Amanda Mountain grew up a military brat, and as such, she grew accustomed to moving every two to three years as a child. No matter where she lived, one thing was usually the same – what was on television. In her formative years, she grew to admire the power of media to reflect and shape people and their communities.
Her career has included working as a journalist at a local newspaper before moving over to the business side of the media and ultimately, making her way into public media 12 years ago. “The notion of putting my skills to use where the accountability is to community stakeholders rather than financial shareholders alone was a dream come true,” said Mountain.
Five years ago, she took over as president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Public Media, the first woman to hold the title in the organization’s 68-year history and the youngest executive in the country to run a major market public television station.
Rocky Mountain Public Media (RMPM) is the parent company of six multimedia brands, including Rocky Mountain PBS, RMPBS KIDS, RMPBS World, RMPBS Create, KUVO Jazz and The Drop. RMPM is Colorado’s largest statewide, member-supported, multimedia organization with nearly 95,000 members and physical locations in Denver, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Durango. The organization’s vision is to create a Colorado where everyone feels seen and heard while strengthening the civic fabric of the state through public media.
“As media faces the lowest levels of public trust in the history of polling, it’s more important now than ever to rebuild a fourth estate worthy of maintaining and expanding the public trust in service to a healthy democracy,” said her staff. “Amanda has a deep and abiding commitment to doing just that, one day at a time, through her leadership in partnership with others.”
Her leadership and influence in the industry have led to honors for Mountain, including the Sulzberger Fellowship at Columbia Journalism School, a role as the chair of the Public Television Major Market Group, and recognition as the most influential women in radio by Radio Ink Magazine.
According to Mountain, successful leaders must take risks. “I believe successful leaders must be self-aware, empathetic, committed to learning and growth, and be comfortable being uncomfortable, taking risks to experiment with new ideas to make our communities stronger,” she said. “I love being surrounded by a team of people with vastly different expertise, experiences and perspectives.”
