Maria O’Mara has been elected as a Member Director to NPR’s 23 member Board of Directors. Her election took place on February 28, 2020, and her term will continue through November 2021.

NPR’s Board of Directors is comprised of 12 Member Directors who are managers of NPR Member stations, 9 Public Directors who are prominent members of the public, the NPR Foundation Chair, and the NPR President & CEO.

Maria O’Mara oversees both KUER, Utah’s statewide public radio station broadcasting from Salt Lake City, and PBS Utah, also licensed by the University of Utah, as the stations’ executive director. Three years ago, she returned to lead the public radio station where she started her career as a reporter in the 1990s.

Under O’Mara’s leadership, KUER has experienced growth in listenership and fundraising, increased the size of its newsroom, opened two news bureaus in southern Utah and embarked on an ambitious expansion of its terrestrial and digital footprints.

O’Mara’s return to KUER in 2017 followed two decades in reporting and news management roles at the Salt Lake Observer, Deseret News and NBC affiliate KSL-TV. The Utah native and U of U alum also worked in external communications positions with the University of Utah and Rocky Mountain Power.