Amanda Mountain
President and CEO, Rocky Mountain Public Media

Amanda Mountain grew up a military brat and has called Colorado home off-and-on since 1992. She is a first-generation college graduate and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Denver in Organizational Leadership and Change Management. She is the first female CEO in Rocky Mountain Public Media history and since stepping into the role six years ago, she has led the organization to many notable successes, including fully-funding and building the Buell Public Media Center, an innovative home for local journalism entities seeking to create collective impact; restructuring the organization to be digital-first; launching a new multi-platform Content strategy to effectively attract and engage new audiences; implementing a new operating model leveraging user-centered design; and creating and nurturing a diverse, inclusive and equitable organizational culture where everyone is supported in doing their best work.

She has over 25 years of experience in the media business, most notably with Freedom Communications, where she was named one of the top 20 Newspaper executives in the country by Presstime Magazine, and Viacom, where she helped pioneer cross-platform marketing strategies under the Viacom Plus arm, created by Mel Karmazin. Amanda has also worked as a journalist, publishing over 250 articles for various local news outlets, covering topics related to media and the non-profit sector.

In 2021 and 2022, Mountain was named one of the “Most Influential Women in Radio” by Radio Ink magazine. In 2020, she received an Emmy Award for Overall Excellence and a duPont-Columbia Award for Investigative Journalism in 2018. In 2022, Mountain was admitted into the prestigious Sulzberger Fellowship at Columbia Journalism School where she’s working to shape the future of journalism with a cohort of 23 journalists from around the world.

Mountain is proud to be the current Board Chair for the Public Television Major Market Group in addition to serving on the Digital Marketing Advisory Committee of PBS.

Karla Hanlon
Chief Operating Officer, Rocky Mountain Public Media

Karla Hanlon has been a financial and operational leader with nonprofit organizations in Colorado for over a decade, after gaining experience from the public accounting and for-profit sectors. She currently serves as the COO for Rocky Mountain Public Media (home of RMPBS, KUVO Jazz, and THE DROP), where she focuses on driving financial sustainability and efficient, adaptive operations. Karla’s approach to financial and operational strategies is grounded in values-based decision making and a dedication to serving communities. Previously, Karla served as the CFO/COO and Interim CEO for Jewish Community Centers of Denver and the VP of Finance and Operations for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Accountancy from Norther Illinois University and received her CPA certification from the State of Illinois.

Nikki Swarn
General Manager, KUVO and 104.7 THE DROP

Nikki Swarn is a dynamic leader and visionary with over 25 years of radio experience. As Colorado’s first African American woman to serve as general manager of a radio station, Nikki’s career is filled with milestones. She has repeatedly created new pathways in the independent music movement through radio programs that showcase and promote diverse and emerging artists.

Nikki began her radio career in 1998 working with KHIH jazz in Denver. Since that time, her radio journey includes leadership roles at KS 107.5, KYGO, ESPN, and Alice 105.9. She launched THE DROP in 2019 as an extension of KUVO JAZZ with grant support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. At the time, it was one of the first Urban Alternative public radio stations in the country, paving the way for a new format that continues to expand and shape public media as a whole.

Under Nikki’s leadership, 104.7 THE DROP recently won several awards, including Westword Magazine’s Best New Radio Station (2020) and Best Radio Station for Music (2021); and Colorado Broadcasters Association Awards of Excellence (2021) for Best Station Sponsored Community Event, Best Midday Show, Best Evening Show, Best Public Affairs Program (merit), and Best Sales Event or Live Remote Broadcast (merit). Swarn was also the inaugural winner of the Asante Award, Black Pride Colorado (2021); and Urban Spectrum’s Annual People Who Make a Difference Award (2021).

Nikki is a prominent youth advocate, facilitating high school and university enrichment and community service programs throughout Colorado. She is featured as a guest speaker at music and entertainment conferences, colleges, and universities around the world, building capacity with colleagues and providing experiential learning opportunities for future programmers and broadcasters in the music industry. 

Kim Salvaggio
Chief DEI Officer, Rocky Mountain Public Media

Thanks to her parent’s love of PBS NewsHour, Kim wanted to be part of the media world at a very young age. Studying Mass Media and Communications with at Penn State University, education laid a foundation for a 20+ year career in media organizations. Kim has held positions in Human Resources and Operations with a focus on DEI at BBH/Publicis WorldWide, Public News Service and Rocky Mountain Public Media, where she is Chief DEI Officer. The strategy and development of DEI at RMPM is based on a Co-Leadership model, co-lead with Dr. Tara Jae, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Youth Seen, a nonprofit organization focused on the mental health of our QTBIPOC communities. Kim is a certified mediator, a skill she uses on a daily basis that brings understanding and equity for all. Kim and her wife, Alex, have a very active home life with four kids and five pets, otherwise known as slightly controlled chaos. Kim is an active community member and advocate for the LGTBQIA+ Community with a focus on Trans Youth.

To reach our DEI Department contact kimsalvaggio@rmpbs.org and share your passion.

Kelly Flink
Vice President of Creative Services, Rocky Mountain Public Media

Kelly Flink was born and raised in Colorado where creating TV has always been one of her passions.  She even took an internship at KCNC (CBS 4) in Denver when she was only 15 and couldn’t even drive herself to work.   With almost 20 professional years the Broadcast Industry, she’s worked on local and national shows based in the Denver area as an editor, videographer, graphics artist, commercial/promotions producer and served as a corporate lean-six-sigma process manager.  She joined Rocky Mountain Public Media in 2018 as an Investigative Video Journalist and stepped in to help develop the Creative Services Department when the organization was in need of a new approach to marketing and communications.  Kelly is currently the VP of Creative services and focuses on the marketing, communications, promotion, brand, image, and underwriting production of all Rocky Mountain Public Media brands. For more information about Rocky Mountain Public Media marketing and communications, contact Kelly at kellyflink@rmpbs.org.

Dan Diamond
Vice President of Public Media Partnerships, Rocky Mountain Public Media (Pronouns: he|him|his)

Dan Diamond, Rocky Mountain Public Media’s VP of Public Media Partnerships is a tech-savvy executive with over 45 years of executive experience and success in the network broadcast, cable, film, music, and entertainment industries. Dan oversees all RMPM’s statewide revenue teams including Corporate Partnerships, Philanthropy, Foundation/Grants and RMPM’s Regional Innovation Centers.

Prior to his coming to the organization, his highly unique set of diverse skills across multiple business disciplines led to the creation and development of consumer entertainment at National CineMedia (NCM) under the brand Fathom Events. A proven leader, Diamond’s strategic vision and leadership were critical success factors in his role as senior vice president of business development, entertainment programming and marketing. Diamond was a driving force in the creation of an entirely new entertainment category leading to the transformation of movie theatres into “local community event centers.” His visionary leadership and ability to leverage and integrate numerous strategic partnerships while creating win-win scenarios, all led to the acquisition and execution of hundreds of successful “in-theater” entertainment events and being named the “World’s Leader in Alternative Cinema Content” (“Event Cinema”) by Screen Digest.

Prior to creating Fathom Events, Diamond served as a director of creative services in both the NBC/CBS station groups where he led on air product, production, creative services, sales, promotional and marketing efforts. In addition, he was named Boy’s and Girl’s Club’s “Volunteer of the Year” and worked closely in the nonprofit sector with The Rocky Mountain Adoption Exchange and Special Olympics Colorado.

For information about how your business or organization can partner with Rocky Mountain Public Media contact Dan at dandiamond@rmpbs.org.