Staff and Board
Staff Bios
While some Prometheus members started their voyages on the oceans of aether as pirates to protest media concentration and demand access to the airwaves, the Prometheus Radio Project does not operate any pirate radio stations, nor assist in setting up pirate radio stations. Here's the skinny on who we are.
Pete Tridish – Director and Regulatory Organizer A member of the founding collective of Radio Mutiny, 91.3 FM in Philadelphia, Pete is also a founder of the Prometheus Radio Project. In 1997, he was an organizer for Radio Mutiny, a the station that broadcasted in open defiance of the FCC’s unfair rules prohibiting low power community broadcasting. Pete has been an organizer of “radio barnraisings” in 11 communities around the United States, in which an entire radio station is built by hundreds of volunteers in three days.
Pete actively participated in the rulemaking that led up to the adoption of LPFM, and in the lawsuit of Prometheus vs. the FCC, which prevented a major round of media ownership consolidation in the United States. Pete has helped to build a number of low power radio stations and has provided advice to hundreds. He has done radio trainings in Guatemala, Colombia, Nepal, Tanzania, Jordan and other countries. He has been interviewed for dozens of periodicals, news shows, and documentaries and has spoken at colleges and conferences across the country. He contributed to articles in the recently published books, News Incorporated and Be the Media.
Pete holds a BA in Appropriate Technology from Antioch College, and he is an SBE certified Broadcast Radio Engineer.
Sakura Saunders - Regulatory Research Coordinator Sakura is a media activist who has been actively involved in community radio for the past twelve years, and media policy for past five years. She served as program director and office coordinator of KDVS, a 9,200 watt college/community radio station in Davis, CA. Additionally, she helped start KDRT-LP, a low power radio station also serving Davis, CA, and has served on the board of the Prometheus Radio Project for the past three years.
Before joining the staff at Prometheus, Sakura worked as an independent journalist and staff member at CorpWatch.org. Sakura's radio and television work has appeared on Democracy Now! and Sprouts Radio, and her writing is published regularly on CorpWatch.org and The Dominion magazine. Sakura is active in the environmental justice movement and co-founded the website, protestbarrick.net, which networks community groups and NGOs organized against mining giant Barrick Gold.
Cory Fischer-Hoffman - Campaign Director Cory received a BA from Evergreen State College in the Political Economy of the U.S. Welfare System, Latin American Studies, and Community and Welfare Rights Organizing. After a stint as an independent journalist in Venezuela and throughout Latin America, she spent two years in Lawrence, Kansas in a Master's program in Latin American Studies. While in Kansas, she helped found Lawrence Fair Food and organized with the Student Farmworker Alliance. Cory is passionate about drawing stronger connections between local community radio and struggles for economic justice and self-determination.
Danielle Chynoweth - Director of Development and Strategic Planning Danielle has twenty years of experience in community media and building grassroots social justice organizations. She co-founded the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center and led its purchase and conversion of the downtown post office building into a Community Media and Arts Center, home to Radio Free Urbana 104.5 LPFM.
From 2001-2008, she served as a City Council Member and then as Mayor Pro Tem for Urbana, Illinois. During that time she served on the Telecommunications and Public Access TV commissions and instigated public wireless, broadband, and arts programs. As Vice President of OJC Technologies, she assisted dozens of educational and non-profit organizations in strategic planning. She served as the Development Director for Gesundheit! Institute, designing their capital campaign. She co-founded of CU Citizens for Peace and Justice, a grassroots, multi-racial civil rights organization.
Danielle has presented on independent media and arts at the National Conference for Media Reform, Allied Media Conference, Midwest Social Forum, Creative Media Workshop in Thailand and Burma, and as part of the School for Designing a Society in Italy. She has her Masters in Political Science from the New School for Social Research.
Andalusia Knoll - Community Station Organizer Over the past 10 years Andalusia has been involved with college and community radio stations, filling roles such as producer, DJ, host, news editor, and program coordinator. She co-founded the bi-weekly news program Rustbelt Radio and has also worked as a radio and television producer on the internationally syndicated programs, Free Speech Radio News and Democracy Now!
In addition to her work with Prometheus, Andalusia currently teaches a class on audiovisual newsgathering at Temple University, and serves on the Board of Managers of West Philadelphia’s new community station WPEB 88.1 FM. She has presented workshops at conferences such as the National Federation of Community Broadcasters annual conference, Allied Media Conference, and Progressive Technology Project Tech Camp. She has guest lectured at University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Oregon, among others.
Anthony Mazza - Administration Director Anthony received his BAS in Sociology from Temple University in 2000. He began with Prometheus as a volunteer in the Fall of 2002, joining the staff in 2003 as Administration Director. In the following years, he took on the primary responsibility of ensuring a sustainable future for the organization. This has included working with the Board of Directors to establish both short term and long-term development and fundraising goals, as well as organizing day-to-day administrative tasks. With the addition of a dedicated development director in late 2006, Anthony's role has shifted to that of a business director, focusing on office administration and the management of Prometheus' finances.
Halimah Marcus - Development and Communications Assistant Halimah graduated from Vassar College in 2007 with a BA in English, with a focus in creative writing. For three years, she was the Finance Director and then General Manager of Vassar College’s independent community radio station, WVKR 91.3, where she hosted an all vinyl French music program.
After graduating, Halimah worked at the Free Library of Philadelphia organizing the first year of the annual film education and media literacy program, One Film. Halimah currently serves on the One Film Planning and Selection Committees, as the program prepares for its third year. She left the library in 2008 to further pursue her interest in film as a personal assistant to writer/ director M. Night Shyamalan. After an exciting glimpse into the movie industry, Halimah eventually returned to her radio-roots to work in Development at the Prometheus Radio Project.
Brandy Doyle - Digital Arts Service Corps VISTA in Regulatory Policy Brandy is a PhD student of anthropology at Cornell University. Her research is focused on the struggle to license community radio in Guatemala. Prior to this, Brandy served as communications director at a medical research non-profit organization for four years, and has coordinated publications for several other organizations. Brandy's involvement in media activism began as a reporter for WMNF Community Radio in Tampa, Florida in 2003. She received her BA in anthropology and literature from New College of Florida in 2001.
Ian Smith - Digital Arts Service Corps VISTA in Development and Communications Ian received his BA in anthropology from Temple University in 2008. Before teaming up with Prometheus he spent a year at the School District of Philadelphia teaching Spanish in grades K-6.
Board members
Board members here at the Prometheus Radio Project use their varied skills to strengthen our fight for community radio. Read more about them below, and learn how you can help them win a more democratic media for your community!
Nan Rubin, Chair
Nan Rubin has been involved with public broadcasting production, media management, and non-profit development for more than twenty years. She has built two community-based public radio stations, has been involved with producing and distributing national public radio programming, and has extensive background in all aspects of station management, fundraising, policy development, and technical operations. Nan's advice has been instrumental as our organization grows in capacity and efficacy. Contact her for help as you start to organize your station, or if you want to be introduced to someone in your neck of the woods who can get you on the right track.
Chuck Tarver, Co-Chair
Cheryl Leanza, Treasurer
Cheryl Leanza is a pioneer of community media, fighting for its rights on the battlefields of Washington, DC. She helped to establish Low Power Radio during her tenure as a public interest lawyer at the Media Access Project, and worked with Andy Schwartzmann to represent Prometheus in our historic lawsuit vs. the FCC. Cheryl continues to advise Prometheus on legal matters in her new position as managing director of the Office of Communications at the United Church of Christ.
Mike Shay
Sakura Saunders, Secretary
Sakura Saunders is a media activist that has been involved with community radio for the past 7 years. She served as program director and office coordinator of KDVS, a 9,200 watt college/community radio station in Davis, CA. In addition, she also helped start KDRT-LP, a low power radio station also serving Davis, CA. Sakura currently works at CorpWatch.org, an investigative journalism website that investigates corporate malfeasance. Sakura's radio work has appeared on Democracy Now! and Sprouts Radio, and her writing has been published on CorpWatch.org and in the San Francisco Bay Area publication, Fault Lines, for which she is also a volunteer editor.
Jeanette Foreman
Diane Fleming-Myers
