Laura R. Walker is President and CEO of New York Public Radio (NYPR). During Ms. Walker’s tenure, the organization has transformed from two city-owned radio stations into an independent nonprofit news and cultural organization that operates eight public radio stations (including WNYC and WQXR), produces a portfolio of award-winning content, and develops digital products that reach 14.2 million people each month.

Under Ms. Walker’s leadership, NYPR has won seven George Foster Peabody Awards and two Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, and developed groundbreaking programming that has changed the sound of public radio including: Radiolab, Freakonomics Radio, On the Media, Death, Sex and Money, New Tech City and The Takeaway. She leads the organization’s strategy to bring its high-quality audio content, journalism and music to listeners through terrestrial radio, podcasts and innovative products like WNYC’s groundbreaking App with its Discover feature.

Ms. Walker has been named one of New York City’s Most Powerful Women by Crain’s New York Business, and has received an Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PRI's Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Earlier in her career, she was a print journalist, a producer at NPR and an executive at Sesame Workshop.

She sits on the boards of The Tribune Media Company, Saint Ann’s School, The Women’s Forum, Yale Center for Customer Insights, The Eagle Picher Trust and New York Public Radio. She is the Chair of the Station Resource Group.

Ms. Walker holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA magna cum laude from Wesleyan University where she was an Olin Scholar.