Community Advisory Board

Colorado Public Radio’s Community Advisory Board (CAB) meets 3-4 times a year to help ensure that Colorado Public Radio is meeting the educational and cultural needs of the communities served by the station.

The CAB has as its purpose strategic analysis and possible answers to the broad question of how CPR can better serve its stakeholders. A wide range of topics may be available for discussion. These may be relevant to programming, fundraising or general organizational issues.

The composition of the CAB is intended to be reasonably representative of the diverse needs and interests of  the community. A community’s interests may be driven by a number of factors, including ethnicity, economic variation, gender considerations, political preferences, age, and the geography of the areas served by the station among others.

Members are selected by the Nominating and Governance Committee of the CPR governing Board of Directors, on recommendations from staff and current CAB members. Each CAB member will serve for a term of two years, with the possibility, subject to invitation, of serving a second such term. After one year following the expiration of the second term, a member may be reappointed to the board.

The CAB meets throughout the year on a quarterly basis. Efforts are made to provide a call-in opportunity for those who cannot be physically present. Materials may be supplied to members in advance of any meeting, to help them become familiar with the matters to be discussed and to be more effective in the discussions.

From time to time, members may be given the opportunity to join a task force charged with doing specific work that will ultimately be brought to CPR’s Board of Directors. Task force jobs will be designed so that they can be completed in a meeting or two. It is hoped that certain skill sets of individual members may make their role in any given task force both important and enjoyable, but participation is optional.

The CAB works toward specific outcomes.  Although the Board may determine its own “areas of interests” to explore, and upon which to make recommendations to the governance board – generally, the CAB will consider those issues brought to it by CPR staff.  It is understood that staff has been directed to work closely with the CAB, and to provide any information required by the Board in making its determinations.

To learn more about Colorado Public Radio’s Community Advisory Board, please use the navigation to the right or the links below:

Meeting Dates:

Colorado Public Radio's Community Advisory Board meets in open session on the following dates and times. Meetings are held at Bridges Broadcast Center, 7409 S. Alton Court, in Centennial, unless otherwise noted. For more information, call 1-800-722-4449.

Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 12 Noon, Colorado Public Radio, 303 E. Seventeenth Ave, Denver, CO 80202.

Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at 12 Noon.

Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 12 Noon, Colorado Public Radio, 303 E. Seventeenth Ave, Denver, CO 80202.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 12 Noon.

All dates may be subject to change.

CAB Members

Dennis Ryerson, Chair

Dennis Ryerson retired in 2012 as editor of The Indianapolis Star and soon thereafter moved to Denver to be near his two adult children and their families. His career includes senior editor positions at The Denver Post, The San Jose Mercury News and The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The Iowa native also served for more than six years as editor of The Des Moines Register, during which time he moderated three nationally televised presidential debates and won national awards for service to the First Amendment and for coverage of issues involving children.

Ryerson has a strong record of professional and community involvement. He was a four-time Pulitzer Prize juror and chaired juries three of those four times. He was a founding board member and past president of the Indiana Debate Commission, a non-profit, non-government organization formed to broadcast voter-oriented political debates statewide. He moderated three of those debates involving candidates for governor and U.S. senator.

Since retiring, Ryerson has translated his love of the arts into service on the boards of professional dance companies in Indianapolis (Dance Kaleidoscope) and Wonderbound in Denver, including serving as past board chair. He is also a board member of Cherry Arts, which produces the annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival and supports artists and arts education.

Vanessa Barcus

Vanessa is a Denver-based entrepreneur whose interests lie in the intersectionality of art, community-building, activism, and sustainability. Though probably best known for her long-standing LoHi clothing boutique, Goldyn, which was started in 2007 and closed in 2018, Vanessa’s other endeavors include her consulting practice, Creative Higher Intelligence, her jewelry line, Talisman Fine Jewelry, as well as a family farming enterprise for which she is the 4th generation owner. She received her BA in Economics from Claremont McKenna College, as well as an MBA from Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker School of Management. Prior to opening Goldyn, Vanessa began her career working for a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award-winning clothing brand, as well as working in marketing and branding with Denver-based agency Mighty Karma. On a mission towards self-actualization, she enjoys meditation, hiking, yoga, dance, Qigong, photography, and goldsmithing.

Fred Brown*

Fred Brown is a semiretired Denver Post reporter, editor and columnist. He teaches media ethics at the University of Denver and is active in the Society of Professional Journalists, where he served as national president (1997-98) and a longtime member of its ethics committee.

Greg Ellenoff

Greg Ellenoff is the President of Water Services Company and General Manager of Backflow Tech which helps to safeguard Colorado drinking water through backflow prevention.  He was CEO and a founding principal of MediSecurity, a health information privacy and security consultancy in Denver, and worked in product development, product management and strategic planning in the healthcare, telecommunications, cable, and information publishing and information systems industries.  He is a Board member of The Schwartz Family Foundation, and Judaism Your Way which is an independent, Colorado-based Jewish organization creating innovative approaches to including Jews and loved ones in Jewish community. He served as a Board member of the Colorado Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund, and is a past Vice President of the Colorado Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

Maria Giordano

Maria Giordano has six years of experience in journalism, video production, and corporate communications. Currently, Maria is a Senior Project Manager for a Golden-based Medical Affairs nonprofit. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish from American University in 2014. She loves mountain biking, R&B, and her untrainable dog.

Andrea Howland

Andrea Howland has spent her adult life working and volunteering in all aspects of non-profit advancement, focusing on building relationships with community members and donors. Currently Communications Manager at the University of Denver, and a writer for Sansum Clinic, her focus is to create meaningful engagement and pride of affiliation among an organization’s constituents. At the University of Denver, she also managed Community Relations for the University Libraries and coordinated the Undergraduate Research Center. Andrea previously held development roles at Rush Medical Center in Chicago and Middlesex School in Concord, MA.

A lifelong volunteer, Andrea visits hospice patients weekly. She dedicated time as Secretary and President of the Lamont Society which supports DU's Lamont School of Music. She has held numerous volunteer roles including Alumni Association President for Carleton College from which she graduated and was the youngest-ever recipient of Carleton's alumni award for exceptional service. With a mandate to engage younger alumni, she initiated the creation of an annual prize that recognizes and brings to campus a recent Carleton graduate. Andrea has volunteered at public radio stations in Boston, Chicago, Connecticut, and at CPR.

Brynmore Williams

Brynmore Williams is a cinematographer and an award-winning documentary film director who specializes in short form documentary profiles, health and human-interest stories. He is a versatile director, cinematographer and editor whose journalism, commercial and academia backgrounds can be clearly seen in the work that he produces. Watch his recent talk at TEDx Somerville.

*Former member of the CPR Board of Directors