe is Managing Partner of DeWolfe & Company, LLC and serves on the Board of Directors of Manulife Financial, the parent company of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.

DeWolfe additionally serves as Director of The Boston Foundation, Trustee of Boston University and Trustee of Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. He is a Director of O Beverage Corporation and an Honorary Director of National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). DeWolfe was formerly Chairman and CEO of The DeWolfe Companies, Inc., the largest homeownership organization in New England and the tenth largest independent in the United States. The DeWolfe Companies, Inc. was an American Stock Exchange listed company acquired by Cendant Corporation in 2002.

DeWolfe is a 1971 graduate of Boston University and has received the Boston University Distinguished Alumni Award, 2004; Boston University Roger “Moose” Washburn Memorial Award, 2002; Boston University Arthur Stevens Award, 1999; Boston University Thomas Fitzpatrick Memorial Award, 1996; and Boston University Metropolitan College Alumni Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession, 1991. He has been recognized as Greater Boston Realtor of the Year as well as Massachusetts Realtor of the Year, and is a Member of Omega Tau Rho.

Peter Fiedler (Chair)
Vice President for Administrative Services, Boston University
Peter Fiedler is Vice President for Administrative Services at Boston University, a position he has held since June, 2005. Prior to that appointment, Fiedler served as Assistant Vice President from 2002 to 2005, overseeing all day-to-day operations of Boston University’s Media Group, Publications Production, IKON Express™ Copy Centers and Sports Broadcasting. He managed the University’s Media Services, Publications Production and Sports Broadcasting units from 1999 to 2002 as Assistant to the Executive Vice President.

Fiedler’s current responsibilities as Vice President include management and oversight not only of the Office of Human Resources and Student Health Services, for example, but also Sports Broadcasting, ISPS (Information Systems Planning and Support) and The WBUR Group. His formal relationship with WBUR-FM began earlier, however, when he was appointed by the Executive Vice President of Boston University to serve as Interim General Manager of The WBUR Group beginning in October, 2004. Over the course of a year in that role, Fiedler oversaw the day-to-day operations of the station while also engaging in analysis of its business management structure and financial health. Fiedler furthermore assisted in the recruitment of a new General Manager of The WBUR Group, chairing the Search Committee. His activities in this regard concluded in 2005 with the appointment of Paul A. La Camera.

Fiedler has 25 years of experience in television and media, including work as a field producer/director at WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston’s ABC affiliate, and as Director of Operations for WABU-TV, Channel 68, in Boston. He also served as Director of Operations, Vice President and General Manager of Target Productions, Inc., one of Boston’s largest audio and video post-production facilities, from 1986 to 1993.

Fiedler currently serves as Chair of the WBUR Executive Council.

Robert E. Gallery
Eastern Massachusetts Market Executive, The Private Wealth Management of Bank of America
Bank of America Massachusetts President
Robert Gallery is the Eastern Massachusetts Market Executive for the U.S. Trust Private Wealth Management group with Bank of America. The Private Wealth Management group provides wealth and investment management strategies and services to wealthy individuals and families. In addition to his Private Bank role, Gallery also serves as the Bank of America Massachusetts President, responsible for bank-wide initiatives and the company’s community efforts in the Commonwealth.

Gallery assumed his current Private Bank leadership role as Market Executive for the Private Clients Group of FleetBoston Financial in 2003. Prior, he worked as the company’s Group Executive for Diversified Industries in National Banking. Gallery joined Bank Boston in 1991 and held a number of positions from 1991 to 1999, including head of Large Corporate New England unit and head of Bank Boston’s European business based in London.

Earlier, Gallery held a number of positions at First Chicago in corporate banking and strategic planning from 1975 to 1991. He joined the organization’s Boston office in 1981 and served as Regional Manager from 1986 to 1989.

Gallery serves on several nonprofit boards, including the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the Executive Committee of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts, Cradles to Crayons, the board of Overseers of WGBH and The Boston Symphony Orchestra, and is a trustee of the Boston Plan for Excellence. Gallery is a graduate of Loyola of Chicago, M.A., and Northwestern University, M.B.A.. He and his wife, Jill, live in Wellesley, Massachusetts and have two daughters, Meghan and Erin.

Sumner Kaufman
President, Kaufman & Company LLC
Sumner Kaufman is President of Kaufman & Company LLC, a Boston-based investment banking firm involved in raising private capital, arranging mergers and acquisitions and providing corporate financial advisory services for middle-market-sized companies. He also serves as an outside Director for Leasing Technologies International, Inc. (LTI) and Verance Corporation.

Kaufman has been a member of WBUR’s Executive Committee since its inception more than 10 years ago. He is a consistent, generous contributor to the station and has a particular interest in and sensitivity to financial issues, as well as matters relating to electronic media.

Elaine Kirshenbaum
Vice President of Policy, Planning, and Member Services
Massachusetts Medical Society
Elaine Kirshenbaum is vice president of Policy, Planning, and Member Services at the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine.

As vice president, Ms. Kirshenbaum oversees several areas of the organization including Health Policy, Health Systems, Strategic Planning, Membership, and Continuing Education and Certification.  She has been associated with the MMS since 1996 and has worked in health care for over thirty years.

Ms. Kirshenbaum is a trustee of Boston University and a member of the Board of Visitors of Boston University School of Medicine.  She is also a member of the Anti- Defamation League’s Executive Board.

Mrs. Kirshenbaum earned her B.A., M.Ed., and M.P.H. from Boston University and is a graduate of the Harvard University Executive Program, Skills for the New World of Health Care.  She has two grown children and resides in Sudbury with her husband, a cardiologist.

Peter Meade
President and CEO, Edward M. Kenendy Institute for the United States Senate

In August 2009 Peter Meade began his term as Executive Director of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate founded in honor of the late Massachusetts senator. The Institute will be dedicated to educating the general public, students, teachers, new Senators, and Senate staff about the role and importance of the Senate, and is to be located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library on Columbia Point in Boston.

Prior to joining the Kennedy Insitute, Meade served as Managing Director of Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications Inc., one of the largest independent communications firms in the New England area. In this role Meade helped service current clients and develop new business opportunities for Rasky Baerlein both in New England and nationwide.

Until 2008, Meade directed Public Relations, Government Relations, Legislative Affairs, Community Relations, Regulatory Affairs, and Corporate Communications as Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, a position he held for 12 years. For his lifetime commitment to diversity and justice in the community, Meade was honored with the 2003 Chairperson’s Award from the Anti-Defamation League of New England.

Meade is one of Boston’s most active and influential business/civic leaders and possesses broad experience in both the public and private sectors. During the administration of Boston Mayor Kevin H. White, Meade served the City of Boston as public safety coordinator and commissioner of parks and recreation. From 1983 to 1992 he worked as a radio talk show host at WBZ-AM, gaining a reputation for astute political analysis and commentary. Meade’s business background further includes serving as vice president at Warner Amex Cable Communications and president and CEO of The New England Council.

In addition, Meade is an active volunteer and leader for various nonprofit organizations. He serves as Chairman of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and chairs the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Emerson College. Meade further serves on the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the Board of Directors for the Anti-Defamation League of New England, the New England Council, AAA of Southern New England and the Lenny Zakim Fund. He is former Chairman of the Board of Catholic Charities in Boston, former co-chair of MassINC and former member of the board of directors of Neighborhood Health Plans and Health Care for the Homeless.

Mary Jo Meisner
Vice President for Communications, The Boston Foundation
Mary Jo Meisner joined the Boston Foundation in November 2001 as Vice President for Communications, Community Relations and Public Affairs. In her current capacity, she is responsible for all of the Foundation’s communications, media relations, public affairs, community outreach and civic leadership activities, including the Boston Indicators Project and helping shaping the Foundation’s public policy initiatives.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Meisner spent 25 years in the newspaper business as a reporter, editor and news executive at newspapers throughout the United States. From April 1997 to February 2001, she was Editor and Vice Chairman of Community Newspaper Company, New England’s largest newspaper publisher, with more than 1 million readers each week. The company was sold to the Boston Herald in February 2001.

From June 1993 to January 1997, Meisner was the Editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where she oversaw the merger of the afternoon Milwaukee Journal and the morning Milwaukee Sentinel in April 1995. Prior to joining the Journal as Editor in 1993, Meisner was Managing Editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. From 1987 to 1991, Meisner was City Editor of the Washington Post, where she was responsible for the coverage of the city of Washington and oversaw the investigations of then-Mayor Marian Barry.  She also has served as Metropolitan Editor of the San Jose (CA) Mercury News and Metropolitan Editor of the Philadelphia Daily News. She started her career as a reporter for the Wilmington News- Journal in Wilmington, Delaware.

She is a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and a board member of the International Press Institute (IPI), and previously served on the board of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association. She has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror three times and was chair of the 1996 ASNE Writing Awards. In addition, she has taught various writing, editing, journalism ethics and management courses at the Maynard Institute, The Poynter Institute and the American Press Institute.

She serves on the board of several Boston area organizations, including the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay, the Greater Boston Food Bank, the ACCESS Scholarship Program and the Board of Overseers of the Boys & Girls Club of Boston.  She lives in Boston with her son.

Thomas Mottl
Principal, Stratec Consulting
In his capacity as Principal of Stratec Consulting, based in Reading, MA, Mottl works as a probono venture adviser and management consultant to public agencies and the private sector on initiatives related to information technology, computing and telecommunication applications. The primary focus for his interests and involvements centers on strategic planning and related assessment and development of business strategies.

Prior to forming Stratec in 1995, Mottl was an operating Division Director and Corporate Vice President at TASC, a mid-sized ICT corporation. He worked in research and development at Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1968 to 1976 and was on the faculty and research staff of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan from 1959 to 1968.

Mottl serves as a member of the Board of Directors and as Secretary General to the internationally-based World Teleport Association in New York City. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of The Intelligent Community Forum, a not-for-profit think-tank that focuses on job creation and economic development in the broadband economy and CitySoft, an Internet software provider for associations, nonprofits and educational institutions. Mottl received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a B.S.E.E. from Purdue University.

Mottl currently chairs WBUR’s New Media Advisory Committee.

William Poorvu
William Poorvu is the Class of 1961 Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship Emeritus at Harvard Business School. For several decades he was responsible for and taught the real estate courses at HBS. He has authored several books and articles on real estate, the latest entitled The Real Estate Game.

Poorvu has been managing partner in a number of real estate companies and has served as consultant for various organizations in the private and public sectors. He is a founder and past Chairman of the Baupost Group L.L.C., an investment advisory firm for which he currently serves as Co-Chairman of its Board of Advisors. Poorvu has served as an independent Trustee of the MFS Group of Mutual Funds, a Director of CBL & Associates, Trammell Crow Realty Investors and Connecticut General Mortgage and Realty Investments. Poorvu also served as Treasurer, Vice Chairman, President, and Director of Boston Broadcasters, Inc., licensee of WCVB-TV Channel 5, Boston, from the company’s founding in 1963 to its on-air launch in 1972 and ultimate sale in 1982.

In addition to his formal work responsibilities, Poorvu is a Life Trustee and former Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; a Trustee and Treasurer of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Trustee and Vice Chairman of the National Public Radio Foundation; member of the Investment Committee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York; and a former member of the Yale University Council and of its Investment Committee. He also was a member of the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Panel on America’s Overseers Presence in the 21st Century.

Poorvu has served on WBUR’s Executive Committee for more than five years.

Doug Rauch
In his 31 years with Trader Joe’s Company, the majority as President, Doug Rauch played a pivotal role in the company’s growth from a small, nine-store chain in Southern California to a nationally-acclaimed retail success story with more than 325 stores in 27 states. Rauch developed Trader Joe’s distinctive buying philosophy, created its unique private label food program and, in the process, changed the way customers think about private label products across America. Rauch developed Trader Joe’s Business Plan in 1994 for their expansion out of California and moved to the Boston area over ten years ago to bring Trader Joe’s to the East Coast. In a shock to many of his co-workers, Rauch fell in love with New England and turned down several offers to move back to CA, instead choosing to hold the position of President, nationally, from Trader Joe’s offices in Needham. He was instrumental in developing Trader Joe’s unique Customer Experience focus and implementing their proprietary personal development programs.

Rauch holds a B.A. in History and an Executive M.B.A. from the Peter Drucker School of Management, Claremont University, where he graduated top of his class. In addition, Rauch received the Early Career Entrepreneurship Award from Peter Drucker in 1997. While President of Trader Joe’s, he received numerous industry awards and acknowledgements.

Having retired from Trader Joe’s in June, 2008, Rauch currently does consulting work with a number of small and large retailers. He also serves on the President’s Council at Olin College, works with entrepreneurial startups, and serves on numerous small, non-profit boards focused on his various interests in education and religious tolerance.

Since arriving in Boston in 1996, Rauch has been a big fan and continuous supporter of WBUR through both personal donations and corporate underwriting.

Richard Snyder
Partner, Duane Morris LLP
As a partner for the Boston-based office of Duane Morris, Richard Snyder practices business, lending, real estate and international law. He serves as legal counsel and adviser to business entities, including for-profit and not-for-profit institutions, as well as domestic and foreign corporations. Much of his practice involves the development of business and legal initiatives and the supervision of large and complex transactions in which sizeable legal teams represent each party. He is a member of the American, Massachusetts, Vermont and Boston bar associations.

Snyder served as a White House summer intern and was a trial lawyer with the Department of Justice before entering private practice in 1966. He continues to be active in civic and charitable endeavors, serving in state and municipal positions, as well as chairing college and civic boards and committees. Snyder currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Overseers of Babson College.

Snyder is a 1966 graduate of Georgetown University (LL.M.), a 1963 honors graduate of Boston University School of Law, and an honors graduate of Babson College, where he majored in accounting.

Not only has Snyder served previously as a WBUR Executive Advisory Board member and chair of its Development Committee, he is also a generous contributor to and strong supporter of the station.

Micho Spring
Chairperson, U.S. Corporate Practice and New England
Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Micho Spring’s work at Weber Shandwick Worldwide (formerly BSMG Worldwide) focuses on enabling corporate clients to use communications strategies to better support their business strategies or respond to public policy challenges.

Spring has garnered extensive experience as a senior manager in both the public and private sectors. Her experience includes six years as President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Telecommunications Company, which provided high-tech telecommunications services to professional service firms, and four years as Deputy Mayor of the City of Boston. She also served as Chief of Staff to Boston Mayor Kevin H. White after four years of service in New York City government.

As a public official, civic leader and independent commentator, Spring has helped shape public debate on numerous issues in Boston and elsewhere. She has managed numerous political and public issue campaigns, in addition to appearing as a panelist on WCVB-TV’s public affairs show “Five on Five.”

Spring served on the host committee for the National Democratic Convention, Boston 2004, Inc., and is currently on the boards of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau; Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce; John F. Kennedy Library; and The Boston Foundation; on the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and on the Advisory Board of the Taubman Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Spring is a director of Citizens Bank of Massachusetts.

Spring has received several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Women’s Network, the Women in Business Leadership Award by the New England Business Council, and the Order of Isabel La Catolica Award presented by King Juan Carlos of Spain. Most recently, she received a 2003 Leading Women Award from the Girls Scouts of Greater Boston, Patriots’ Trail Council and the Leadership Award by the Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce.

Spring is active in various Cuban-American charitable causes and lives in Boston’s Back Bay.