Category: PPIC News

Louise Henry Bryson Joins PPIC Board of Directors

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I am delighted to announce the election of Louise Henry Bryson—a leader in the arts, media, and entertainment industry—to PPIC’s board of directors.

Louise is the former president of distribution for Lifetime Television and executive vice president and general manager of Lifetime Movie Network. Previously, she was senior vice president for Fox Network, where she was responsible for distribution of Fox’s cable television channels and for station negotiations throughout the United States. She retired in 2008.

Louise’s professional experience, leadership talents, and commitment to public service make her an ideal addition to PPIC’s board. We look forward to her contributions as PPIC works to achieve its mission: informing and improving public policy through independent, nonpartisan research.

Louise began her career as a writer and producer in public television and radio. She is a trustee of WETA public broadcasting in Washington, D.C., and a lifetime trustee of Southern California Public Radio. She was board chair of KCET public television in Los Angeles and a member of the PBS National Board, which honored her with the 1998 Award for Excellence in Public Television Leadership. She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010.

Louise has a strong record of public service. She served on the board of trustees for the J. Paul Getty Trust for 12 years, including four as board chair. She was named chair emerita in 2010. Louise is currently a trustee of the American Funds. She is a member of the board of directors at a variety of nonprofit institutions, including Pomona College, the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Huntington Memorial Hospital, and the California Community Foundation.

She has master’s degrees in business and teaching from Stanford University.

As a new board member, Louise has been elected to an initial three-year term and is eligible for a maximum of three three-year terms. Donna Lucas, founder and chief executive officer of Lucas Public Affairs, is chair of the PPIC board. The other board members are myself; Ruben Barrales, president and CEO of GROW Elect; María Blanco, vice president of civic engagement at the California Community Foundation; attorney Brigitte Bren; Walter B. Hewlett, member of the board of directors at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Phil Isenberg, vice chair of the Delta Stewardship Council; David Mas Masumoto, author and farmer; Steven Merksamer, senior partner at Neilsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Gross & Leoni, LLP; Kim Polese, chairman of ClearStreet, Inc.; and Thomas Sutton, retired chairman and CEO of the Pacific Life Insurance Company. You can find more information about the PPIC board on PPIC.org.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

In Memoriam: Margaret Weston

It is with profound sadness that I share the news that a beloved PPIC colleague, Maggie Weston, has passed away. Maggie was 32 years old—an accomplished educator and policy researcher with boundless potential. My colleagues and I are shocked and heartbroken at this sudden loss. We extend our deepest sympathies to Maggie’s family.

All of us who knew Maggie were awed by her passion for her work. A champion of children, she dedicated her career to improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth. As a Teach for America instructor in Baltimore, Maggie experienced first-hand the systemic problems facing public education and sought to be a part of the solution. When she joined PPIC six years ago as a research associate—equipped with master’s degrees in teaching (Johns Hopkins University) and public policy (University of Michigan)—she said she wanted to make a difference on a larger scale.

At PPIC, Maggie brought her intellect and work ethic to the critical, then-unrecognized, topic of school finance in California. Describing the system as inequitable, inadequate, and overly complex, she authored more than a dozen publications documenting its problems and outlining clear steps toward addressing its shortcomings. She bridged the gap between the research and policy communities and created the common knowledge that resulted in important policy change. Her rigorous and objective work helped to provide the basis for the new Local Control Funding Formula, approved as part of the state budget last year.

In recognition of her outstanding contributions to public policy research and in anticipation of her Ph.D. (expected in 2015 from UC Davis), Maggie became a research fellow in 2012. She continued to specialize in education finance, determined to evaluate and communicate the real-world impacts of local control on students. She met with PTAs and community groups across the state, convinced that empowering them with information would help ensure a new level of transparency and engagement in public education.

The impact Maggie had on her colleagues, educators, and the policy community is a testament to her intensity, her intelligence, and above all, her integrity. We will miss her dearly.

Maggie’s family has scheduled a memorial service this Thursday at 2 p.m. in Sacramento. Details of the service and an online guest book are available at http://www.eastlawn.com/obituaries-services.html?obituary_id=1039856

Sincerely,

Mark