Iris Drayton-Spann Named WETA Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development

ARLINGTON, VA — WETA President and Chief Executive Officer Sharon Percy Rockefeller announced today that Iris Drayton-Spann has been named Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development of WETA.  Drayton-Spann will head the hiring and human resource development operations for the Greater Washington Region’s leading public television and radio broadcaster and national television producer.  When she takes the post on February 1, Drayton-Spann will report to Jason R. Daisey, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and work closely with WETA leadership and the workforce of approximately 290 individuals.

“I am pleased Iris Drayton-Spann is joining our management team,” Rockefeller commented.  “She is a proven strategic thinker with an enthusiastic service orientation — a wonderful fit for our dynamic public media workplace and the mission we have of serving our community.”

With her deep background in nonprofit career services, Drayton-Spann brings strong expertise to the complexities of a creative mission-driven company that is a highly-valued nonprofit institution.  Drayton-Spann was most recently the Vice President of Human Resources at Goodwill Industries International, Inc. (GII)., North America’s leading nonprofit provider of education, training, and career services for people with disadvantages, such as employment challenges, homelessness, and lack of education or work experience, as well as those with physical, mental and emotional disabilities.  Drayton-Spann was responsible for executing a “Compelling Place to Perform” with programs designed to engage, develop, value and celebrate employees, teams and colleagues.  She delivered human resources initiatives that allowed GII to achieve growth and sustainability by focusing on talent acquisition, retention and attrition control.  In addition, Drayton-Spann was responsible for working cross-functionally to build a culture that reinforced GII’s “Walk This Way” values.  She has more than 18 years of experience in employee relations, strategic recruiting, performance management, mediation, policy and procedure management, and training and development.

“Public broadcasting is an essential service with motivated, creative and dedicated employees,” said Drayton-Spann.  “I am thrilled to bring my passion for people to WETA and to work with Sharon, the WETA leadership team, and all the individuals who make WETA possible on developing the organization together.”

Drayton-Spann has a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Howard University, a master’s degree in Human Resource Development from George Washington University, and her Professional in Human Resources certification from HR Certification Institute.  She is a member of SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) and holds a SHRM-CP certification. A member of the Society for Diversity, she holds a certificate from the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Leadership Program, sponsored by SHRM.  She obtained her Certified Diversity Professional certification in 2013 and her Certified Diversity Executive certification in 2016, sponsored by The Institute for Diversity Certification. Drayton-Spann has also received Results Based Facilitation Training and, most recently, Results Based Leadership (rebranded “Results Count”) Training from The Annie E. Casey Foundation.  She is also a Certified Facilitator for RightPath Resources. Drayton-Spann is married to Jeffrey J. Spann and has an adult son, Michael Drayton and adult step-daughter, Dana Spann.

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About WETA

WETA is the leading public broadcasting company in the nation’s capital, serving Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia with educational initiatives and with high-quality programming on WETA Television and Classical WETA 90.9 FM.  For fiscal year 2017, the company had an annual operating budget of $97 million and nearly 300 employees. Classical WETA 90.9 FM brings classical music, concerts and specials to Greater Washington. WETA Television broadcasts on four channels: WETA TV 26, WETA HD, WETA UK and WETA Kids. WETA Television celebrates the people and history of this region through programs such as WETA Around Town, WETA Extras and The WETA Guide.  For national PBS audiences, WETA produces PBS NewsHour and Washington Week; documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns and scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; and performance specials from the U.S. Capitol and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Embracing the educational mission of public broadcasting, WETA creates leading public service websites such as www.ReadingRockets.org, www.LDOnline.org, www.ColorinColorado.org, www.AdLit.org and www.Brainline.org; and develops community outreach programs to engage people of all ages in the joy of lifelong learning.  The WETA studios and administrative offices are located in Arlington, Virginia.  More information on WETA and its programs and services is available at www.weta.org.