WASHINGTON – America’s Public Television Stations today presented the second annual Pillar of Public Service Award to Lisa Trapani Shumate, associate vice president and general manager of Houston Public Media. The Pillar of Public Service Award recognizes the contributions of an extraordinary leader in one of public television’s three pillars of public service: education, public safety and civic leadership.
“Lisa Trapani Shumate and her colleagues at Houston Public Media are true pioneers in public safety, as they’ve taken the decade-long promise of public safety datacasting and put it to work in Houston and Harris County,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of APTS. “They have created a powerful network of public safety and first responder organizations, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, that meets both high-profile security challenges like the recent Super Bowl and the everyday requirements of keeping millions of citizens of Houston safe. Lisa has set a standard of public service to which every public television station should aspire. We are extremely proud of Lisa’s work, and I’m delighted to present her with the Pillar of Public Service Award.”
“We are honored to receive this Pillar of Public Service Award from APTS,” Trapani Shumate said. “It’s exciting to demonstrate to our law enforcement and our emergency community how our broadcasting technology can be used in new, innovative ways during large scale events such as the Super Bowl. Datacasting expands the role we can play in public safety and serving our community as a whole.”
Shumate leads the combined operations of TV 8, News 88.7 and a high-definition classical music station on 88.7 HD-2 at Houston Public Media.
Shumate’s contributions to public broadcasting have been recognized by her colleagues through her selection to serve on the PBS Board of Directors and the Public Television Major Market Group Board of Directors. Shumate has also been awarded national and regional awards for community service.
Shumate’s leadership and work in public safety has been successfully demonstrated in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, local first responders and public safety entities. Houston Public Media’s use of datacasting was proven effective in a pilot project in 2015, during two major events in 2016: a Republican presidential primary debate and the NCAA Men’s Final Four Basketball Tournament, and again during the recent 2017 Super Bowl in Houston.
The 2017 Pillar of Public Service Award was presented to Shumate during The APTS Public Media Summit on Wednesday, March 1, 2017.
