The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) is proud to announce Paula A. Kerger, President and Chief Executive Officer of PBS – the largest non-commercial media organization in the U.S. - will be a featured keynote speaker at BANFF this June as part of the festival’s 40th Anniversary SUMMIT SERIES.

Speaking to the role of the modern public broadcaster, Kerger joins BANFF's previously announced SUMMIT SERIES keynote Jeffrey Katzenberg, Co-founder of Dreamworks, Managing Partner of WndrCo and Chairman & Founder of Quibi.

The BANFF SUMMIT SERIES is a future-focused lineup of keynote speakers being launched in honour of the festival's four-decade legacy. This powerful roster will feature the global players who are shaping the future of the media industry.

Entering her 14th year, Kerger is the longest serving President and CEO of PBS. She helms America's largest non-commercial media organization with nearly 350 member stations throughout the country.  Under her leadership, PBS has moved from the 14th most-watched network in America to number six. Over the course of a year, 86 percent of all US television households watch PBS, and each month, Americans view an average of 255 million videos across PBS’s web, mobile and connected device platforms.

Kerger has led PBS’ ongoing commitment to programming that entertains, engages and inspires the American people. Among her recent accomplishments are the pop culture phenomenon “Downton Abbey” on MASTERPIECE; Ken Burns’s and Lynn Novick’s critically acclaimed THE VIETNAM WAR; the documentary “Hamilton’s America,” about the Broadway smash hit musical, on GREAT PERFORMANCES; “Freedom Riders” on AMERICAN EXPERIENCE; and award-winning children’s programs such as DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD.

Kerger has also made commitments to PBS’ leadership in children’s education, including the historic launch of the PBS KIDS 24/7 broadcast and streaming channel which is available to 95 percent of U.S. TV households. She continues to oversee PBS’s evolution into the digital age by embracing new platforms to bring PBS and member station content to audiences everywhere.