In its 42 year history, KZUM has provided media access to all community members to share their unique perspectives through programming and community events. This is achieved largely due to our dedicated volunteer programmers and our network of community partners, who all have voices on the KZUM airwaves daily. Even though we’ve been doing this for over four decades, we also recognize that we must always be committed to our continued growth and learning so that we may best serve our community as it evolves.
That’s why in June 2020, KZUM was part of a national conversation with dozens of other community radio stations, facilitated by the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. The goal was to seek out roadblocks, create support and define a path toward a more equitable industry. The result was the formation of a nationwide cohort of stations who are committing to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as organizational priorities. On July 16, 2020, the KZUM Board of Directors unanimously voted to join this important cohort.
We are approaching our work in this cohort not as a project, but as a commitment to continued focus on equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do. We are committed to guiding our programming and strategic planning with these principles in mind through comprehensive training while learning from the cohort’s challenges and success.
We are committed to being the most diverse, inclusive and equitable organization that we can be. Our hope is that this commitment will keep your favorite community radio station heading in the right direction to provide access for all community members to share their unique perspectives so that we may all learn from one another.
Please follow our progress and email KZUM’s General Manager, Kerry Semrad at gm@kzum.org to be added to the community mailing list.
For more information regarding this cohort and about the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, please visit NFCB.org
