PBS SoCal trustee honored for leadership, advocacy

The co-chairwoman of PBS SoCal’s board of trustees received an award earlier this week for her leadership and advocacy.

Jo Ellen Chatham of the Costa Mesa-based station received the David J. Brugger Grassroots Advocacy Award on Monday from the Assn. of Public Television Stations (APTS).

“Supporting the unique educational, cultural and public affairs mission of public broadcasting has become a major part of my life,” Chatham, a Newport Beach resident, said in a prepared statement. “This extraordinary private-public partnership continues to narrow the education gap between underserved young people and their peers ... and address important public policy issues through thoughtful and rational investigation and dialogue.

“It is not accidental that PBS continues to be one of the most trusted public institutions in the nation. I am deeply moved to receive this unexpected recognition.”

Chatham was “extraordinarily effective advocate during last year’s election season,” APTS President and Chief Executive Patrick Butler said in a prepared statement. “We are very grateful for her tireless work meeting with members of Congress, as a member of the APTS Leadership Council and as a national lay leader for the public broadcasting system.”

Chatham, who served as the first vice chairwoman of the Republican Party of Orange County, also serves on the Pacific Symphony’s board and is a member of the Leadership Council at UC Irvine’s Center for the Study of Democracy.

—Bradley Zint

Twitter: @bradleyzint