Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming
Before becoming Chief Programming Executive and General Manager of General Audience Programming, Bugg served as Vice President of General Audience Programming, where she oversaw the PBS editorial team and led the strategy across all genres, including news, public affairs, documentaries, history, science, natural history and arts programs.
Prior to joining PBS, Bugg served as Vice President in TV Content at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In this role, she provided strategic leadership and was responsible for CPB’s efforts to advance diversity across public media through the collaboration and support of content creators, distributors and partnering organizations.
Bugg also previously worked at PBS as Director of General Audience Programming, where she led efforts to develop a portfolio of drama, performance and cultural programs. She also held several programming roles in history and public affairs at PBS. Prior to joining PBS, Bugg spent 12 years in programming, production and operations for several Discovery Communications networks.
Bugg holds an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, an MA in Journalism from American University and a BA in Communications from Old Dominion University. She is a member of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications and Women In Film and Video. Through the T. Howard Foundation, she also mentors diverse and underrepresented college students and young professionals interested in media.
Lori Brittain
Vice President, LearningMedia
As Vice-President of LearningMedia, Brittain oversees PBS’ flagship digital teaching and learning resource for preK-12 educators and students. She is responsible for setting the vision for the service and delivering media-centric content and learning experiences that center education equity, diversity and inclusion.
Prior to her appointment to Vice-President, Brittain served as the Senior Director of Strategy and Operations for PBSEducation. In that role, Ms. Brittain was responsible for operationalizing strategic goals around several initiatives, including early learning and secondary education content, teacher engagement, school readiness, and professional learning. She also led and advised on the design and implementation of education programs like the U.S. Department of Education funded Ready To Learning program, PBS KIDS Ed camps and TeacherLine all initiatives designed to empower public media stations, educators, parents and caregivers to support children’s learning.
Prior to PBS, Brittain served as Program Director at the National Crime Prevention Council, where she collaborated with school districts, educators, and community-based organizations to engage students in a law-related education and civic engagement program funded by the Office for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. As Program Director, Brittain was responsible for strategic oversight and growth of the program and improving program quality and student learning outcomes.
Ms. Brittain is an advisor for Go, Grow, Be, an organization committed to supporting families who care for children with specialized needs in the Washington, DC area since 2018.
Maria Bruno Ruiz
Vice President, Program Content Strategy and Scheduling
As PBS Vice President, Program Content Strategy and Scheduling and a member of the Executive Editorial team in General Audience Programming, Maria Bruno Ruiz oversees strategic planning and implementation of the PBS master schedule.
Bruno Ruiz manages the rollout of content on broadcast and partners on streaming platforms. She oversees all packaged channels and the PBS Plus syndicated service. She also provides thought leadership on tent-pole programming and special programming events, as well as creates seasonal and monthly primetime schedules for National Program Service. Bruno Ruiz is responsible for evaluating proposals and participating in content acquisition decisions to ensure PBS’s lineup meets member station scheduling needs and includes a mix of subject matter. Under her stewardship as the drama editorial lead, Bruno Ruiz strives to bring strong titles to PBS. Bruno Ruiz leads the interdepartmental team responsible for sequencing multiplatform rollout of approved dramas and content for broadcast, PBS Plus, streaming on Passport/MVOD, FVOD, as well as oversees the review of content for the Amazon PBS Masterpiece Channel.
Geoff Daniels
Vice President, Programming & Development
As Vice-President of Programming & Development, Daniels oversees Nature & Science, History, Arts, Culture & Lifestyle genres setting the commissioning strategy and editorial goals for each vertical across all PBS linear and digital platforms. Daniels began his 30+ year career at Time-Life Video & Television, playing a key role in building TLV into one of the world's top home video distributors through the acquisition and marketing of Sir David Attenborough's “Trials of Life” and Ken Burns' “The Civil War.”
Prior to joining PBS, Daniels served as Executive Director of Jackson Wild where he transformed the world’s preeminent natural history conference into a global impact media company dedicated to creating new platforms, partnerships and career opportunities for storytellers at the nexus of nature, science, and conservation. Before joining Jackson Wild, Daniels was EVP of Unscripted Entertainment at London-based Nutopia, one of the world’s leading producers of premium documentary series including “Limitless with Chris Hemsworth” and “Welcome to Earth with Will Smith.”
Daniels previously served as Executive Vice President of Global Unscripted Entertainment for National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo on Disney +, managing all original content and commissioning many of the network’s most popular and award-winning series like Chris Hemsworth’s “Limitless,” “Secrets of the Whales,” and “The World According to Jeff Goldblum.” In 2010, Daniels launched Nat Geo WILD, leading its rapid growth with brand-defining events, such as Big Cat Week and SharkFest. He created nearly 200 hours a year of innovative blue-chip series, feature docs, and series formats that furthered the network's commitment to providing extraordinary wildlife films that inspired audiences worldwide to care about the planet.
Tania Ghee
Senior Director, Business Strategy & Initiatives
Tania Ghee has over two decades of experience driving strategic initiatives, operational excellence, and multiplatform content strategies in public media and nonprofit sectors. As Senior Director of Business Strategy & Initiatives for General Audience Programming, Tania leads the development and execution of high-impact projects that advance organizational priorities, optimize operations, and position PBS for long-term sustainability.
Throughout her career, Tania has cultivated a reputation as a collaborative strategist and trusted advisor, skilled at navigating complex operational landscapes, facilitating cross-departmental alignment, and translating insights into actionable business solutions. She has held progressive leadership roles within PBS, including Senior Director of PBS KIDS Distribution Strategy & Operations and Director of Early Learning Impact, where she oversaw strategic planning, grant development, multiplatform growth initiatives, and performance analytics to expand audience reach and engagement.
With a background that also includes directing early childhood education programs and managing multimillion-dollar grant portfolios, Tania brings a unique, mission-driven perspective to business strategy and operational leadership. Her career is distinguished by a commitment to public service, equity in media, and creating content experiences that inform, inspire, and enrich diverse audiences.
Chris Golding
Vice President, Production Management and Business Operations
As VP, Production Management & Business Operations Chris has a focus to ensure sustainability. He advises to make sound investments in content. He leverages industry standards and revenue models, producing and synthesizing data to secure optimal value.
Chris oversees PBS’s content investments. This includes investments managed for and on behalf of PBS’s partners. He manages a team that works with business verticals at PBS to support development, commissioning, production and delivery of scripted and non-scripted output across General Audience and KIDS programming on all distribution platforms.
Chris brings over two decades of physical production, business operations and strategic planning experience. His work enables PBS to provide its very best content pipeline in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Maribel Lopez
Head of PBS Digital Studios
As Head of PBS Digital Studios, Maribel Lopez serves as the executive producer of PBS’s award-winning original digital programming, oversees publishing operations, and manages relationships with PBS member stations on behalf of PBS Digital Studios. She is responsible for identifying opportunities to expand reach and implement strategies to advance the legacy of PBS to the next generation of fans and supporters of public media.
PBS Digital Studios offers original series and short-form content that explore science, history, arts, culture, and more. PBS Digital Studios is a leader in online content creation for adults 18-44, averaging over 20 million users and 50 million views monthly on YouTube.
Prior to joining PBS in 2021, Maribel held several creative and editorial leadership roles at PBS member station Twin Cities PBS (TPT), located in St. Paul, Minnesota. This includes having served as Executive Producer of Sound Field, an award-winning music education YouTube series, Managing Director of Racism Unveiled, a multiplatform storytelling initiative at TPT and Managing Director of Rewire.org (sunset in 2021), a magazine for young adults. In these roles, she led the editorial vision and developed and implemented audience-centered digital content strategies that were mission-driven and data-informed, resulting in exponential growth across digital platforms. Following an internship at Iowa PBS, she joined TPT’s National Productions in 2010 where she worked on broadcast documentary films for the PBS system.
Having spent her entire career in public broadcasting, Maribel is dedicated to engaging newer, younger audiences with public media through digital journalism and storytelling and is interested in developing and retaining public media’s future leaders.
She actively serves as a PBS Mentor, was an Aspen Ideas Festival Fellow (2022), a member of Poynter’s Leadership Academy for Women in Media (2021), a graduate of United Way’s Leaders United professional development program (2019) and has served as a reviewer for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Maribel holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and Spanish from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.
