Two new Twin Cities PBS (TPT) executives serving in newly created roles — chief inclusion officer Amina Jaafar and vice president of marketing Lynn Farmer — are working to ensure that the public service media organization reflects the state's diverse communities and increases engagement with traditional and new audiences.

TPT leadership is expanding as it enters a "transformative strategic planning process" that seeks to embed President and CEO Sylvia Strobel's focus on inclusion, diversity and equity and accessibility across the organization, according to Jaafar.

"TPT is a stable and healthy organization, so we're at this point where we can think about the future. What do we want to be in 10, 20 or 30 years?" Farmer said.

Jaafar most recently was assistant vice president in the Office for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota. She has a doctoral degree in organization leadership, policy and development from the U.

Farmer joined TPT from Hamline University, where she was assistant vice president of marketing and communications after 18 years at Target Corp. She has a marketing degree from Howard University.

The hires continue the growth of TPT's leadership team under Strobel, who came to TPT in January 2020, succeeding the retired Jim Pagliarini. Melissa Wright, previously TPT's senior vice president and general counsel, was named chief content officer in September.

Lynn Farmer VP, marketing, TPT

Q: Why did you choose to join TPT?

Jaafar: I am a parent and an educator, so even as a community member I've valued TPT's work and used TPT's content in courses I taught at the University of Minnesota. I saw the impact of sharing the stories of lots of communities, especially historically marginalized communities with a broad audience. When I saw this opportunity in an area that I've worked in for 15 years, I wanted to be part of that work.

Farmer: In the second half of my career, I want to use my marketing powers for good. I'm drawn to organizations that have a strong mission that I believe in, that have a consistent track record. And in the case of TPT and Hamline, [they are] organizations that I'm a consumer or super fan of before I even worked there. It's exciting to work for an organization that brings value to the community.

Q: What are your priorities as vice president of marketing?

Farmer: I'm here to make sure that our community in Minnesota, specifically the Twin Cities, is aware of the amazing work that TPT does. It's more than broadcast TV. We do events, we do community engagement. A lot of our content is digital and sits on the web. We want to make sure that our community knows that we provide history, we provide information, we provide context and we want to make sure that all of our community members have the opportunity to take advantage of this resource.

Q: What are your responsibilities as chief inclusion officer?

Jaafar: The key pieces [include] ensuring that we're reflecting our diverse communities in Minnesota both within our organization but also through our content and programming. It's that we create spaces for staff and community members where people feel respected, valued, seen and heard.

It's making sure that in our community engagement practices, that we're strengthening collaborative relationships with our diverse communities in Minnesota and then also in the ways that we provide content and programming, making sure that it's accessible.

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Lake Elmo. His e-mail is todd_nelson@mac.com.