The Santa Barbara Channels is pleased to announce the election of new officers and community producers to The Santa Barbara Channels Board of Directors at this year’s annual meeting, according to Keri Stokstad, Executive Director, The Santa Barbara Channels.

The officers are Candi Corbani, Chair, Susan Young, Vice Chair, Deirdre Hanssen, Treasurer and Katie Laris, Secretary.

Candi Corbani, Chair, is owner of Hidden Oaks Clubhouse and is a founding board member of the Santa Barbara Channels. She produced the highly recognized program Live After 65. She has served on the Santa Barbara County Affirmative Action Commission, the Commission for Women and the Human Services Commission. She also served on the boards of the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.

Susan Young, Vice Chair, is the Recreation Supervisor for the City of Santa Barbara. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Southern California Teen Coalition, the Endowment for Youth Committee and is an advisory member for the SBCEO’s service learning advisory committee. She has is a former producer of programs focusing on youth issues.

Deirdre Hanssen, Treasurer, is serving her second term on the board and has extensive experience as a writer/producer/Avid editor in broadcast television working for ABC, CBS and NBC in Los Angeles. Ms. Hanssen is a member of the Writers Guild of America and Women’s Auxiliary of the Music Academy of the West.

Katie Laris, Secretary, is Production Chair for Theatre Department, Santa Barbara City College.

She has produced and written television documentaries for ESPN, Animal Planet, Discovery Health Channel and public television. She served on the board of the Santa Barbara Performing Arts League.

The newly elected community representative positions on the board were in response to the recently vacated seats due to the resignation of previous board Chair Ted Baer, Vice Chair John Leonard, and member Bob Collector.

“Our bylaws allow up to 4 producers on the Board of Directors”, said Stokstad, “We wanted to fill the vacancies with current producers as we believe their voices will be a valuable addition to our strategic plan.”

The new producer representatives are Cheryl Kelmar, producer of From Rags to Middle Class, Cathy Murillo, co-producer of Off Leash Public Affairs, and William Smithers, co-producer of Just Between Us, with his wife Lorrie Smithers. These programs are available on Cox Channel 17.

The new additions join recently appointed directors Chris Elliott, Luis Moro, Tom Piozet, William Rosen, and long-standing directors, Cathy Boggs, Mindy Denson, and Christine Gallery. The Cox Cable representative is Julie McGovern and the County of Santa Barbara representative is Bob Nisbet.

“The Santa Barbara Channels is poised for a revival,” said Stokstad, “The changes on the board reflect a renewed focus on the mission of the organization, which is to provide citizens with access to electronic media resources, to foster creativity and media literacy, and encourage community interest in local issues and events.”

The Santa Barbara Channels, is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation with a community based Board of Directors. The Santa Barbara Channels operates both Public Access (Channel 17) and Educational Access (Channel 21) channels as part of the Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) channels authorized by the Federal Communications Act in the cable franchise areas served by Cox Communication. Channel 17 Community Television provides a televised forum for legal, non-commercial speech, a First Amendment beacon, a channel in which citizens and organizations can create and disseminate information. Channel 21 serves as a televised gallery of local arts, culture, and education.

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