St. Louis, MO—September 16, 2021—Having a positive, inclusive, and high-performing culture and serving our community are organizational priorities at Nine PBS. We are pleased to welcome six new members from the St. Louis community to our Board of Directors who will enable us to advance these priorities.
Nicole Adewale is cofounder and principal/director of business development of ABNA Corporation. ABNA provides structural and civil engineering design services for civil facilities such as transportation infrastructure, sewer systems, and other public utilities. ABNA is known as the “United Nations” of the engineering world, with a staff makeup that is representative of nearly every continent, who speak nearly 20 languages, and represent at least four major faith traditions. As a company principal, Nicole embraces and supports these diverse populations within the organization by encouraging volunteerism in the community. Nicole is passionate about opening doors of opportunity for young people to pursue careers in architecture, engineering, and construction.
Fred Bendaña, vice president and general manager, sales and account management, Express Scripts, has diverse experience across sales, marketing, and operations, which has allowed him to drive rapid growth, profitability, and enhanced member experiences in the organizations he leads. Born in Managua, Nicaragua, Fred is fluent in Spanish and highly involved in his community and multiple charitable organizations. Fred is a creative change agent who appreciates the close ties between brand and employee engagement, a consummate team-player with a high-level of integrity, work ethic, business savvy, and an effective problem-solver, decision maker, and negotiator.
Jill Falk, vice president, communications, at Schnuck Markets, Inc., leads the team responsible for media relations, internal communications, social media, community engagement, and customer care. Her notable projects include strategic internal and external communications related to the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the launch of its diversity, equity, and inclusion plan, Unity Is Power. The community engagement team in her department positively impacts the communities served by the 82-year-old grocer’s 111 stores in four states through an annual, internal fundraising campaign for the United Way of Greater St. Louis.
As president and CEO of The Korte Company, Todd Korte controls the overall production, marketing, and research and development efforts of the company. With more than 31 years of experience in the construction industry, Todd has performed a variety of duties throughout his career, including project engineer, estimator, special services team member, project manager, and vice president. He has dedicated himself to the advancement of The Korte Company as a leading design-build construction firm and, in doing so, has successfully delivered more than $300 million in construction volume.
Mark S. LaVigne has served as president and chief executive officer of Energizer Holdings since January 2021. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Mark served as Energizer’s president and executive vice president and chief operating officer. Before joining the company, Mark was a partner at Bryan Cave LLP, where he advised clients on corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions.
Pamela Morris-Thornton, a native of St. Louis, is vice president, diversity, equity, and inclusion for Panera LLC, where she leads the brand’s inclusion strategy and initiatives. In her role, she is responsible for partnering with the executive team and leaders to build an inclusive culture, increase hiring and promotion of gender and ethnically diverse talent, increase associate belonging, enhance the business resource groups, and expand the organization’s community engagement efforts. Her personal philosophy is “don’t cheat the world by keeping your gifts and talents to yourself.”
A full list of Nine PBS’s Board of Directors is available on the Nine PBS website.
About Nine PBS
As an essential community institution, Nine PBS exists to enable access to information, knowledge, and learning opportunities for all. We tell stories that move us. We meet people where they are the most comfortable consuming content. Nine PBS’s platforms include four distinct broadcast channels (Nine PBS, Nine PBS KIDS®, Nine PBS World, and Nine PBS Create), ninepbs.org, social media, the free PBS Video App, streaming services, live and virtual events, and the Public Media Commons. Since 1954, Nine PBS has accepted the community’s invitation into their homes, schools, and businesses.