Pat Mitchell

Pat Mitchell is president and chief executive officer of The Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio). Before assuming that role in 2006, Pat Mitchell was president and chief executive officer of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and a network correspondent, independent producer, and Time Warner executive.

Her diverse background in media includes work as a journalist, producer, and executive. She has worked in front of the camera and behind, anchoring the news and reporting for broadcast networks, producing award-winning documentaries as president of CNN Productions and becoming the first woman president and chief executive officer of PBS. 

Throughout her career, Pat Mitchell has engaged the power of media and storytelling as an agent of social change and, specifically, to highlight the stories of women and girls. She was the first woman to launch, produce and host her own nationally syndicated program, Woman to Woman, and she continues to break new ground for women across the media landscape, including a current series of initiatives and programs called Women@Paley. 

Also known for her humanitarian efforts and her work as a dedicated member of numerous nonprofit boards, Pat Mitchell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Women’s Forum; an adviser to V-Day: Until The Violence Stops, a global effort to stop violence against women and girls; a member of the Human Rights Watch board of directors; and a member of the Mayo Clinic’s board of trustees, among other positions.

Her many awards include more than 35 Emmy Awards, five Peabodys, and two Academy Award nominations. Named in Newsweek’s 2011 list of “150 Women Who Shake the World,” Pat Mitchell also was featured in Fast Company’s special report, The League of Extraordinary Women, and was named by the Huffington Post as one of the Most Powerful Women Over 50.