KQED Names New President

• KQED, the public media organization serving Northern California, announced today that President and Chief Executive Officer John Boland (left) will be retiring in September 2019. As part of the succession plan, the Board of Directors has selected current Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Isip (right) to succeed Boland and has appointed him to the position of President Elect.

Before Boland’s term as President & CEO at KQED began in March 2010, he served for four years as the first Chief Content Officer of the national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). He previously served in several executive positions at KQED for more than a decade, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Content Officer. Boland began his career as a daily newspaper reporter and has worked as a newspaper and magazine editor and publisher.

“KQED exists to serve the people of the Bay Area, and what audiences want and need from KQED has changed dramatically in the digital age,” said Boland. “KQED’s services are more essential than ever, but to remain relevant we needed to undertake major changes and grow our capacity to meet the community’s 21st century needs. Leading KQED through this transformation, and seeing those changes embraced and supported by the community, has been the highlight of my career in media.”

Isip joined KQED in June 2001 as Executive Producer in TV Productions and was promoted to a number of senior-level titles before being named Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer in 2014 and then Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2017. Commenting on his future promotion, Isip said, “I’m truly humbled by the opportunity to lead this institution and serve the people of the Bay Area in this capacity. It is my belief that in today’s fractured media marketplace, KQED’s unique role in serving the public with the most trusted news and information, as well as providing the highest-quality programming for diverse audiences, is more important today than ever before. I look forward to continuing on with this mission by reaching and engaging new audiences in new and meaningful ways, building community and strengthening the civic and cultural vitality of the Bay Area.”