28 Sep 2020 Arkansas PBS Foundation names new executive director

Following a nationwide search by the Arkansas PBS Foundation Board for an accomplished fundraiser, Marge Betley has been named the Arkansas PBS Foundation chief executive officer.

Betley’s career has spanned more than three decades in nonprofit leadership and fundraising, in industries ranging from the arts to healthcare, behavioral health and human/social services, for organizations with budgets of up to $60 million.

“The Arkansas PBS Foundation Board performed an extensive nationwide search to find the best candidate who would bolster fundraising efforts and grow membership for the network,” said Foundation Board President Dr. S. Lynne Rich. “We are confident that Marge Betley, with her nonprofit experience and belief in public media, will make great strides in securing the necessary resources to benefit all Arkansans.”

Most recently, Betley served as major gifts officer for Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation in North Carolina, where she was key to the CARING for the FUTURE capital campaign in support of the future Center for Medical Education and Research at Cape Fear Valley Health.

“In particular, Marge’s experience managing large campaigns and major donor relationships is in line with network needs for growing infrastructure, funding increased digital content, broadening content acquisition options for broadcast and Arkansas PBS Passport, and telling more local stories,” said Arkansas PBS Executive Director and CEO Courtney Pledger. “Her understanding of the work of PBS and Arkansas PBS from a creative perspective, combined with her passion for the mission of public media, make her an ideal candidate to lead our development efforts.”

Betley previously served as chief development and communications officer for Family & Children’s Services, the largest nonprofit behavioral health center in Oklahoma. Among her many fundraising achievements at F&CS, she helped to raise more than $10 million in less than a year to support capital expansion needs.

“There’s never been a more important time than now for the Arkansas PBS Foundation,” Betley said. “PBS is the champion of education, science, art, diverse voices, and of equal access to culture and information of integrity.

“I am thrilled to join the Foundation, and to help create an even more vibrant future for Arkansas PBS programming and services across the state.”

In her work in the arts field, Betley has shepherded more than two dozen world premiere theatre and opera productions. She has served as a grants panelist/reviewer for The Rockefeller Foundation, Theatre Communications Group, the National Alliance of Musical Theatre Producers, and a variety of playwriting awards, as well as for the National Endowment for the Arts where she began her career as a program officer for opera/musical theatre.

Betley is a former Fulbright Scholar to Germany. She and her husband, Greg Weber, are delighted to make their new home in Conway.

The Arkansas PBS Foundation exists to support Arkansas PBS’s mission of enhancing lives through trusted, multiplatform public media content and educational services. The Foundation provides Arkansans with opportunities to connect with Arkansas’s only statewide public media by becoming a financial donor, corporate or foundation partner, volunteer, or by other means of giving. The Arkansas PBS Foundation builds and strengthens relationships between Arkansas PBS, donors and audiences and is committed to being a transparent and accountable steward of private financial support.

Arkansas PBS enhances lives by providing lifelong learning opportunities for people from all walks of life. Arkansas PBS delivers daily, essential, local, award-winning productions and classic, trusted PBS programs aimed at sharing Arkansas and the world with viewers through multiple digital platforms, including on-demand services and YouTube TV, and the distinct channels Arkansas PBS, Arkansas PBS Create, Arkansas PBS KIDS, Arkansas PBS WORLD and Arkansas PBS AIRS on SAP. Members with Arkansas PBS Passport have extended on-demand access to a rich library of public television programming. Arkansas PBS depends on the generosity of Arkansans and the State of Arkansas to continue offering quality programming. Additional information is available at myarkansaspbs.org.