ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

Mark Contreras

President & CEO

(860) 275-7220 · mcontreras@ctpublic.org

Mark Contreras, President and Chief Executive Officer of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, has led several media businesses through digital transformation. Prior to his role as Dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University, Contreras served as CEO of Calkins Media, a privately-held local television, digital and local newspaper publishing company. Calkins developed innovative strategies to maximize audience reach, engagement and revenue by embracing streaming media platforms such as Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV. He previously led local newspaper publishing and digital businesses for three public companies including Capital Cities/ABC; Pulitzer, Inc; and The E.W. Scripps Co.

In addition, he served as Chairman of the News Media Association and the American Press Institute. He is a Fellow of the Millennium Class of Henry Crown Fellows of the Aspen Institute. He serves on the Board of Directors of Highlights for Children in Columbus, Ohio and Woodward Communications, Inc in Dubuque, Iowa.

The son of an Irish-American school teacher and a Mexican immigrant, Mark grew up in the Midwest—first in Minneapolis and later Chicago.

Mark has an A.B. in History from the University of Chicago and a MBA from the Harvard Business School.

He and his wife, Marybeth Sughrue, have one adult son, Michael.

Joe Coss

Senior VP of Operations & Business Development

(860) 275-7532 · jcoss@ctpublic.org

Joe Coss is the Senior Vice President of Operations and Business Development. In this role, he oversees ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø broadcast operations including Engineering, IT, Traffic, as well as TV and Radio Operations. He is also responsible for leading strategic business growth initiatives such as the expansion of a New Haven based studio in 2017 and into Fairfield County in 2021.

His focus has been on refreshing company infrastructure to modernize company technology and streamline workflows. Joe serves as the Vice Chairman of the PBS Engineering Technology Advisory Committee (ETAC).

Prior to joining the company in 2011, he worked as a freelancer in live sports production as a camera operator and director. In addition, he was the Sports Information Director at Post University, leading media strategy for 17 NCAA sports and the launch of their football program in 2010.

A lifelong ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø resident, Joe and his wife Heather stay active with their three sons.

Deanna Fox

Chief Underwriting Officer

(860) 275-7278 · dfox@ctpublic.org

Deanna Fox serves as Senior Vice President, Underwriting, Product and Partnerships at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø overseeing underwriting sales, commercial partnerships as well the development of commercial digital products.

Previously, she was Senior Vice President, Sales for The Philadelphia Inquirer, a public benefit corporation, where she oversaw the advertising sales teams for local and national sales as well as programmatic revenue and events.

Deanna has worked for over 20 years with local media organizations, focusing on digital products and innovation. She has held positions throughout the United States including with Gannett, where she was one of the first digital leaders for a local market. She also oversaw sales for Advance Communications, Digital First Media and Calkins Media, where she helped launch the first streaming channel for a local print media organization in the U.S.

She serves on the Community and Communications board of the Derry Township School district and volunteers with Cocoa Packs, fighting childhood hunger.

Deanna embarked on her media career after attending Whitworth College in Spokane, WA and majoring in Accounting. She is a Washington State native, the daughter of wheat and cattle farmers and could double clutch before she graduated from high school. She and her husband Joe have 1 daughter and 2 sons.

Lauren Komrosky

Chief Digital Officer

(860) 275-7260 · lkomrosky@ctpublic.org

Lauren Komrosky oversees the Digital Services Bureau and the Membership teams including strategy, development and execution of all digital products and services and all membership communication and revenue.

Lauren joined ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø in 2015 focused on market research and development where she helped establish qualitative audience research and quantitative performance reporting that fueled programming and business decision making, developing a new data driven culture. Soon thereafter, Lauren moved into a new role leading a research team in June of 2017 to help drive a new divergent strategy around audience development, community engagement, and digital content development. In 2019, Lauren joined the newly established Digital Services Bureau to lead a team of experts who focused on data, digital audience engagement, and digital product development.

Prior to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, Lauren spent much of her career in the marketing and advertising industry at such firms as DRAFT/FCB and Ogilvy & Mather in New York and Los Angeles, then focusing in on digital marketing specifically with a heavy emphasis on performance-driven marketing at the San Diego agency, BusinessOnline.

A ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø native, Lauren and her husband Mike like to soak up all that the state has to offer with their two daughters and Golden Retriever.

Lucy Nalpathanchil

Vice President, Community Engagement

(860) 275-7300 · lucy@ctpublic.org

Lucy leads ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø's strategies to deeply connect and build collaborations with community-focused organizations across the state.

Before joining the company's senior leadership team, Lucy was the Executive Producer and Host of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø's morning talk show and podcast, Where We Live, for nearly seven years. Under her leadership, WWL went beyond news headlines and interviews with policymakers to feature more conversations about ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and the stories of its residents.

In 2021, Lucy and the Where We Live team received a first-place award among large stations from Public Media Journalists Association or PMJA for this ¾±²Ô³Ù±ð°ù±¹¾±±ð·ÉÌýwith a Norwich woman. In 2020, Lucy received a national Gracies Award from the Alliance for Women in Media for her conversation with a ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø mother and her trans-son. And in 2018, Where We Live received two national awards from Public Media Journalists Association, formerly known as Public Radio News Directors, Inc., or PRNDI, in the categories of "Call In Program" and "Interview."

Lucy was a public radio journalist for 24 years covering everything from education to immigration, juvenile justice, and child welfare issues to veterans' affairs and the military. She began her career at WDUQ (now WESA) in Pittsburgh.

She and her husband, Jason, live in Suffield with their two children and a small zoo.

Sonja Pasquantonio

Vice President of Human Resources, Training and Development

(860) 275-7588 · spasquantonio@ctpublic.org

Sonja Pasquantonio is the Vice President of Human Resources, Training and Development at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Broadcasting, Inc. In this role she manages and oversees all aspects of a multi-faceted Human Resources function, a job that cares for 143+ employees in all worker categories. She has over 27 years of human resources experience, including two decades in various national and international roles working with government agencies.

Prior to coming to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, Sonja was the Human Resources Director at the State Education Resource Center a non-profit turned quasi-public agency focused on providing professional development and information dissemination in the latest research and best practices to educators, service providers, and families throughout the state, as well as job-embedded technical assistance and training within schools, programs, and districts..

Sonja is a Public Media Business Association (PMBA) board member and holds a M.A. in English Literature from Old Dominion University and a M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Capella University.

She's traveled--and lived--all over the states and internationally, but currently resides in East Granby, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø with her husband, Mike, their two daughters, and one knucklehead dog.

Meg Sakellarides

Chief Financial Officer

(860) 275-7350 · msakellarides@ctpublic.org

Meg Sakellarides, Chief Financial Officer of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Broadcasting, Inc, the parent company of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Television (CPTV) and WNPR/ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Radio has over thirty-two years of financial management and business experience, specifically with for-profit financial services organizations and non-profit broadcasting and educational institutions. A 1986 magna cum laude graduate of the University of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø with a B.S. degree in Accounting, Ms. Sakellarides is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Ms. Sakellarides spent seven years as a manager with the Big 4 accounting and consulting firm of Deloitte, specializing in audit services for corporate, banking, and not-for-profit clients. Clients included Emhart Corporation, TD Bank, and the City of Hartford. After her tenure at Deloitte, Ms. Sakellarides spent five years at CIGNA Corporation, an international healthcare insurance company, where she was responsible for human resource development and training for the Financial Executive Development Program (FEDP) for accountants and actuaries. In addition, her financial responsibilities at CIGNA included leading and managing the customer service and financial operations of their Reinsurance Division. The FEDP at CIGNA is one of the country’s most prestigious financial and executive leadership programs and Ms. Sakellarides participated in that executive development program throughout her career at CIGNA.

Ms. Sakellarides has been with ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Broadcasting, Inc. for twenty-three years as its Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for all financial, administrative, legal and compliance matters for the Company. ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Broadcasting, Inc. is a $20 million operation with three television stations, five radio stations, and has a wholly-owned for-profit subsidiary. While at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Broadcasting, Inc., Ms. Sakellarides was selected from hundreds of applicants to participate in PBS’ inaugural class for its Diversity Training Program, a year-long executive development program held at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Ms. Sakellarides is very active in the Hartford community and has been a Board member of several non-profit organizations, including the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Women’s Council, the Learning Corridor, Inc., and formerly the Girl Scouts of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. Ms. Sakellarides is active in the local arts community, recreational sports, and religious ministry, and currently resides in East Haddam, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø with her husband, Scott Mokoski. Ms. Sakellarides and Mr. Mokoski have two adult children.

Deidre Tavera

Chief Development Officer

(860) 275-7275 · dtavera@ctpublic.org

Deidre Tavera serves as Chief Development Officer at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø overseeing institutional advancement efforts including leadership giving and major gifts, grants and foundations and legacy giving.

Previously, Deidre was Chief Engagement and Partnership Officer for Hartford Public Schools leading strategic and program planning, community partnerships, internal and external communications, fund development and grants management.

Deidre has worked for 30 years with many nonprofit and community-based organizations overseeing educational programming, community relations, marketing and communications, organizational development, fundraising, and board governance. As a senior leader at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts she led strategic planning efforts, designed an award-winning arts education program and a community venture to reach the elder market and initiated the start-up of a human resources department. As a consultant, she worked with over 30 nonprofit organizations facilitating planning and community discussions designed to advance the missions and improve service delivery and partnerships with stakeholders.

Deidre received a B.A. in Psychology from St. Michael’s College and an M.A. in Communication from the University of Hartford. She studied in Madrid, Spain and worked as an EFL teacher at the American Language Institute in Lisbon, Portugal. Deidre is a Board member of Hartford Performs and Hartford Promise, is a Corporator of the Hartford Public Library, Past Chair of the Women and Girls’ Fund of the Main Street Community Foundation and served on the St. Michael’s College Board of Trustees and National Alumni Board.

Vanessa de la Torre

Chief Content Officer

(860) 275-7257 · vdelatorre@ctpublic.org

Vanessa de la Torre is Chief Content Officer at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, overseeing all content with a mission to inform, educate and inspire diverse audiences across the state, including on radio, television and our organization’s 60-plus digital platforms.

Since 2020, she has also led the New England News Collaborative, a regional hub of top public media stations producing news and in-depth storytelling throughout New England.

Previously, de la Torre was a reporter for ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and the public radio collaborative Sharing America, covering issues of race, identity and culture.

Before joining the public media world, de la Torre wrote for newspapers such as the Hartford Courant, where her investigative storytelling on Hartford education won regional and national awards. She also was part of the Courant team that was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting.

De la Torre grew up in El Centro, Calif., a desert town near the U.S.-Mexico border, and is a graduate of Princeton University. She received her master's degree from Stanford University’s Graduate Program in Journalism. More recently, de la Torre has served on the board of the award-winning New England chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Emily Caswell

Administrative Services Manager and Board Liaison

(860) 275-7222 · ecaswell@ctpublic.org

Emily Caswell serves as Administrative Services Manager and Board Liaison at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, a role she took on in 2023. Prior to that, she held several other digital and communications-related positions at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, including Digital Coordinator and Communications & Traffic Coordinator, among others.

In addition to her service at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, she has held positions at several media and marketing organizations throughout New England.

A ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø native, she holds a B.A. in English with a concentration in writing from Central ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø State University and an M.A. in Integrated Marketing Communication from Marist College.