As NPR navigates the effects of a massive budget shortfall, the public broadcaster is putting a new set of hands on the financial tiller. A new Chief Financial Officer has been named months after NPR cut around 10% of its workforce, including numerous layoffs in its digital audio division.
NPR President and CEO John Lansing announced that Daphne Kwon has been appointed as the public broadcaster’s new Chief Financial Officer. Kwon, a seasoned finance executive, will assume the role on June 26, following an extensive national search facilitated by Russell Reynolds Associates.
Kwon has a degree from Harvard Business School, and has extensive experience in television. She served as Meredith Corporation’s Chief Strategy Officer, working with the company’s 17 broadcast television stations across the country in addition to print brands such as PEOPLE and Better Homes & Gardens. Kwon’s Meredith tenure was defined by a focus on growing the company’s digital activities.
In her career, Kwon also led the launch of several digital TV networks at Disney/ABC, and worked as CFO for Oxygen Media and Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand Goop.
“My entire media career has drawn me to this opportunity at NPR. Journalism has never been more important,” said Kwon. “And the place that NPR and its Member stations occupy in the fabric of public broadcasting is unique and necessary. I am honored to be a part of this team and look forward to contributing to NPR’s growth and impact.”
“Daphne is an experienced media industry professional and has a very creative and strategic approach to financial leadership,” added Lansing. “She is exactly the kind of leader we need to guide us at this time.”
