WRFI is community owned and operated. Get to know the Ithaca Community Radio Board of Directors. You can read recent board minutes here, and learn about attending a board meeting here.
The Board of Directors provides support and oversight to WRFI Community Radio. Supporting our efforts towards diverse programming, fundraising, structural systems, and community engagement across our listening area.
Our 2026 Board of Directors
President - Peter Bakija
Vice President - Corinne Shanahan
Treasurer - John Young
Recorder - Stephen St. Francis Decky
Talaya Centeno
Marc Faris
Amie Herman
Niki Ray-Israelsohn
Joe Romano
Corinne Shanahan (she/her)
Vice President
John Young (he/him)
Treasurer
John caught the radio bug as a student, when he became a regular DJ and served as Assistant Engineer and board member at KRLX-Northfield (Minnesota), the voice of Carleton College.
As a professional musician, he has performed or been featured on national programs such as NPR’s Weekend Edition and World Café, as well as on many local stations across America. As a writer and researcher on the global environment and related issues, he has made hundreds of appearances on radio networks around the world, including NPR, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, and the BBC. When he’s not on the radio, he’s probably listening to it.
Stephen St. Francis Decky (he/him)
Recorder
Stephen St. Francis Decky is a multimedia artist and writer whose work has appeared in an array of festivals, collections, and museums, including The New Britain Museum of American Art and The Museum of Fine Arts, Nagoya, Japan. As a projection and video designer, he has worked on operas, musicals, and video installations with Mountain Time Arts in Bozeman, Montana, IlluminArts Miami, Beth Morrison Projects in NYC, and locally with the Hangar Theatre, Opera Ithaca, and the LUMA Projection Arts Festival in Binghamton. Stephen has taught Animation, Film, and Video at several schools, including Ithaca College, Tufts University, and Lycoming College, and his films have screened at the Camden International Film Festival and the VOID International Animation Film Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark, among many others. Stephen currently teaches Film at Ithaca College, and also owns and operates a small blueberry farm in Chenango County.
Talaya Centeno (she/her)
Board Member
Talaya Centeno’s roots in radio began locally at WICB, where she was a local DJ and Programming Director while receiving her degree from Ithaca College in Photojournalism. A native of Manhattan, Ithaca has always been a second home where she spent summers as a child with family.
Talaya began her career as a Fashion Photographer in NYC, joining Condé Nast where she spent over ten years developing a rich portfolio of work.
Always having a passion for medicine, Talaya decided to pursue a medical career and returned to school to become a Physician Assistant. She joined the Mount Sinai Cardiothoracic unit and worked tirelessly, taking care of patients in a COVID ICU, at the height of the pandemic.
Talaya resides in Ithaca with her partner and three children, and is always happy to hear the local freight train rumble by her house.
Marc Faris (he/him)
Board Member
Marc views community radio as a crucial and transformative medium. Growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, his discovery of the University of Virginia student station WTJU was galvanizing — setting him on a path that led to degrees and professional work in music composition, as well as years of experience performing and organizing in punk, experimental, and old-time musical communities. During his time in college, he was also active as a volunteer in freeform radio, first at WRUR (University of Rochester) and then at WXDU (Duke University).
Since moving to Ithaca and shifting to a career in instructional design, Marc is grateful to have found his radio family at WRFI, where, as lowercase marc, he hosts Catholic Block, a weekly show dedicated to “questing for the ecstatic and cathartic in sounds across genres.” Away from the station and his day job, Marc can be found hanging with his family, crate digging, making music, and calling square dances.
Amie Herman (she/her)
Board Member
Amie Herman has spent most of her 30-year career in marketing, organizational development, and non-profit management, serving in several senior leadership roles. Most recently Amie acted as the Senior Director of Marketing, Development and Organizational Advancement for a large regional YMCA in New Jersey where she was responsible for the direction and implementation of the Y’s development strategy and for the execution of a significant multi-year capital expansion campaign.
Amie founded an independent consulting practice in 2012 and has worked with a wide variety of corporate and non-profit organizations on key strategic efforts which have included crafting mission-forward impact messaging and branding, designing development plans, and acting as an expert facilitator to help align leadership teams to support organizational change. She received her bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Virginia.
Amie and her husband Tom have made Ithaca their hometown after living in their self-designed and self-built campervan for 13 months. They spent an “adult gap year” exploring the US -- hiking, biking and kayaking, and seeking out great food, drink, and live music. (blog: https://amie.substack.com) Of the many places they explored, Ithaca had the perfect combination of things they loved most, including thriving independent radio.
Niki Ray-Israelsohn (they/them)
Board Member
Niki (they/them) is the Director of Bike Walk Tompkins, based in downtown Ithaca, NY. They hold a B.M. in Music Education from Ithaca College (2015) and a Master’s in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute (2020). Their experience includes work with the NYC Department of Education and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, as well as service on the NY SAFE Streets committee and the WRFI Board of Directors. They are passionate about supporting vibrant, well-connected, and equitable communities.
Joe Romano (he/him)
Board Member
Joe Romano was the Marketing Manager at GreenStar Natural Foods Market for over a decade. Before his tenure at GreenStar, Joe played out in five bands in NYC and worked in film and television in NYC for 20 years. Before that, he taught English Literature and Creative Writing at the City University of New York.
Recent Board Meeting Minutes
WRFI Board Meeting Minutes — January 2021
WRFI Board Meeting Minutes – January 11, 2021, 6-8pm Present: Stephen Cope Carlos Gutierrez Joseph Haefeli Joe Romano Godfrey Simmons Pamela Tan Felix Teitelbaum Chantal Thomas John Young Agenda: Coup attempt, ongoing risks, coverage Risks to journalists/media Risk Trump could use EAS – response Personnel ND or Director of Content ? When to…
WRFI Board Meeting Minutes — December 2020
WRFI Board Meeting – December 8, 2020, 6-8 pm Present: Carlos Gutierrez Joe Romano Godfrey Simmons Pamela Tan Chantal Thomas Felix Teitelbaum John Young Joseph Haefeli (joined at 6:30pm) Absent: Stephen Cope Agenda: Move antiracism training ahead Check on timeline for Park interim report timing and delegation Recommendation that we start working…
WRFI Board Meeting Minutes — November 2020
WRFI Board Meeting – November 10, 2020, 6-8pm Present: Stephen Cope Carlos Gutierrez Joseph Haefeli Joe Romano Pamela Tan Chantal Thomas Felix Teitelbaum John Young Absent: Godfrey Simmons Agenda: Finalize vote on underwriting questions. Major donor and year end requests. Move antiracism training ahead. Finalize vote on underwriting questions Support selling…
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