KUOW Board of Directors Welcomes New Members

Seattle, WA — KUOW is thrilled to welcome five new members to the KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio (PSPR) Board of Directors. Gabrielle Nomura Gainor, Kevin Schofield, Lucrezia Cuen Paxson, Laura Cañate, and Sarah Norris Hall joined the Board in the Fall of 2023. Board leadership includes Andy McGovern (Chair), Heidi De Laubenfels (Vice Chair & Secretary), Mark Ashida (Treasurer) and Chris Jay (Immediate Past Chair).

The KUOW PSPR Board of Directors provides fiscal oversight and management of affairs, property, and interests, ensuring the station meets its goals, steering KUOW towards a sustainable future by providing insight for ethical governance and financial management practices. KUOW is committed to engaging a diverse leadership board. Of the 25 members, 40% identify as female, 56% as male; 4% as nonbinary; 48% are between the ages of 30 and 49; and 60% of directors identify as a person of color.

New Board Members

Gabrielle Nomura Gainor is a Japanese-Filipina American dance artist, activist, and storyteller. Classically trained in ballet, Gabrielle studied dance and journalism in college—later getting involved in racial justice work and activism in Seattle. Today, Gabrielle leads Tsuru Ko, an intergenerational troupe of Asian American dancers. Gabrielle is also the Director of Communications for Plymouth Housing–an organization that aims to end homelessness and address its causes.

Previously, Gabrielle’s communications work at Seattle Opera helped spark greater conversations about racial equity in the opera industry. Gabrielle organized panel discussions and led a public engagement strategy for Seattle Opera’s “Madame Butterfly” that was praised as a “helpful model” for addressing racist, historic works in The New York Times. Born and raised on Duwamish land, Gabrielle grew up listening to KUOW riding in their grandfather’s truck to-and-from school. A graduate of Western Washington University’s Journalism and Dance programs in 2010, Gabrielle was honored as a WWU Distinguished Alumna in 2022.

Kevin Schofield is a freelance writer and the founder and publisher of Haftacook, an online site helping people learn how to cook for themselves and their family. Previously he founded and published Seattle City Council Insight, providing independent news and analysis of the Seattle City Council. He currently writes a weekly column, “Weekend Reads,” for the South Seattle Emerald. After graduating from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts in computer science, he worked for Microsoft Corporation for 26 years. That culminated in a term as Chief Operations Officer for Microsoft Research, the division of the company focused on advancing the state of the art in computing. Upon leaving Microsoft in 2014 he decided to embrace his love of writing. Kevin volunteers at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, where he previously served on the Board of Directors. He also previously served on the Board of Trustees of Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, where he was Vice Chair for six years. Beyond writing, his personal passions are photography, cooking, and playing the guitar. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Lucrezia Cuen Paxson is a scholarly associate professor in The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University.

She entered education after years as a professional journalist. In her career as a foreign correspondent, Ms. Cuen Paxson covered stories in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. She reported on wars in the Gulf, Kosovo and Serbia, the Irish Peace Referendum, Pope John Paul II's historic visit to the Holy Land, the British Royals, Princess Diana’s death, and many other world events.

She was the Founding Director of the college's Global Engagement program taking students to Cuba on its inaugural trip. She led the Murrow Backpack Journalism program, sending dozens of students around the world on reporting trips. She also launched the college's Backpack Environmental program pairing communication students with WSU engineering and science students in a cross-discipline STEM initiative to report field research on important science and environmental issues.

Her special interests include oil painting and obeying the demands of her Labrador Retriever and Australian Shepherd.

Laura Cañate is a global communications and marketing operations leader with 15 years of success navigating fast-paced, complex organizations. She is passionate about fostering inclusion and equity at scale by breaking down systems, transforming organizations, and sharing stories with empathy and metrics that matter. Laura has driven marketing operations and communications at Google, T-Mobile, and the University of Washington.

Laura received her undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and her MBA from the University of Washington.

She enjoys all of KUOW programming and partnerships but cannot miss Text Me Back! episode with Lindy West and Meagan Hatcher-Mays and The Moth Radio Hour.

Sarah Norris Hall is UW Vice Provost, Office of Planning & Budgeting. In her current role, Sarah is responsible for oversight of the University’s academic budget process and results, specifically the development of the University’s state budget cycle and operating budget, in support of the Provost’s role as Chief Academic and Budget Officer. Sarah and her team in OPB are charged with leading and evolving the University’s budget model; academy financial forecasting; state-related budget development and analysis; policy development; capital planning strategy in partnership with Facilities; and analytical modeling and reporting efforts for the University. OPB proudly serves leadership with decision support on higher education policy issues, and academic budgetary planning, including tuition and financial aid policy. Sarah is on the boards of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, and the Portage Bay Insurance Company.

Sarah previously worked for the former Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Washington State University. Norris Hall

View full Board member bios, committees and meeting dates here.