- [Narrator] This is a production of WEDU PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

- Coming up on Florida this week, Patricia de Stacy Harrison is the longest serving president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Since 2005, she has increased support for journalism and education and has been a driving force for diversity and digital transformation.

She has served in official governmental roles to create global cultural connections, and is the author of books promoting women in leadership.

Learn more about her experiences, insights, and contributions in the field of public media, next on a special edition of Florida This Week.

(bright music) Welcome back, I'm Dalia Colon sitting in for Rob Lorei for this special edition of Florida This Week.

Patricia Harrison has been on the front lines of public media, journalism, education, and government for over 50 years.

As president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, she has led initiatives that have broadened and changed lives across the country and the world.

Her American graduate program created partnerships with diverse organizations to help students earn their diplomas.

Her diversity and innovation fund increased groundbreaking projects in media from underutilized voices.

Prior to joining CPB, she served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs under Secretary of State Colin Powell.

She's the author of two books on Leadership and Entrepreneurship for Women, and has received numerous awards, including the Cavalier of The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, as she is a proud Italian-American.

Patricia Harrison, welcome to Florida This Week.

Thanks for being here all the way from the DC area.

- Thank you, Dalia.

- So we're meeting you as president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting following an extraordinary career in public service, but I wanna go back to the beginning.

What were you like as a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York?

- Oh, annoying, curious.

On a serious side, my curiosity was driven by the fact that my friends, my close friends didn't have any relatives and I didn't know why.

I was so young and of course it was after World War II and they had been murdered by the Nazis and it was terrifying for me because I kept asking the question, well, how did people let that happen?

And that's been the question I've been asking ever since I was a kid in various situations for various issues.

- Wow, well, you made something positive come out of just a devastating situation for so many people.

Were you shaped by public television as a kid?

Were you a Sesame Street kid?

- Well, thank you for that.

No, Sesame Street came after.

I was more shaped by Brooklyn, more than anything else, but my kids certainly were watching Sesame Street, and I was a big fan of Faulty Towers and Brideshead Revisited.

And in fact, we were watching so much public television, I used to say I was afraid my kids were gonna have an English accent because it was mostly what we were watching.

A beautiful, beautiful, funny...

The Monty Python, and really stimulating wonderful television as it is today.

- For sure, and actually, an estimated 74 million Americans are graduates of Sesame Street, myself included.

What do you mean by the term Sesame Street diplomacy?

- Sesame Street diplomacy, it's something that is really, if you think about it, the heart of who we are as Americans, because you have the voices of children.

And as children, I would like to include Mr. Rogers in that as well, when he asked, won't you be my neighbor?

And what does that mean?

It means you view people as a potential neighbor and not as an enemy that you have to crush on a daily basis.

So Sesame Street diplomacy, you go into areas that are pretty much high conflict.

The diplomacy part, which is soft power, is communicating with kids in a way that make them feel that they're so special because they are.

- Oh, I like that.

Your neighborhood in Brooklyn, where you grew up, was it like Sesame Street?

Were there people of all races and ages and professions?

- Well, yes, well, it was mostly a Jewish-Italian neighborhood.

And I grew up thinking those were the only two food groups in the world.

I did go to high school with Jackie Robinson's niece.

It was a very sort of, I would say, dynamic neighborhood where a conversation, as someone said was in Brooklyn, talking and waiting to talk.

- That's how it is in New York.

- Yeah, it was exciting, I loved it.

It was vibrant and everyone talked at the same time.

Everyone had an opinion and no one really listened, so I had to learn the art of listening.

- That's good, we like that.

Fast forwarding a little bit, because you've had such a remarkable career.

In 1973, you and your husband co-founded a PR agency.

What were some of the challenges for you as a woman at that time and do you think the culture has changed?

- Well, at that time, if we went in to talk to a client, if that's why we didn't go together, they would only look at my husband.

And I remember once being asked to get the coffee.

I'm Italian-American, I almost got the coffee and yeah, that thing.

But I didn't, and I used to think this is a challenge.

It's up to me to figure out how to maneuver around the environment, which of course has changed a great deal, but not without a lot of women pioneers making the way for other people so that now women in the workforce, of course, the norm.

And there's no...

I mean, the things that hold you back eventually you realize are internal things.

How far do you wanna go?

What price do you wanna pay for succeeding?

- And because of people like you, I get to be sitting here having this conversation-- - People like you are sitting here, that's right.

I think what women do is deflect too much their own inner power.

You just have to figure out what you want because there's always a trade off.

Nothing is sort of a smooth ride.

And I think since COVID, a lot of people are analyzing or thinking about what kind of life do I wanna have?

Do I really wanna push myself every single day of that ladder of success?

Do I wanna breathe occasionally?

And it's usually not one answer or another, but I think because we were isolated for so long and had a chance to kind of get off that career treadmill or that nine to five and getting in your car and driving to work, it's changed things here.

All over the world actually.

- Yeah, there's no going back now.

But you did still manage to make it to the top to working with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and you were appointed to the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, which is just remarkable.

What kind of initiatives came out of that position?

- Well, first, let me say, I learned so much from General Powell.

And he was the same person at work as he was when he wasn't giving big speeches.

He was just a very focused, kind, smart person who took an interest in everyone who worked for him.

And I had ideas about what I wanted to do and it was right after 9/11 and things were pretty raw in this country and all over the world.

And we had this remarkable photographer, Joel Meyerowitz, who had taken photos of Ground Zero.

And I said, well, why don't we take those photos on an exhibit around the world, especially to countries who had suffered from terrorism and we did that and we had a conversation after the exhibit, and we really learned a lot about what happens when tragedy, manmade tragedy, not a hurricane or a typhoon, impacts a society and how it changes people.

And then after it, what kind of animosity rises up because people are so hurt and angry, and how does that keep going and how do you get back to a place of normalcy?

So it was more than just an exhibit of photos and there was understanding that we're all in this kind of together if you're part of the human race.

- Yeah, we're all in the same boat.

How did your background in PR and then government prepare you to become president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, another huge task in 2005?

- You know what, if I were to be really honest about this, I think sometimes women and men as well, you go down one path and you think, that's not it, but I've wasted all this time doing this and that's never true.

Everything goes into the same bucket, you learn certain things.

And I knew after my experience with the State Department, I got to travel all over the world, meet so many amazing people who are not famous, who are doing things every single day to make things better in their community.

And I didn't want that to end.

And I felt that public media, especially what local stations like WEDU does, connecting to community, locally based, and understanding everything about that community and working with the community in partnership, I wanted to continue that direct connection and feel that something was being accomplished.

And so I felt that the next step for me was public media.

- Of course, we have a lot of PBS fans watching, and many of them probably don't understand the relationship between their local station and what you do at CPB.

So can you break it down for us?

- I wonder why they don't understand.

It's CPB, PBS, NPR, EPTS, the call letters of all the stations, and then we use shorthand to describe what we do.

But the basic thing that we do, and I love the word, we are the steward.

It's a very old word.

Basically the caretaker of this important appropriation representing taxpayer money and for basically under the price of a...

Certainly way under the price of a latte, you get this wonderful key to a golden door of education and incredible content.

And what CPB does, work management, working with our board of directors, and also according to a formula, we get the federal appropriation and then we dispense it, provide it to stations, public media stations, television and radio throughout the country.

Some of the money goes for mobile and innovation.

And the interesting thing about American public television and radio, American public media, unlike any other country, it's a public-private partnership, it's very American.

So CPB is the public part of that.

We provide what we call community service grants to a station like WEDU, but what do they do?

They don't just take that money and say, that's it, thank you very much.

They go into the community, it's almost like a report card from the community.

And many stations raised six times the amount of that original funding they get from the government.

So it is all organic, it all works together.

And public media here is owned by the American people.

- Isn't that what everyone loves about it?

- Yes, I think so, because they do write in when they don't love it, so.

- Oh yeah, we get the emails.

- But that's great, it really is, and it helps shape the things that you do.

- Sure, I love getting that feedback.

Even just at the grocery store, people will come up, tell me what they like, tell me what they don't like.

Now, under your leadership, CPB has focused on three key areas, which are digital, diversity and dialogue.

Why those three?

- Well, more than 10 years ago, with the help of our board then, we looked at, as we always do, because being a good steward means you move toward the future.

How do we serve really an audience that had left the couch and was on the move?

You don't wanna be behind them trying to catch up.

You wanna be there when they need you.

And so digital is really a placeholder for innovation.

Diversity is connected to innovation.

You cannot be innovative if you don't have diverse points of view, if you don't have a diverse background.

So all coming to the table with their ideas and representing in a way all different parts of this great country so that you're not just one size fits all.

And then dialogue, it's really engagement, but I needed another D. - [Dalia] We love alliteration.

- So that was and is continues to be our strategic guide for our investments.

You have to have at least two of the three D's, and you have to be bringing in that third one at some point.

And public media I think is so wonderful, especially at the local level because of that engagement with the community, that dialogue with the community.

- You just touched on innovation and of course, public broadcasting, radio, digital and streaming have all drastically changed the media landscape since you took over, not even 20 years ago.

So what do you see now and in the future as the role of public media?

- Well, the role of public media is stay true to our mission.

Our mission is evergreen.

The technology's gonna continue to change.

And I can't predict what's gonna be happening next, but certainly something will.

Our goal is to make sure our content connects to people in the lives they are living right now, that you will be able to find something that you need at the moment you need it.

Whether you're a young child getting ready to learn or lifelong learning for people at different stages of their life, we want to meet that curiosity because without that curiosity, and also the idea of what does it mean to live in a civil society?

What does it mean to be a citizen?

Certainly tons of benefits, but what are our responsibilities as a citizen?

And public media feeds that important fact-based information.

Now, before the proliferation of social media, I would never have to say fact-based information, because information by the nature of the word is factual, but now we know maybe not.

And so the proliferation, unfortunately, of misinformation and disinformation make it critical that people understand how to tell the real news from the news that's made up.

And sometimes when the news is made up, it causes great, great harm and we've just seen this recently.

- Yeah, 100%, that's one of the things I love about public media, is people trust it.

- And we never want to betray that trust.

So every day, there's an editorial integrity, facts, accuracy.

And we are not perfect.

When we get it wrong, we say we got it wrong, but the intention is there all the time and the professionalism.

- Yeah, I'm proud to work here.

We gotta talk about your books.

So, I don't know when you found the time to write multiple books on leadership for women, but what kinds of opportunities do you see for women in the 21st century?

- Well, first of all, in terms of the books, I had broken my leg and I had nothing else to do.

So I was stuck at home.

I recommend, that gave me some time, and also a wonderful computer.

But in terms of... Let me turn the question around a little bit, because I think we're at the point where fortunately, there are gonna be many choices for women, and it's gonna get back to us, not just women, it's every person.

How do I wanna spend my life?

What is it I wanna do and that takes time to really understand who you are.

So we're gonna go back to Socrates, and oh, well, basically let's do Shakespeare, to thine own self be true.

And then well, Socrates, the unexamined life is not worth living.

The examined life can give you indigestion, but you have to do it.

You have to understand who you are.

Life is short.

What do you wanna do, why do you wanna do it?

And then once you know that, things seem to open up, because you move toward the people that are recognizing you're moving toward a target.

It's what you want and it could be anything.

It could be, I wanna spend time with my kids right now.

Now not everybody gets that choice because they don't have the wherewithal, the financial wherewithal to do those things.

But looking at the future of where women wanna go, you can be CEO of a corporation and not have a life, have one kind of a life, or do other things.

- I wanna ask you, because when you were growing up, who were your role models and how did you have the vision to become who you were today?

- Well, I have to say, my mother.

I grew up at a time when nobody really asked, are you happy?

How are you feeling?

They didn't care how you're feeling.

Are you in school?

Are you listening?

The teacher was always right.

If you weren't happy, do something.

If you were bored, you were boring.

That's the kind of response you got when you complained.

And I could look around mostly at so many people who lived at Brooklyn at the time, who came to this country from other places, and how hard they worked.

And you observe as a kid, children are always learning, they're always watching.

They may not say anything.

And it gave me an idea of kind of what I wanted to be.

I wanted to be able to accomplish something and I wanted to lead.

So from that little nugget, things just seemed to happen.

I was lucky.

- Well, I think luck and hard work and big things definitely happened because you've been honored with knighthood in Italy.

How many people can say that?

What was that experience like?

What is your connection to Italy?

- I'm Italian-American and I, for many years, have been part of an organization, National Italian American Foundation.

I do have to tell you that I asked General Powell if he could be an honorary Italian-American and he said yes.

And at our event, which goes on for five days, it's really a few hours, it seems like five days, he's at the Daes, and he was very pleased and happy and glad when it was over 'cause it was a long time, long event.

But that's my connection and I was very honored to receive this and it was special for my family that a lot of things you do, you're lucky if your parents are alive at the time and it sort of makes that circle come together.

So it was wonderful.

And I have these beautiful pins that I'll never be wearing anyway.

- You could've brought 'em here.

- I could've worn 'em today, exactly.

- Did they at least serve some good food at the five day event?

- Come on, always, always, always.

The food's always good, we got that down.

- Oh yeah, for sure, it's making me hungry just hearing about it.

What has been the biggest surprise for you over your remarkable career?

- Surprise, I don't know that I do surprise.

I don't know.

No, because what happens, you're living your life and then you put one foot after another and then you wind up someplace.

So I can't say I've been surprised at all.

I think if I had started earlier, maybe I would've done more, but I started pretty late.

I have three kids.

So there's hope for people out there, for women who feel that you've got a late start, there's time, you can do it.

- I can't believe you're saying you started late.

What do you mean by that?

- Well, I didn't think seriously or get out in the world.

I was a writer for a long time, and by writing, I was able to express my thoughts and I saw they were going in a particular direction.

I didn't really know what kind of career I wanted.

I just knew I had opinions.

I had to read a lot to understand if those opinions were real or they were just kind of off the hip.

And so I took my time.

I didn't realize at the time I was taking my time, but I did, yeah.

- Do you think being a mother has made you a better career woman?

- My biggest accomplishment are my kids.

I mean, I'm very, very fortunate and we're a pretty strong team, and they're always there when the sort of glitzy stuff isn't so glitzy, when the shine wears off, you know?

- Oh, it sounds like you have a story to tell.

- Well, I think every parent has a story to tell.

- What's been the biggest challenge, would you say?

- I think the biggest challenge, if I'm honest, is having confidence in yourself.

It's not external, it's never external.

Sometimes, I'm not saying that there aren't real challenges and people who may get in your way or not help you.

But how you prepare for that is all inner work to make you strong when that does happen and you're in danger.

If you find yourself saying a lot, I could have done this, but that person prevented it.

Be careful if you use that sentence 'cause you're not really, really doing yourself a favor.

Why didn't I push harder, why didn't I do this?

Why didn't I want it more?

And maybe you have good reasons for not wanting it more.

Sometimes we lie to other people, don't ever lie to yourself.

- Oh, when's the third book gonna come out?

You have so much wisdom to share.

- No, this is just what you learn, that's all.

And I've been so fortunate in having great friends, great mentors.

And I remember right before the general died, we had a conversation.

He said, you know, Pat, I was so proud of you.

I brought the Iraqi orchestra to DC to play with Yo-Yo Ma.

He said, but at any minute, I didn't know if it was gonna work or not.

And he once told me, I don't know you, if this fails.

This is you.

- Oh my goodness, you've done so much in your career.

You flew in this morning from DC, you're flying out tomorrow, you're always on the go.

Is there a typical day in your life?

- I think the typical day, the connective tissue is trying to figure out where the path is, what the challenge is.

In terms of public media, we do wonderful work, and we're grateful for our funding, but the world needs more of public media today.

Our civil society needs it.

So we're always looking at how can we provide the resources to people like you every single day doing this wonderful job, especially in education and journalism.

And so that's what I focus on, and I'm fortunate to be working with people who are on the same page.

And a great board too.

- That's great, a lot of travel.

It sounds like a lot of meetings.

- Well, you know, it was before COVID and now it's getting back to more of that kind of thing.

But I have to say, throughout COVID, we were working remotely, and I think we worked even harder, more intensely.

No end to the day, you know?

- Okay, well it's been so much fun chatting with you.

I just have to ask, it may be like asking which child is your favorite, but do you have a favorite PBS show?

- You know, I love Frontline.

I really, really love Frontline and I think it's the gold standard in terms of authenticity and rigor.

It's the epitome of journalism, good reporting.

And I love the fact they show what their sources are.

So you can see that this was researched and they were careful before they put it out there.

And then I have to say, I love all the mysteries, I really do because sometimes at the end of the day, you just don't want to read one more headline.

You just wanna sit and see who murdered who, and it all works out the end.

- Well, I hope you get to do that tonight.

It's been such a treat to talk to you.

- Oh yeah, I'll come back.

- Thank you so much, Patricia, for joining us today.

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- [Narrator] Florida This Week is a production of WEDU, who is solely responsible for its content.