​Candidate Bios and Position Statements

(Presented in alphabetical order)

Mike Duke

 

Mike Duke is the director of Radio Reading Service of Mississippi.
Blind since birth, Mike attended the Mississippi School for the Blind and Mississippi State University, where he earned a degree in communications.  He then worked as a commercial radio announcer for 12 years before joining Mississippi Public Broadcasting as director of the Radio Reading Service of Mississippi in 1988. He has served as a Board Member of IAAIS, and on various IAAIS committees.

 

As information access technology continues to evolve, organizations such as IAAIS must continue to work diligently to ensure that current information remains accessible for print-impaired individuals through a variety of options regardless of their skill levels. I look forward to the opportunity to serve a second term on the IAAIS board, and to help audio information services continue moving forward with our mission and purpose.
 

Maryfrances Evans

 

Maryfrances Evans began her broadcast career at KCCI in Des Moines in 1982. Over her 26-year tenure, she advanced from newscast director to management. She left KCCI in 2006 to focus on her small daughters but remained active in freelance videography, marketing and non-profit work. She joined IRIS in 2010 and accomplishments there include statewide DTV delivery, FCC service on the VPAAC Committee and spreading awareness about radio reading from City Hall to Capitol Hill.

 

“The simple beauty of thousands of volunteers reading aloud cannot be argued. My job is to expand our support and funding by telling the story of radio reading.” 

 

Amy Hatter

 

Amy began her career at Radio Eye in 2008 as an AmeriCorps VISTA member. She jumped at the opportunity to join the permanent staff a year later as the studio manager. She was promoted to Executive Director in 2011.

 

Amy has served on IAAIS the board since 2013; she has held various roles on the board, including Nominations Committee Chair, Vice President, and Treasurer. Amy graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.

 

Amy has spent her time at Radio Eye focused on “more.” Producing more programs, serving more listeners in more areas of the state, and adding more ways to listen to the program. Amy attributes all of her success to her excellent staff – Lucy Stone, Program Director; Bill Sallee, Office Manager; Kirsten Bennett, Louisville Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator; and Sharon Cornett, Eastern Kentucky Program Manager.

 

In the past 11 years, she and her team have added 4 broadcast streams, including the newest broadcast to Western Kentucky in added in June 2021. In 2012, she partnered with NFB-Newsline to add the Lexington broadcast to their Kentucky Newspaper lineup. In 2014, when a potential listener in Wingo, KY (a small town in Western Kentucky) wanted to listen but was (1) out of radio range, (2) didn’t have internet, and (3) did not have long-distance service, Amy and her team worked to create their first toll-free telephone broadcast. After hearing about Kansas Audio Reader’s Alexa Skill, Amy and her team worked to create their own.

 

This past year, Radio Eye served over 9,000 listeners in Kentucky. Radio Eye is also heard (by phone, internet stream, and podcasts) in all 50 states and DC, in Canada, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, and dozens of other countries.

 

Bekah Jerde

 

Bekah Jerde is the Executive Director of Radio Talking Book Service in Omaha, Nebraska.  She has worked for RTBS for almost 7 years and, prior to that, was a volunteer reader for two years.  She is on the leadership team of the Women’s Fund Circles cohort, serves on local boards, and is active in her community.

 

Born and raised on the high plains of northwestern South Dakota, Bekah moved to Omaha in 1996 to attend college.  She graduated from Creighton University in 2006 with her bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies.  Bekah is an artist whose photography has been shown in the Des Moines Art Center and recently won the Outstanding Emerging Visual Artist OEAA award.

 

Mark E. Jividen

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Mark Jividen is a central Ohio native. He grew up near Lancaster and graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in broadcasting and business. He began his commercial broadcasting career in 1971 and has been associated with several broadcasting and media companies. From 1982 through 2011, Mr. Jividen managed the North American Broadcasting radio station group in Columbus, Ohio. Since 2014, he has served as executive director of VOICEcorps, a nonprofit network of six broadcast signals covering two-thirds of Ohio which serves people with low vision, blindness or other conditions that prevent reading printed materials. He is president of Ohio Radio Reading Services and secretary-treasurer of The Ohio Alliance for Public Broadcasting representing Ohio’s public television (PBS), public radio (NPR) and reading services (ORRS) broadcasters. Among his community activities, Mark has served as a board trustee of the 18-county Central Ohio Chapter of the Leukemia Society of America, as board member and president of the VOICEcorps Radio Reading Service, an advisor to the Ohio State University School of Journalism and to the Columbus Public Schools Fort Hayes Career Center. Among other recognition, he received the Columbus Sertoma Club “Service to Mankind Award,” the “Columbus Dispatch Community Service Award” and was named “CORRS Volunteer of the Year.” He is certified in emergency communication by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.

 

Georgean C. Johnson-Coffey

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Georgean has held the position of Manager of the Audio Reading Service at the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, since April of 2014, supervising three staff and over 100 volunteers.

 

During her tenue the Audio Reading Service has expanded its reach to include Alexa availability, Fort Wayne PBS39.4’s SAP channel, and increased the Service’s presence in area healthcare communities. She oversaw the transition from SCA to HD radios. Georgean also helped develop an online listener application and digital listener database.

 

She has served on the IAAIS By-Laws Committee and has presented at a number of conferences. The Audio Reading Service hosted the 2014 conference in Fort Wayne.  At ACPL, Georgean has served on the Wellness, Customer Service and Staff Development Teams.

 

She is a member of, and has held leadership positions in, the Northeast Indiana Disabilities Advocacy Coalition, a collective of disability organizations with the common mission to be a voice for equal opportunities on behalf of the disability community. Georgean has served as national consultant and trainer in the areas of nonprofit management and volunteer involvement. 

 

Prior to consulting and training, Georgean held a number of volunteer resources management positions in healthcare, local government and social services, including Eckhart Public Library in Auburn, Indiana; St. Joseph Hospital; Lutheran Life Villages in Fort Wayne and in a previous position at the Allen County Public Library.

 

She holds a Master's in Education/Staff Training and Development and a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Indiana University. Georgean served as an Editorial Reviewer for The International Journal of Volunteer Administration. She has been published in the Florida Libraries Journal and The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances. She has served as Adjunct Faculty member for Indiana Institute of Technology and Ivy Tech Community College.

 

Georgean is a founding Officer of Northeast Indiana Association of Volunteer Administration and a former member of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. Georgean has served as the Past-Chairperson of the National Government Volunteer Coordinator Advisory Committee for the Points of Light Foundation in Washington, DC.

 

Georgean is also co-owner of Blue Vision Music, a children’s music and Media Company with her husband, James Coffey, an award-winning songwriter, performer and producer. She coordinated marketing, sales, customer service and business administration. In this capacity she has served on the board of directors of Women in Toys, Licensing and Entertainment and held leadership positions with the Children’s Music Network. Georgean and James live in a woods in northeast Indiana.

 

Lisa Miele

 

Lisa Miele is the Executive Director of the Low Vision Resource Center and Owl Radio. An avid learner, she holds a degree in psychology from the University of North Texas. Prior to her current position, she served almost two decades in education as a school director. Lisa has used her leadership skills in both the private and non-profit sectors. Her experience includes regional training director for May Company and President and co-owner of a certified women owned commercial roofing company.   

 

Lisa believes that the main goal of any leader should be to serve, educate and lift up all of those around you. She is dedicated to being an inspiring force for good and to help people build strong and positive connections. When not working, she enjoys avoiding housework, spending time with family, and participating in anything that involves food.

 

Andrea  Pasquale

 

Andrea Pasquale has served as Director of Sun Sounds since 2016.  She moved to Arizona in 2007 to be the Manager of Programming for Volunteers at Sun Sounds of Arizona.  Prior to her service with Sun Sounds she was the Executive Director of the Connecticut Radio Information System, Inc. (CRIS) from 2001-2007.  She began her service in Radio Reading as a volunteer from 1995-2001 at CRIS. 

 

In addition, she has served on the IAAIS Board for 10 years. Andrea has over 25 years in commercial radio She graduated the University of New Hampshire a long time ago and has been in radio ever since.

 

May Tran

 

May Tran came to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in March 1980 from Viet Nam as a refugee. She graduated from Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC with honor in Chemistry. Instead of pursuing further in chemistry, she chose non-profit work as her path. May Tran has been with NCRS almost 22 years, the first 12 years she was the program/volunteer manager and in 2012 she became the executive director. As the executive director, she is driven to provide quality broadcast to the listeners. Since June 2014, NCRS has launched sixteen pre-recorded programs and one (1) live broadcast that she is extremely proud of is Que Pasa Noticias, an hour, every Saturday with Spanish speaking volunteers. And in 2019, May upgraded the 18-year-old equipment with the 21st century state of the art technology. Another accomplishment is the nontraditional classroom format, T3 Angle on Broadcasting, a wonderful partnership between NCRS and the Governor Morehead School for the Blind that is recognized by the Department of Public Instruction. 

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May is passionate about the reading service-or anything related with non-profits.  She does not know what she contributes, but she will do her very best for the IAAIS organization.

 

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Ballots must be received by

April 15, 2022

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