Honoring Vicki Santa:
A Community Radio Visionary

By Din Clarke

Vicki Santa (Click to enlarge)

Ms. Santa was Development Director when WMNF's Station Manager position opened up. "She was a shoo-in," said Wynne. "She was a natural... Vicki had political, business and entrepreneurial sense, vision and knew how to deal with the diverse group of people at the station in a fair manner." Mr. Wynne continued, "She really had a vision for the future. WMNF has had huge growth in the budget and staff."

During her tenure, one of Ms. Santa's signature initiatives was building a new home for the station. Santa approached the planning of the building with input from employees at the station and her background in construction helped her to deal with the outside contractor. After five years of fundraisers, the goal was realized in 2005. "It was a huge undertaking. This is probably one of the most beautiful radio stations in the country, because Vicki made it happen," said community radio pioneer Marty Durlin, who met Santa a little over 10 years ago at an early Grassroots Radio Conference in Boulder. "She's really, really smart. Her brain is just… big! She has a great sense of humor and a workaholic. She's an interesting combination of different talents, skills and traits, very likeable and hyper-competent."

Santa is also known for her hard work at the station. "When other people would take time off, she never seemed to. She's a dynamo." Durlin observed that Santa's "brilliant brain always seemed to be ticking away, noticing things other people didn't notice or putting things together that other people didn't put together."

As for Vicki Santa's biggest contribution to community radio, Durlin believes that "She showed that a big station in a big market could do really good community radio and be functional... I think we've all wondered whether when you reach a certain level of population or if you're in an urban area if you can really make community radio work... She really created a strong community radio station in a huge urban area and made it work very, very well." Santa also contributed to the process of keeping WMNF's programming up-to-date. "It was in process when she became the manager, but...they have a system in place for moving and changing programming [as a way of] remaining relevant and trying to reach out to new audiences. That's rare," said Durlin.

At the Grassroots Radio Coalition, Durlin recalled humorously that in their "Circle of Elders", Santa was a go-to person, and one of the first affiliates to be chosen to be on the Pacifica Board "You could always consult with her; she was always there." All the stations functioned differently and had different philosophies, but they had enough principles in common that helped provide a "strong nucleus" for the GRC, which Santa helped to maintain. "She was someone you could count on for ideas and for doing the work."

Ms. Santa also led workshops for the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. Ginny Berson, Vice President and Director of Federation Services, recalls "Most of [the workshops] she suggested were not about issues in which she was necessarily an expert, but they were things she was interested in and struggling with herself and she wanted a place at the conference to talk about them. There was one we did a few years ago about ethical issues in community radio. She also led a roundtable one year about succession planning. The most recent workshop she did was about being nimble as a manager of a community radio station" and how to respond to "new media platforms and new technologies" while still being inclusive. "Her workshops are always highly rated. She is deeply committed to WMNF and the values of community radio."

"We are a place where you can meet up -- metaphorically and physically -- with other people who think the way that you do about things," said Santa in a recent conversation with the Affiliates Office. "The station has always represented that for me, and I have found friendship and family in a way that hearkens back to older times when people were more important than the technology. We have over 250 volunteers and everybody who comes through those doors and puts in time is expressing their love for the station. Having people participating in something that they love is just the highest compliment that they can pay us."

Vicki Santa's vision and professionalism has helped to bring people together, says Ursula Ruedenberg, Pacifica Radio's Affiliates Coordinator. "I admire Vicki and am grateful to her. When we all began rebuilding Pacifica's affiliate network together in 2002, Vicki was pivotal. I was new to the job of affiliates coordinator and, in her even-handed way, Vicki asked many disgruntled affiliates to give me a chance. She articulated a vision for our network that helped kindle the collaboration and grassroots networking we enjoy today. Vicki gave her time generously to serving on a committee that planned today's Pacifica affiliates program and later was an affiliate representative."

Deena Kolbert, member of Pacifica's Affiliates Taskforce and producer of "City Watch" and "Wisdom Years" on WBAI in New York, expresses deep reverence for Vicki's leadership. "Vicki Santa, in a very humanistic way displayed energetic, authentic, sound leadership for community radio. Her legacy is that she managed to share both breadth and depth, utilizing humor with integrity and provided supportive managerial skills that promoted the best for all in the greater community radio world."

Santa's reverence for the station's role in building community is evident in how she describes the experience of being at the helm. "Dealing with 250 different personalities on a regular basis is quite a challenge. Everybody who’s there cares very deeply about the station and so you can’t discount what’s being told to you. It’s coming from a place of love, and honor, and respect and it’s up to us to maintain that on the part of the station. If we base our actions in that as we relate to the community, the community will give back."

Comments left on the GRC (Grassroots Radio Conference) email list reflect the sadness felt by the community radio family at Ms. Santa's departure. Dr. Michael W. Huntsberger of Furman University wrote, "Vicki Santa is one of the greatest organizers community radio has ever known. Her patience, wisdom, and good humor exemplify the best in grassroots media, and humanity."

Santa reflects on her tenure at WMNF, "Managing this radio station was the best job I ever had. I am not particularly a programmer or a technical person but I have honed administrative skills in the business world for many years before coming to the station, and to be able to advance the mission of the station was just the best possible position I could have put myself in. I loved every minute of the work that I did for the station. "

What advice does Santa have for other managers of community radio stations? "The better and deeper grasp you have of your own mission, and how different activities impact that and make it work, the better job you’ll be able to do in leading the station to success… Success has to be measured not only in financial terms but also in long-term sustainability and the ability to interface with the community and move the community into accepting and engaging with the mission of the station. "

Ms. Santa's tireless work and passion for community are reflected in her decisions designed to move the station forward, whether working tirelessly at fundraising, overseeing construction or leading the station as General Manager. The effects of Vicki Santa's contributions to WMNF and community radio will be felt for years to come.

— Din Clarke is studying journalism at The New School in New York City.

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