Diversity Statement
DIVERSITY STATEMENT 2024
TPR’s mission is to engage, inspire and inform, to empower our community to make life better. Consistent with our mission, we celebrate the rich diversity of the communities we serve and embrace inclusion in our staffing, our Board of Directors and Community Advisory Board, and our content.
TPR does not discriminate against individuals in hiring, employment or promotion based on ethnicity, race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, religion, creed, national origin, citizenship, culture, economic status, physical ability, genetics, or veteran or military status. We strive to ensure that all employees are comfortable and confident in bringing their true selves to their work and contributing their unique perspectives and ideas.
TPR was founded by our community and we are governed and advised by members of our community. Our Board of Directors follows a process for nominations that is intentional in developing a pool of candidates that is representative of our community. Likewise, we cast a wide net in recruiting members for our Community Advisory Board and actively seek their recommendations in developing programming and other policies that meet the specialized educational and cultural needs of the communities we serve.
TPR provides a wide variety of informational, educational and cultural content on a variety of platforms. We continuously strive to create content that resonates with our audience. In addition to being real and reliable, we work to make our content relatable and reflective of all the many elements of diversity of our audience. TPR journalists pride themselves on fair and accurate reporting of the news that includes multiple voices and diverse perspectives. We provide information needed to make sound decisions. We produce programs that feature thoughtful, in-depth conversations with guests from diverse viewpoints addressing a wide variety of topics. We present cultural content that uplifts and inspires a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, experiences and cultures.
ACTIVITY REPORT
CURRENT STATISTICS/EMPLOYEES
As of January 2024 TPR has 45 full time and 3 part time employees, with two existing positions open. Of those employees, 26 are women and 20 are men; 17 are people of color.
GOVERNANCE AND ADVISORY BOARDS
TPR’s governing Board of Directors and Community Advisory Board (CAB) also include women and persons of color among the membership. The Board of Directors is currently comprised of 8 women and 7 men and includes 7 persons of color. The Board Nominating Committee meets regularly to consider nominees for Board service. In that process, the committee reviews open seats and expiring terms and seeks opportunities to add diverse perspectives when considering potential candidates. Our current Community Advisory Board membership includes 12 women and 17 men, with 15 members being persons of color. The recruitment and selection of members for the Community Advisory Board is done with an intention to have representation from a wide cross-section of our community. The recruitment and selection of members for the Community Advisory Board is done with an intention to have representation from a wide cross-section of our community.
RECENT DIVERSITY INITIATIVES
TPR continues to work toward improving inclusion and diversity in our workforce.
During 2023, we continued to widely disseminate information about open positions. We continue to track the diversity of our sources.
We continued producing and distributing existing programs that showcase diverse voices and the varied cultures within our community, including The Source, Texas Matters, Fronteras, and Worth Repeating.
Importantly, we also added to the mix a daily Spanish-language newscast, TPR Noticias al Día. Noticias Al Dia was designed to reach Spanish speaking Texans with relevant news and information daily in a video podcast format. The video podcast is available on the TPR website, YouTube and various social media posts made by the TPR news team including Facebook.
TPR continued to produce a number of special productions and podcasts which explore diverse topics from a range of perspectives. These included extensive reporting on border and immigration issues. Our presence at the border and expertise in the issues has allowed a number of our reporters to share diverse perspectives not only locally, but also regionally and nationally.
Our “Petrie Dish,” podcast continued its in-depth look at the pandemic, and expanded its focus to cover other related issues. continued our “Book Public” podcast about authors and books, hosted by a person of color, and produced both daily and weekend newsletters. The podcast “Caliber 60,” was produced as a limited series about the impact of illegal arms trafficking southbound to Mexico on the displacement of thousands of Mexicans fleeing towards the U.S., as told through the story of Linda, who escaped Michoacan and found refuge in California.
Our Worth Repeating event series targets ethnically, professionally, and socially diverse millennials (ages 18-35) and provides unique and engaging content.
Our events practice also represents a wide range of interests and perspectives. We kicked off the year with a member event at the Museum of Western Arts in Kerrville, Texas, a more rural part of our service area. We then shifted our focus to high-school aged students with our “Inspired by KPAC” talent contest. Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson, San Antonio's Poet Laureate, began hosting virtual episodes of our Worth Repeating program. As part of the DreamWeek celebration, we presented a performance of Classically Dope, a classical blend of poetry, hip hop, soul, and jazz created and performed by award-winning poet/hip hop artist and U.S. Cultural Ambassador, Konshens the MC.
We produced and presented on our classical music channel the special program, “How Duke Ellington stretched the boundaries of jazz and classical.” TPR received first time recognition with the Diversity in the Entertainment Industry radio/podcast award for the program.
We continued the Summer Night City and Lonesome Lounge music series, and launched music programs such as Creekside Sessions, designed to spotlight artists from our own region. We continued The Great SA series, which this year focused on the impact of various cuisines in Texas.
COMMITMENT AND PLANS FOR THE COMING YEAR
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion features prominently in our 5-year plan, which includes (among others) the following “indicators of success:”
*Our coverage reflects the diversity of our community
*Vibrant and diverse community leverage of the Alvarez Theater & Studio and Performance Studio
*Membership reflects our community
*Increased engagement with diverse audiences
*Strong collaborations with community organizations
*Increased attendance by diverse audiences at TPR events
*Increased diversity on TPR staff
*Content and delivery to engage diverse populations
*Provide staff opportunity to grow and develop with education and training
*Increase diversity amongst staff
*Identify/begin working with organizations to assist with boosting Spanish language/cultural programming
*Attract younger audiences through collaborations with educational entities
*Collaborations with other cultural organizations
Our efforts to live up to that commitment will include, but not be limited to:
*TPR will continue in our efforts to sustain and further promote diversity, equity and inclusion in our workplace through our employment practices, sourcing of information for our content, and in reaching more diverse audiences in our community.
*We will participate in recruiting efforts specifically aimed at attracting a diverse pool of potential candidates.
*We will continue to ensure that all job applicants receive fair and equitable treatment and that diverse perspectives are represented within the candidate pool considered for every open position, including internships.
*We will provide training for all employees around diversity, equity and inclusion and workplace culture.
*We will continue to promote fair, equitable and inclusive treatment of all employees in regard to consideration for professional training and growth opportunities.
*We will continue our efforts to reach diverse communities with our programing, partnerships, and community engagement activities.
TPR’s mission is to engage, inspire and inform, to empower our community to make life better. Consistent with our mission, we celebrate the rich diversity of the communities we serve and embrace inclusion in our staffing, our Board of Directors and Community Advisory Board, and our content.
TPR does not discriminate against individuals in hiring, employment or promotion based on ethnicity, race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, religion, creed, national origin, citizenship, culture, economic status, physical ability, genetics, or veteran or military status. We strive to ensure that all employees are comfortable and confident in bringing their true selves to their work and contributing their unique perspectives and ideas.
TPR was founded by our community and we are governed and advised by members of our community. Our Board of Directors follows a process for nominations that is intentional in developing a pool of candidates that is representative of our community. Likewise, we cast a wide net in recruiting members for our Community Advisory Board and actively seek their recommendations in developing programming and other policies that meet the specialized educational and cultural needs of the communities we serve.
TPR provides a wide variety of informational, educational and cultural content on a variety of platforms. We continuously strive to create content that resonates with our audience. In addition to being real and reliable, we work to make our content relatable and reflective of all the many elements of diversity of our audience. TPR journalists pride themselves on fair and accurate reporting of the news that includes multiple voices and diverse perspectives. We provide information needed to make sound decisions. We produce programs that feature thoughtful, in-depth conversations with guests from diverse viewpoints addressing a wide variety of topics. We present cultural content that uplifts and inspires a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, experiences and cultures.
ACTIVITY REPORT
CURRENT STATISTICS/EMPLOYEES
As of January 2024 TPR has 45 full time and 3 part time employees, with two existing positions open. Of those employees, 26 are women and 20 are men; 17 are people of color.
GOVERNANCE AND ADVISORY BOARDS
TPR’s governing Board of Directors and Community Advisory Board (CAB) also include women and persons of color among the membership. The Board of Directors is currently comprised of 8 women and 7 men and includes 7 persons of color. The Board Nominating Committee meets regularly to consider nominees for Board service. In that process, the committee reviews open seats and expiring terms and seeks opportunities to add diverse perspectives when considering potential candidates. Our current Community Advisory Board membership includes 12 women and 17 men, with 15 members being persons of color. The recruitment and selection of members for the Community Advisory Board is done with an intention to have representation from a wide cross-section of our community. The recruitment and selection of members for the Community Advisory Board is done with an intention to have representation from a wide cross-section of our community.
RECENT DIVERSITY INITIATIVES
TPR continues to work toward improving inclusion and diversity in our workforce.
During 2023, we continued to widely disseminate information about open positions. We continue to track the diversity of our sources.
We continued producing and distributing existing programs that showcase diverse voices and the varied cultures within our community, including The Source, Texas Matters, Fronteras, and Worth Repeating.
Importantly, we also added to the mix a daily Spanish-language newscast, TPR Noticias al Día. Noticias Al Dia was designed to reach Spanish speaking Texans with relevant news and information daily in a video podcast format. The video podcast is available on the TPR website, YouTube and various social media posts made by the TPR news team including Facebook.
TPR continued to produce a number of special productions and podcasts which explore diverse topics from a range of perspectives. These included extensive reporting on border and immigration issues. Our presence at the border and expertise in the issues has allowed a number of our reporters to share diverse perspectives not only locally, but also regionally and nationally.
Our “Petrie Dish,” podcast continued its in-depth look at the pandemic, and expanded its focus to cover other related issues. continued our “Book Public” podcast about authors and books, hosted by a person of color, and produced both daily and weekend newsletters. The podcast “Caliber 60,” was produced as a limited series about the impact of illegal arms trafficking southbound to Mexico on the displacement of thousands of Mexicans fleeing towards the U.S., as told through the story of Linda, who escaped Michoacan and found refuge in California.
Our Worth Repeating event series targets ethnically, professionally, and socially diverse millennials (ages 18-35) and provides unique and engaging content.
Our events practice also represents a wide range of interests and perspectives. We kicked off the year with a member event at the Museum of Western Arts in Kerrville, Texas, a more rural part of our service area. We then shifted our focus to high-school aged students with our “Inspired by KPAC” talent contest. Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson, San Antonio's Poet Laureate, began hosting virtual episodes of our Worth Repeating program. As part of the DreamWeek celebration, we presented a performance of Classically Dope, a classical blend of poetry, hip hop, soul, and jazz created and performed by award-winning poet/hip hop artist and U.S. Cultural Ambassador, Konshens the MC.
We produced and presented on our classical music channel the special program, “How Duke Ellington stretched the boundaries of jazz and classical.” TPR received first time recognition with the Diversity in the Entertainment Industry radio/podcast award for the program.
We continued the Summer Night City and Lonesome Lounge music series, and launched music programs such as Creekside Sessions, designed to spotlight artists from our own region. We continued The Great SA series, which this year focused on the impact of various cuisines in Texas.
COMMITMENT AND PLANS FOR THE COMING YEAR
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion features prominently in our 5-year plan, which includes (among others) the following “indicators of success:”
*Our coverage reflects the diversity of our community
*Vibrant and diverse community leverage of the Alvarez Theater & Studio and Performance Studio
*Membership reflects our community
*Increased engagement with diverse audiences
*Strong collaborations with community organizations
*Increased attendance by diverse audiences at TPR events
*Increased diversity on TPR staff
*Content and delivery to engage diverse populations
*Provide staff opportunity to grow and develop with education and training
*Increase diversity amongst staff
*Identify/begin working with organizations to assist with boosting Spanish language/cultural programming
*Attract younger audiences through collaborations with educational entities
*Collaborations with other cultural organizations
Our efforts to live up to that commitment will include, but not be limited to:
*TPR will continue in our efforts to sustain and further promote diversity, equity and inclusion in our workplace through our employment practices, sourcing of information for our content, and in reaching more diverse audiences in our community.
*We will participate in recruiting efforts specifically aimed at attracting a diverse pool of potential candidates.
*We will continue to ensure that all job applicants receive fair and equitable treatment and that diverse perspectives are represented within the candidate pool considered for every open position, including internships.
*We will provide training for all employees around diversity, equity and inclusion and workplace culture.
*We will continue to promote fair, equitable and inclusive treatment of all employees in regard to consideration for professional training and growth opportunities.
*We will continue our efforts to reach diverse communities with our programing, partnerships, and community engagement activities.