Governance

Our mission statement:

KCBX is a cultural resource that exists to enlighten and enrich the quality of life for our listeners and users, especially on the Central Coast of California. KCBX will strive to serve listeners and users with interests in news, public affairs, and alternative musical arts, and will encourage an interest in and appreciation of fine arts and local, national and global issues. As an NPR station, KCBX puts our community in touch with the world.

KCBX, Inc. Public Meetings

The KCBX Community Advisory Council of KCBX, Inc. generally meets twice a year at the offices of KCBX. Once set, the next Advisory Council meeting date will be posted here, well in advance.

The KCBX Board of Directors will meet at 4100 Vachell Lane in San Luis Obispo on Tuesday, December 17, 2024 at 9AM.

For more information call 805-549-8855.

Board of Directors (Email Board)

All board members are independent, voting members. Only current board members are listed.

• Steve Urbani, Chairperson
• J.R. Gates
• Fred Griffith
• Kelly McCleary
• Patricia Ponce
• Jeanne Potter
• Elisabeth Sperow, JD
• Johnine Talley

Community Advisory Council (Email Council)

• Kent Cope
• Amanda Dillen
• Howard Gillingham
• Bob Liepman
• Anita Moss
• Michael Mulvihill
• Cheryl Wakefield

Financial Statements

2023 KCBX Audit Report
2023 KCBX Form 990

Telling the KCBX Story

Request Public Files Assistance for Persons with Disabilities

View KCBX Public Inspection File
View KNBX Public Inspection File

Telling KCBX's Story

KCBX Policies

Document Retention Destruction Policy (.pdf)
KCBX Conflict of Interest Policy (.pdf)
Whistleblower Policy (.pdf)

KCBX DIVERSITY STATEMENT

Diversity Vision:

KCBX is committed to the value of diversity in the workplace and in our content. We believe that public radio plays a unique role in helping to foster cross-cultural understanding, and that people from diverse backgrounds enrich and inform our collective knowledge, experiences and actions.

KCBX works to recruit from a large pool of prospective job applicants, and takes part in community outreach events. We maintain and build partnerships with community groups to help expand this vision and station outreach. We aim to hire and promote qualified individuals who bring with them their own unique cultural, ethnic and personal experiences. We create content reflecting the voices, needs, issues and interests of the communities that we serve.

Progress so far:

In the past few years, KCBX has recruited staff and interns of diverse backgrounds, including reporters and a business manager.

KCBX won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for “Best News Series” in the small market category and a first place award for community journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California for “Beyond the Furrows,” a 12-part series about farmworker issues in our area. Issues covered include wage theft, labor trafficking, access to health care, and problems with immigration status. Journalism combined with intimate profiles of individual farmworkers provide a comprehensive, in-depth look at the people responsible for providing food to our communities. This series couldn’t have the impact that it did if our reporter wasn’t multi-lingual and trustworthy in the eyes of the workers who felt comfortable sharing their stories and life journeys.

We continue to attend job fairs and look for ways to demonstrate our commitment, not just to diversity, but to equity and inclusion, as well. We recently attended a seminar, “Best Practices for Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining Diverse Talent,” presented for our Central Coast community by California Polytechnic State University’s Career Services Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. This training and “tool kit” will help us to improve our recruitment procedures and better attract and retain diverse job applicants and interns.

Diversity Goals for the coming year:

As positions become available, KCBX will strive to increase the diversity of KCBX’s workforce, governing board and community advisory council; and to increase the diversity of KCBX’s audience. The KCBX News team has set a goal to increase reporting in and about Santa Maria, the largest city in our broadcast area, with a population comprised of 77% people who identify as Hispanic or Latino.

Elements of Diversity Important to KCBX’s Public Media Work

KCBX embraces diversity in all forms and protected classes prescribed by federal, state and local law, including race, sex, (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), age, color, nationality, ancestry, religion, handicap, marital status, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, AIDS/HIV, political activities or affiliations, military or veteran status, status as a victim of domestic violence, assault, or stalking.

Having a diverse staff encourages perspectives and viewpoints that enable us to produce and distribute diverse programming content, and to better understand our community, listeners and their needs and interests.

How staff and governance reflect diversity goals

We have achieved success in gender diversity. Our four-person senior management team includes two women. Our three-person news team includes two women employees. We also regularly use reporting by one woman freelancer. We have begun making strides in racial and ethnic diversity. In 2021 KCBX hired two reporters of color in our three-person newsroom.

Implementation:

KCBX annually posts current activities and progress with regards to diversity on our website. KCBX also files annual Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) reports with the Federal Communications Commission. Our board of directors will review our diversity goals annually. Staff will participate in a webinar for “best practices for recruiting, hiring and retaining diverse talent.”