United States Agency for Global Media

Margaret Hoover, Kristin Lord join RFE/RL’s Board of Directors

May 18, 2022

Washington, D.C. — The Board of Directors of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) welcomes journalist and commentator Margaret Hoover and nonprofit executive Kristin Lord as new Board Members, effective April 26, 2022.

Amb. Karen Kornbluh, the Chair of the RFE/RL Board, said, “I am thrilled to welcome Margaret and Kristin to the Board at this pivotal moment for RFE/RL and the 23-country region we serve. They bring years of journalism, foreign policy, and regional expertise to the Board, and perfectly complement the exceptional breadth of talent already supporting and serving RFE/RL’s mission.”

Margaret Hoover is the host of the PBS program “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover,” a revival of the iconic television series hosted by William F. Buckley Jr. for 33 years. A CNN political commentator, Ms. Hoover served in The White House under President George W. Bush, in the Department of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill, and on two presidential campaigns. She is the President of American Unity Fund, a political organization focused on achieving full freedom and equality for LGBT Americans, as well as the bestselling author of American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News, The Daily Beast, CNN.com, and FoxNews.com. Ms. Hoover serves on the boards of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, the Hoover Presidential Foundation, and the Belgian American Educational Foundation.

Kristin Lord is the President and CEO of IREX, a global education and development non-profit organization that promotes more just, prosperous, and inclusive societies by investing in people and the conditions that help them to thrive. She brings more than 25 years of experience in the fields of education, foreign policy, global development, and security and peacebuilding to this role. Prior to joining IREX in 2014, Kristin served in leadership roles at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Center for a New American Security (CNAS), Brookings Institution, and George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. She has also served in a senior advisory role at the U.S. Department of State and recently completed a term as a Trustee of the American University in Cairo. Kristin currently serves as a board member of the United States Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) and Interaction, an alliance of international NGOs and partners that serve the world’s poor and vulnerable.

Hoover and Lord join an RFE/RL Board that, in addition to Chairman Kornbluh, includes former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, “American Purpose” editor in chief and former RFE/RL President Jeff Gedmin, public relations executive Michael Kempner, and current RFE/RL President Jamie Fly.

RFE/RL, Inc. is a private nonprofit corporation incorporated in the State of Delaware. Its Board of Directors makes all major policy determinations governing RFE/RL’s operations. Each member of the RFE/RL Board of Directors is required by federal law to have “requisite expertise in journalism, technology, broadcasting, or diplomacy, or appropriate language or cultural understanding” relevant to RFE/RL’s mission. Employees of U.S. government agencies are prohibited by law from serving on the RFE/RL Board.

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