Kerri Hoffman

Kerri Hoffman

President and CEO


PRX

Cambridge, MA USA


We have to allow young people to make mistakes and learn from them. If we protect them from making mistakes, they don’t have ownership over their work. We need a young creative workforce to help us solve the next problems.

Milestones

My road in life took a while to figure out.
Early in my career, I worked for GreenPeace. It taught me what it’s like to be in an organization that’s focused on mission.
Everything we did, we had to learn, so it was a moment of maturity for me to realize that it was time to leave GreenPeace.
I got a graduate degree in geographic information systems, which is the study of mapping social causes.
I learned that I’m not wired to sit in a cubicle all day, I’m much more extraverted.
I got hired to do bookkeeping for a project called PRX. I was 8 months pregnant; nobody hires a woman whose 8 months pregnant.
They started giving me more projects and things to work on and I eventually worked my way up into a role as chief operating officer.
Four years ago, I became the president and CEO.
Keep following my journey

Career

President and CEO

I run a nonprofit organization overseeing revenue, fundraising, content development & relationships.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Journalism
Non-Profit Organizations
Upholding a Cause and Belief

Day to Day

The most important thing I do is work with people - both outside of our organization, partners, people who make content, producers who make Radiotopia shows, and people who work inside our organization, so I have to attend to career development and culture and making sure people have what they need to be successful at their jobs. I talk to many people all day. Another part of my role is to figure out how to take the mission of public media and make sure it survives another generation.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for college students

I think the path is crooked and that’s okay. Take time and learn what you like and the patterns will ultimately emerge. Don’t stress on it when you’re young. Follow patterns of what gives you joy. Don’t think of your career in terms of job titles - think of your career in terms of what you’d like to learn.

Recommended Education

My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:

graduate
Graduate
GIS and International Development

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Peers:

"You are a woman, you can't do this."

Challenges I Overcame

Gender Discrimination