Erika Pulley-Hayes

Erika Pulley-Hayes has been working in public media since 2005. She moved to WAMU in Washington, D.C., from Community Communications, Inc., in Orlando, Fla. There, as president and CEO, she managed two NPR member stations, WMFE in Orlando and WMFV in The Villages, and was responsible for all operations that support their local news and information service.

She previously served as radio vice president at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) where she provided strategic leadership to the public radio system by developing initiatives designed to drive innovation and enhance service. She has developed programs that have enabled dozens of stations to deliver fresh and relevant content across media platforms to local communities and national audiences. Pulley-Hayes was instrumental in CPB's early journalism investments made in response to the demise of local newspapers and support of a more informed society. She was also responsible for developing the policies that govern CPB's Community Service Grant program which, as public media's largest funding source, supports over 400 organizations operating public radio stations nationwide.

Pulley-Hayes began her career at a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company where she negotiated corporate agreements for commercial transactions, administered governance matters with the board of directors, and ensured political and regulatory compliance. She later managed legal operations of a small clinical research organization in Northern Virginia overseeing risk management, corporate housekeeping and commercial contracts generating approximately $40 million annually.

Pulley-Hayes serves on the board of directors of NPR and Eastern Region Public Media. She is also a director of 826 National, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students improve their expository and creative writing skills in nine cities across the United States. Pulley-Hayes holds an MBA and an MS in Nonprofit Management from the University of Maryland University College. She also holds a BA from William Paterson University in her home state of New Jersey.