NPR Taps Ryan Merkley As COO

• NPR President & CEO Katherine Maher announced the appointment of Ryan Merkley as NPR’s new Chief Operating Officer. “Throughout his career Ryan has demonstrated a commitment to the public trust, leading organizations that prioritize universal access to the common good,” Maher said. “He has a proven track record in helping companies with ambitious missions achieve high-performance outcomes, and his success working with complex distributed network organizations and fluency in product and emerging technologies make him an ideal COO for NPR at this moment in time.”

Merkley most recently served as CEO of Conscience, a biotech non-profit. His corporate resume also includes a stint as Sr. Technology Fellow at the Aspen Institute; Chief of Staff at the Wikimedia Foundation; CEO of Creative Commons; COO of Mozilla; Director of Corporate Communications for the City of Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games, and a Senior Advisor to Mayor David Miller in Toronto.

“I believe deeply in collaboration — especially things we can only do together — and I’ve spent my career in organizations that do just that,” Merkley remarked. “Public media is a collective effort, beginning with communities and local stations across the country, and connecting across the network. Public media and its unique mission of service is essential to give people the information and context they need to make choices about their lives and their families, and to understand each other at home and around the world. We need that connection and understanding more than ever, and I’m so inspired by this team and our mission to ensure we protect and grow it.”