Pat Mitchell Biography

One of the most influential leaders in media, Pat Mitchell knows a great deal about the risks, responsibilities and rewards of leadership. The former President and CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), she is the first woman and first producer to serve as CEO of the nation’s largest and only non-commercial broadcasting service. Currently, Mitchell is president and CEO of The Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio), where she has worked to rebrand the 34-year-old institution for the changing media landscape.

Drawing upon its influential board of trustees and International Council of media executives, she has clearly positioned the Paley Center as both a neutral forum for industry professionals and a public space for media lovers to gather for informative and entertaining events. An enthusiast of new media herself, Mitchell continues to lead the Paley Center into the digital era: spearheading the conversion of the organization's collection of nearly 150,000 television and radio programs to a digital format; overseeing the redevelopment of its interactive website; negotiating content deals with prominent Internet portals and broadband companies including Yahoo! and Comcast; and convening the Paley Center's 2007 International Council in the digital media capital of the United States, Silicon Valley.

Mitchell is recognized as a proven business leader and respected executive in the entertainment industry. Under her leadership, Forbes magazine named PBS one of the "Magnetic 40" companies, a first for PBS. She was also named to Newsweek's 2011 list of 150 Women Who Shake the World, the Huffington Post’s 2012 list of the Most Powerful Women Over 50, Forbes.com list of "Women Changing the World," and featured in Fast Company’s Special Report, “The League of Extraordinary Women.” She continues to break ground in leadership and media with energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to explore innovative and creative ideas.

Mitchell serves on the boards of Bank of America, the Sundance Institute, the Mayo Foundation and the Women’s Leadership Board of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is one of the founding members of the American chapter of Mikhail Gorbachev's environmental organization, Green Cross International, and is a member of the US-Afghan Women’s Council.

A voice of experience, Mitchell offers a dynamic, engaging vision of leadership, highlighting women’s issues and the role of media in shaping ideas in society.

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