Arlington, Virginia—WETA President and Chief Executive Officer Sharon Percy Rockefeller today named Shawn Castellanos as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of WETA, the flagship public media station in Greater Washington. Reporting to Rockefeller, Castellanos will join WETA on April 2 to spearhead contributed and earned revenue generation, communications, and marketing efforts in support of WETA, which operates on an annual budget of $130 million.
“Shawn comes to us with an impressive background in transformative fundraising and strategic planning in both large non-profits and higher education,” said Rockefeller. “She brings clear leadership gifts and deep expertise to our ambitious, complex and creative institution.”
In this newly created position, Castellanos will play a critical role in the development and execution of a comprehensive revenue strategy for WETA, which serves the national capital area with public television, radio and digital programming and is the second-largest producer of content for PBS stations nationwide. Working with the talented team of WETA fundraising professionals, Castellanos will craft revenue strategies that align with the organization’s mission and values while ensuring revenue sustainability and growth. She will oversee five vice presidents and 57 staff members across the major and planned giving, membership marketing and development services, corporate marketing, foundations and government development, and communications departments.
“I am delighted to join WETA, which I have long admired as a viewer,” said Castellanos. “The organization has earned tremendous loyalty and trust from the public, and I look forward to building further support for its dynamic mission.”
Castellanos has more than 15 years of leadership experience. She was most recently the Enterprise Executive, Emerging Strategies for the American Heart Association, where she was responsible for planning and creating major new programs and initiatives, including overseeing long-term strategies, operational planning, communications and marketing campaigns, and stakeholder and partnership relationships. Castellanos has also led fundraising teams at Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University. She frequently serves as an industry panelist and is a thought leader on key fundraising issues such as donor advised funds, community foundations, stewardship, and major and planned giving. Castellanos holds a bachelor’s degree from The University of Iowa, a master’s from Johns Hopkins University, and is an executive MBA student at the Quantic School of Business and Technology.
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ABOUT WETA
WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, is the second-largest producer of new content for public television in the United States. The WETA production portfolio includes news and public affairs programs PBS NewsHour, PBS News Weekend and Washington Week with The Atlantic; films by Ken Burns and Florentine Films including The American Buffalo and the forthcoming Leonardo Da Vinci; series and documentaries by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., including Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and GOSPEL; and performance specials including The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, National Memorial Day Concert, and A Capitol Fourth.
WETA serves the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia with content that educates and inspires across broadcast and streaming platforms. WETA presents five television channels: WETA PBS, WETA UK, WETA Metro, WETA World, and WETA PBS Kids; radio service WETA Classical; and content and streaming on weta.org and wetaclassical.org. Local programming and digital content created by WETA celebrates the people and history of the region through series such as Signature Dish, WETA Arts, Get Out of Town, and It’s Academic, and podcasts Classical Breakdown and Telly Visions. More information on WETA programs and services is available at weta.org. Visit facebook.com/wetatvfm on Facebook or follow @WETAtvfm on Instagram.
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