Ketmani Kouanchao, executive vice president and senior academic officer at Northwest Technical College, will join Minnesota Public Radio’s Bemidji Regional Development Advisory Council in April.

The 11-member Bemidji-area council, coordinated by MPR Regional Director Kristi Booth, is one of five regional advisory councils advising Minnesota Public Radio’s Board of Trustees on programming and regional concerns in greater Minnesota. Membership is drawn from listening areas served by KBPN and KBPR in Brainerd, KCRB and KNBJ in Bemidji, KGRP in Grand Rapids and KITF in International Falls.

Kouanchao was selected for membership on the board after being nominated by a member of the Bemidji community.

“I am thrilled to have been chosen,” Kouanchao said. “I believe in the purpose and mission of public radio and the value it brings to the people of Minnesota. I am eager to contribute as a member of the advisory council.”

Other regional councils are located in Rochester, St. Cloud, Moorhead and Duluth. A sixth council provides guidance for three MPR stations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, reviewing the stations’ programming goals, services and significant policy decisions, and recommending how programming can better serve Twin Cities communities.

The first 2024 meeting of the MPR Bemidji Regional Advisory Council is April 17 at the Country Inn in Walker, Minn. The meeting is open to the public. For information about attending this meeting, contact Kristi Booth.

Minnesota Public Radio’s 46-station network delivers its three core services of MPR News, YourClassical MPR and The Current to one million listeners each week for radio, digital and live audiences. More than 95 percent of Minnesota households are in MPR’s listening areas.

Learn More

• MPR Community Advisory Councils
• MPR Bemidji
• Kristi Booth, MPR Regional Director, kbooth@mpr.org, (218) 751-8864