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KVNF Board Elections

Sept. 22, 2023

The KVNF Annual Meeting is coming up Monday, October 23rd at 5:00 PM. The meeting will be held at Bill Heddles Recreation Center, located at 531 N. Palmer St. in Delta. This year there are 2 open seats on the Board. If you are a KVNF member, we hope that you will cast a vote.

Your participation is encouraged and a great way to take advantage of your membership. There are three nominees to fill two open seats on the KVNF board of directors: Drew McCracken, Jere Lowe and Brody Wilson. (See bios below.)

To vote: download and print the ballot and place an X on the line next to the candidate's name. Vote for up to two candidates. If your membership includes a spouse or partner, each must cast a separate ballot.

In order for your vote to be counted:

1. Your completed ballot must be mailed to KVNF, PO Box 1350, Paonia, CO 81428 or dropped off at the Paonia office (233 Grand Ave. open: 9:30am-5:30pm).

2. Your ballot must be received by Monday, Oct. 23, 2023 at 5 pm at the Annual Meeting in Delta.

3. You must print your name(s) and address in the upper left corner of the envelope or use return address label. (This allows the election judges to verify membership without opening the envelope.)

4. Please write “KVNF Ballot” on the bottom left corner of the return envelope.

To protect your identity, election judges will open and recycle all envelopes before beginning the process of vote counting.

Thank you again for participation in the election of board members and for your support of KVNF.

DOWNLOAD THE BALLOT (.PDF)

Candidates:

KVNF Board Candidate Statements

Drew McCracken: I grew up in a WVXU family and started having NPR driveway moments before I even knew what public radio was. My young daughters heard more news from WAMU while we lived in Cambodia than they did from anywhere else. When we moved from Phnom Penh to Ridgway several years ago, the first thing I did was find KVNF on the radio dial. KVNF is the first bookmark on my browser, and it gets clicked first when I open my laptop on Monday morning. Free Range Radio gets the week started right, and, by the time Gumbo Ya-Ya rolls around, I know the weekend is near.

I’m the COO of an international non-profit focused on an array of public health issues, chief among which is malaria elimination. More than 200 million people around the world will be infected with malaria this year, and several hundred thousand won’t receive the treatment they need to survive. I am responsible for our organizational strategy, finances, operations, and personnel.

I strive to be an active community member in Ridgway and around Ouray County. My best friend from childhood is the general manager of WYSO, a one-of-kind public radio station in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He knows of my love for community radio and encouraged me to align my time with my values. If I can contribute to making KVNF a stronger station, I’d love to have the opportunity to do so.

I look forward to participating in the monthly meetings of the KVNF Board and contributing my skills and interests to relevant committees. My family and I enjoyed all of Ridgway’s July concerts in Hartwell Park this summer. I picked up some new swag from the KVNF tent and bought a few raffle tickets. The only programming suggestion that I would have to offer is that we have lost dogs in Ouray County, too! Together, let’s look for ways that our small County can be a more active part of the KVNF community.

Jere Lowe: I have been a supporter of and involved in public media for most of my adult life. I’m coming up on 18 years in Paonia, and before that I was in the Boulder area where I was a member of CPR, and also worked with Free Speech TV. It was my pickup truck that moved all the vinyl from the old KVNF station to the new current station many years ago on one of my first days after permanently relocating to Paonia. I have been involved ever since.

I own multiple local businesses currently and have had a lifetime of business experience where I was always a top producer and helped to grow the business. Including a stint working of GE where I was the “Rookie of the Year” in 99 and I was trained by GE in Quality and received my Greenbelt and was working towards my black belt qualifications. I also served as a liaison project manager for a major tech infrastructure project. That experience certainly helped me become the successful business owner I am today.

KVNF is one of millions of media options available in today’s digital world. In order to remain relevant KVNF needs to work on QC & C in the sound and programing selection that it offers. Too much to get into in this document. For the last 17+ years I have been a KVNF member, volunteer, underwriter, DJ and major donor at times. My wife has been all of these things as well and has been volunteer of the year at least once. My purpose of running for the board is to have more say in the direction and future of KVNF if I am going to continue to spend my time and money with the organization. Frankly though, Should I be elected by the membership I certainly have expectations for the BOD and the Staff in order to achieve the aforementioned goals of keeping KVNF relevant for years to come. Thank You for your consideration.

Brody Wilson: I grew up in Montrose and KVNF has been a continuous thread in my life from 1979 to today. My dad, Bill Wilson, has been involved in the station in various capacities over the years, including as a board member. Not only did KVNF stretch my musical ears, the other thought provoking content continually stretched my brain, ensuring I had a global perspective, despite being a kid from a small western Colorado town. I owe KVNF a debt for helping me become who I am today. A year ago, I moved back to Montrose from the Boulder area with my family (wife Erin Farrell, and 7 year old son, River) and bought the house I grew up in.

I'm a KVNF member and have been actively involved with KVNF as a volunteer for the last year via the Montrose, Ridgway, Ouray CAB, as well as hosting the KVNF tent at events. I’m 43 years old and am currently taking a year-plus sabbatical from IBM where I worked as the Global Sustainability Manager for IBM’s real estate group. I managed a team of 28 people responsible for maintaining IBM’s environmental compliance and achieving IBM’s ambitious sustainability and net-zero carbon goals. During my sabbatical from IBM I'm pursuing a personal interest in western water issues, specifically developing media content (audio & video) on water issues in the Western Slope.

I currently serve on the board of directors for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), a non-profit group driving policy and programs to improve energy efficiency across CO, NM, AZ, NV, and WY. I’ve been a board member with SWEEP for 4+ years and was most recently a member of the search committee responsible for the selection of our new executive director. SWEEP has an annual budget of approximately $2.5M. I hope you’ll consider me for a board position and allow me to contribute my business expertise, and non-profit board experience to help ensure KVNF’s continued success and improvement.

Click here to listen to the interviews.