BETTY FLATEN
Nominated by Doug Price, CEO Rocky Mountain PBS, Colorado LINK TO VIDEO OF AWARD PRESENTATION It is with great pleasure that I nominate Betty Flaten for the NFPB Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer. She has volunteered at Rocky Mountain PBS for 30 years donating her time and talents. During those years, she has volunteered for a variety of activities including auction, community ambassador, numerous special events, Station's Archived Memories (SAM), online auction, pledge, short story contest judge and Super School News coach. Her dedication and commitment to Rocky Mountain PBS and public broadcasting is evidenced by the volunteer leadership roles that she has graciously undertaken through the years. She has served in leadership roles that include chair of the online auction, chair of SAM's Display Committee, and as a member of the Rocky Mountain PBS Volunteer Board in the capacity of member-at-large, vice president and president. Betty's unswerving commitment to Rocky Mountain PBS is most definitively demonstrated in her leadership of the Volunteer Board. In 2012, the Board was in turmoil because the Board president resigned early in her term. Betty was vice president at the time and she stepped up to take over all duties of the president in addition to her duties as vice president. In 2013, she became president of the Board and still serves in that capacity (2015). As president and vice president of our Volunteer Board, Betty has led the 600+ volunteer corps with courage, tenacity and vision during a sea of changes at Rocky Mountain PBS. This is why I nominate Betty as Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer. In the past four years, Rocky Mountain PBS has merged with a public radio station (UVO) and an investigative news organization (I-News). Additionally, we have increased the number of local productions including documentaries and local programming in arts, culture and history. We are also launching an extraordinary early childhood education initiative. Volunteer opportunities are changing and the availability of volunteers is also changing. Technology needs continue to change as we engage on all platforms of social media. Betty has led the effort |
to restructure our volunteer leadership model in order to meet the needs of the volunteers and the Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting network.
Under her leadership, a statewide assessment/survey of volunteers and staff has been conducted. Betty has traveled to southern and western Colorado to meet face-to-face with staff and volunteers at these locations in order to better understand these pieces of our statewide network. she put together two task forces that grappled with the challenges of creating a model that is a staff and volunteer collaborative intended to create a leadership team that is "horizontal" as opposed to "hierarchical" and is based on function as opposed to project. By July 1, 2015, her goal is to implement the first stages of this innovative model -- with staff and unanimous board support -- and pave the way for new leaders to shine. In short, Betty has courageously challenged a long-time tradition of volunteer leadership in order to create and implement a more nimble model of leadership. She is a leader who takes risks and strives for innovation. She encouraged others to grow beyond the comfort of tradition in order to seek a new way. I admire Betty's leadership and I am grateful to her for bringing this innovative approach to volunteer leadership. our volunteers are critical to expanding the vision and mission of the Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Network. She has spent hours and hours at the station and I am never surprised to see Betty on a daily basis. She and our volunteer coordinator begin their communications at 7 am in the morning and continue throughout the day. Betty is no stranger to leadership. She retired form teaching in 1993. After 31 years of being in the classroom, she continued to work with students by tutoring in Aurora and Jeffco schools. She has been involved in educational, political and community activities. She has received deserved recognition for her volunteer activities: JCEA Jeffy Award in 1970, Colorado Education Association's (CEA) Distinguished Service Award in 1983, CEA's PACE Award in 1984, CEA's Lion Award in 1992, CEA's Hazel Petrocco Women's Leadership Award in 1993 and was honored to be included in Who's Who in American Politics. Most recently, she received the 2014 Legacy of Leadership Award at the Colorado American Association of University Women Fall Leadership conference. The Award is given to someone who has shown leadership in AAUW at the state level and demonstrates a strong commitment to the mission of AAUW. It is an honor to work side-by-side with such a remarkable woman. The Rocky Mountain PBS Network and our volunteers are stronger and more forward-thinking thanks to the extraordinary leadership of Betty Flaten. View the video of the award presentation for BETTY FLATEN. |