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WHRO Public Media Welcomes Eight New Board Directors

NORFOLK, VA (August 21, 2017) – WHRO Public Media announced the appointment of eight new Board Directors – Jay Ford, Executive Director of Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper; Eric Fox, Senior Vice President, Wealth Management at USB Financial Services; Dr. Linda Thomas-Glover, President of Eastern Shore Community College; Mark Johnson, Vice President & Community Development Manager at SunTrust Bank; Ashley McLeod, Communications and Membership Director of the Virginia Maritime Association; Ann Phillips, Rear Admiral, U.S. NAVY (Ret.) A.C. Phillips, LLC; Robert Rey, Subsidiary President at PRA Group, Inc..; and Win Short, Attorney at Kaufman & Canoles.

Jay Ford is the Executive Director of Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, a non-profit dedicated to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic waters along Virginia’s coast. Additionally, he is the owner of Shine and Rise, a sustainable educational farm in Painter, Virginia. He previously worked as the Legislative Aide for Ralph Northam and as the State Policy Director for Virginia Consumer Voices through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He currently serves on the Virginia Coastal Land Advisory Committee, The Virginia Land Conservation Foundation Board, and the Virginia Climate Change and Coastal Resiliency Commission.

Eric L. Fox has been a resident of Virginia Beach since 1959.  He is married with two sons and one incredible granddaughter. Eric served in the Army from 1966 until 1972, leaving as a Captain after two tours in Vietnam.  He joined the investment services business in 1973 and has worked as a Financial Advisor with UBS Financial Services for the past 22 years.  He has served on many boards over the years including Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, TCC Foundation, Town Point Club, ODU Research Foundation, Virginia Beach Vision, and WHRO.  Eric is a member of the Richmond Society of Financial Analysts.  He likes to help families achieve their goals.

Dr. Linda Thomas-Glover became the fourth president of Eastern Shore Community College, located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Dr. Thomas-Glover previously served as Provost/Chief Academic Officer at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (Kentucky).  Prior to that position she held several positions at Guilford Technical Community College (North Carolina) including Vice President of Instruction, Science/Mathematics Division Chair, Physical Sciences Department Chair, and she began her teaching career as an Assistant Professor in Chemistry at Bennett College. Her academic credentials include a BS degree in chemistry from South Carolina State University, a MS degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo and she earned a doctorate in chemistry from Temple University (Philadelphia, PA).

Mark Johnson is the Vice President & Community Development Manager at SunTrust Bank. In this role, Mark is responsible for overseeing the Community Development, Reinvestment and Foundation activities in the Hampton Roads Region of SunTrust Bank which encompasses Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg, Gloucester, and the Eastern Shore. An exemplary steward of community service and champion of philanthropic efforts in the Hampton Roads community, he is consistently working to align the bank with charitable organizations and initiatives that promote positive change within the community.

Ashley K. McLeod is the Communications and Membership Director for the Virginia Maritime Association. Prior to VMA she was the Executive Director of Norfolk Sister City Association (2008-2014) and Executive Director of the 2005 and 2006 Norfolk’s Azalea Festival (now NATOFestival). McLeod owned her own consulting business from 1999-2008, allowing her to work from home while raising her family and serving the community as a volunteer. 

Rear Admiral Ann Phillips, USN (Ret.) has served in every warfare group of the Surface Navy: Destroyers, Aircraft Carriers, Amphibious, and Replenishment Ships. During her 31 years on active duty, she commissioned and commanded USS MUSTIN (DDG 89), and commanded Destroyer Squadron TWO EIGHT, and Expeditionary Strike Group TWO – all Amphibious Expeditionary Forces on the East Coast of the United States. In addition, she has served overseas in Guam and Lisbon, Portugal, and operated extensively with NATO and Partnership for Peace nations. Upon retirement from the U.S. Navy in 2014, she completed her MBA at The College of William and Mary, Mason School of Business. During this time, she also chaired the Infrastructure Working Group for the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Pilot Planning Project convened by Old Dominion University. She continues to work to address sea level rise and climate impact on national security at the regional and national level, and speaks about climate security and adaptation strategies to a broad range of audiences.

Robert Rey is Subsidiary President, PRA Group, Inc.  Bob has been with CCB’s parent company, PRA Group, Inc. (PRA), since March 2001. Since 2011, he has supported CCB’s integration and business development efforts, and since 2013 CCB’s overall management, growth, and new services including claims valuation and purchasing. Prior to 2013, Bob was Vice President of Portfolio Strategy for PRA’s core distressed receivables purchasing business, where he was responsible for the business’s score based strategy and production on over 25 million consumer accounts. Bob has more than 20 years of experience as a manager and executive in the receivables management industry. Prior to joining PRA, Bob worked in various management positions as well as consulting at various major credit issuer banks managing collections, asset sales, bankruptcy, and outsourcing.

Win Short has been a trial attorney with Kaufman & Canoles since 1980. AV® Rated by Martindale- Hubbell, his practice includes a broad range of commercial and real estate civil litigation, with an emphasis on environmental disputes, real estate transaction and title disputes, disputes concerning wills and trusts, and lending and banking disputes.

“WHRO is extremely fortunate to welcome our newest Board directors,” states Bert Schmidt, WHRO President and CEO. “Their passion for the community and public media is unmatched – we are excited to see them continue to elevate WHRO’s impact and most importantly enrich the Hampton Roads community.”

To learn more about WHRO's work, please visit www.whro.org. Also, follow WHRO on Facebook and Twitter.

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About WHRO: Since its founding in 1961 to support education, WHRO has employed creativity and technology to serve the residents of southeast Virginia in its mission to educate, inform and entertain viewers and listeners of WHRO’s four public television and eight public radio stations. Owned by 19 southeastern Virginia school divisions, WHRO also delivers online educational and new media services to 286,000 students and 25,000 educators per month. To learn more, visit www.whro.org.