Pushing the Creative Envelope

“Public broadcasting is a place where there is still such great creativity and new things happening,” says Alisa Miller, CEO of Public Radio International.

“Thanks in large part to PRI, public radio today provides more creative freedom than most other media. It’s one of the last places where you find people of all different political persuasions and backgrounds coming together as a community. It’s a place where interesting dialogue can happen. At a time when we have red states and blue states, I think of public radio as purple.”

Public radio is also a place where Miller combines her interest in business and strategy with her strong sense of mission. “I have always had an immense interest in the creative enterprise,” she says, “especially where creative talent and business ideas meet. I went to the Harris School because public service was important to me. I pursued a joint degree in public policy and in business so I could be equally comfortable in the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds.”

Serving as CEO of a not-for-profit organization is both a challenge and an opportunity, according to Miller. “You add a layer of complexity in not-for-profits because success is not driven by financials. Instead of trying to increase investor value or measure success in profit or loss, we’re trying to increase social capital. Our mission is to help people understand our interdependent world—but it’s difficult to measure what’s happening in someone’s mind. You’re dealing in a world of ambiguity.”

While the challenges are significant, according to Miller, opportunity arises in applying the tools of her policy and business backgrounds to create something more. “In public radio, we are the innovators, the risk takers. We push the envelope. One of the things I find so interesting about PRI is that we operate in an environment in which we are surrounded by for-profit entities with billions of dollars to invest. Our annual budget is roughly $25 million. So understanding the earned-revenue world, the drive for profit, and our competitive strengths in that marketplace are all vital to increasing social capital.

“That is one of the great strengths of the Harris School,” she continues. “The faculty helped me think about success in a public context. They helped me acquire the tools I now use to look at problems and solve them. In one class, we looked at school times and success rates for the Minneapolis school system. We provided recommendations for their concerns, solutions the client actually used. We were helping an organization solve a problem while we were learning. That experience was invaluable.”

Barbara Armaroli with Anthony Ruth