DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, ACCESSIBILITY, AND BELONGING
Our Story
A Message from Our President and CEO, LaFontaine E. Oliver
On July 8th, 2024, WNYC celebrated its Centennial anniversary. That’s 100 years since our signal first hit the airwaves, carrying a bold and aspirational mandate: to be “the voice of New York.”
That first broadcast continues to echo as a credo, a challenge, and a resounding call to action. And today we embrace the challenge of reflecting the voices of all who call New York home.
As a public media organization in one of the most diverse cities in the world, our mission is to bring people together across their many differences and to amplify voices often unheard, ensuring that every story is told with candor, compassion, and a shared appreciation of the human spirit. We are dedicated to reflecting the rich diversity of New York City, and we strive to foster inclusivity, equity, accessibility, and a sense of belonging for all communities we serve. This is the work to which our teams are committed—across our talk shows, our music and culture programming, and our community-powered journalism that lifts up the stories behind the headlines.
WNYC’s Centennial comes at a fortuitous moment and also a critical one. We are living through an incredibly divisive time in an already-divided nation, and one in which both the journalism and arts ecosystems are under threat. Across New York Public Radio, we are using this landmark anniversary as a catalyst—reaffirming our commitment to the ever unfinished ethos laid out in our first broadcast and strengthening our foundations so that we can stand strong for generations to come.
As we step forward into our next chapter, we will deepen our role as a forum where New York itself can speak. Together, we will serve as a megaphone, lifting up the voices of the city for another century of the New York conversation.
LaFontaine E. Oliver
President and CEO
