About the Charlotte Podcast Festival

Ju-Don Marshall is chief content officer and executive vice president of WFAE, a public media organization serving the Charlotte region. She has held executive roles at The Washington Post, Everyday Health and News Corporation; co-founded a media startup, LifePosts; and directed the Center for Cooperative Media’s efforts to foster collaboration, innovation and sustainability in New Jersey’s news ecosystem. Marshall also worked at The Charlotte Observer and The Washington Times. She is currently launching Story Mosaic, a collaborative reporting platform to help local communities partner with local newsrooms to shape reporting. Marshall serves on the boards of Greater Public, the National Trust for Local News, the North Carolina Open Government Coalition and the Carolina Beacon.

Jennifer Lang oversees podcasting, digital news and product for WFAE. Lang transitioned WFAE.org through four changes of content management systems, created the station’s first social media presences and assists with digital coverage of Charlotte news.

In 2019, Lang was selected as one of 100 public media editors to participate in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative taught at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. Following that, she was chosen to be in the inaugural class of Product Immersion for Small Newsrooms lead by News Catalyst and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, developed in partnership with Google News Initiative.

Jeff Bundy is a nonprofit executive with nearly 20 years of progressively complex fundraising, marketing and public relations experience. As executive director of branding & engagement at WFAE, Bundy oversees WFAE’s grassroots and major donor fundraising, marketing and events.

Since coming to Charlotte, Bundy and his teams have grown WFAE’s member file by more than 60% (from 15,250 in FY15 to nearly 25,000 in FY21). Contributed revenue has grown at comparable levels under Bundy’s leadership with Membership revenue now exceeding $3.5M.

Before coming to Charlotte, Bundy oversaw the development and marketing programs of the internationally acclaimed Shelburne Museum in Vermont. While in Vermont, Bundy and his team grew the museum’s Member File by more than 8%, increased Annual Fund revenue by 21%, increased the museum’s Facebook followers by more than 100%, the museum’s email database by more than 300% and Twitter followers by more than 20%. Bundy also oversaw the arduous task of rebranding the museum, including new logo and website creation.

Prior to his work in Vermont, Bundy served as director of Member Services at WHYY in Philadelphia. In this role, Bundy lead his team to record-breaking gross and net revenue results each year, growing WHYY’s membership program to $12.9M in 2013, a 7% growth in the WHYY member file, and more than 100% growth in the WHYY “sustaining” member file. Bundy also developed and managed WHYY’s event program, which included the creation and management of the WHYY Connections Festival, a multi-day concert event hosted in partnership with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation that attracted 10,000+ attendees, numerous large-scale film screenings with acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns and much more.

Bundy began his career as senior publicist for Penn State Public Broadcasting.

Bundy has been honored with numerous industry awards, including two PBS Development Innovation awards, multiple PRSA, MarCom and Hermes Creative Awards. In 2013, he was named to the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list.

Bundy currently serves on the marketing committee for the Renaissance West Community Initiative and as a board member for PRADO (Public Radio Development Professionals). He previously volunteered as a member of Leadership Charlotte’s 40th Anniversary Committee. In Philadelphia, Bundy was a board member with the Philadelphia Public Relations Association and served on the events committee of Young Involved Philadelphia. While in Vermont, Bundy was on the board of the Vermont Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association.

A graduate of Penn State University, Bundy was a member of Leadership Charlotte’s 38th class. An avid runner, Bundy has completed 17 marathons, including five Boston Marathons. He lives in Charlotte with his wife, Mary, and their three children.

Joni Deutsch is happy to call Charlotte (North Carolina) home. She is the former podcast manager for WFAE (Charlotte’s NPR station). Joni also hosted WFAE’s Charlotte music podcast Amplifier, named “Best Podcast” by Charlotte Magazine and honored for excellence in arts and music podcasting by the local Edward R. Murrow Awards and The Webby Awards (called “The Internet’s Highest Honor” by The New York Times). Joni is an NPR Music contributor and has previously acted as guest host of the legacy NPR Music program Mountain Stage. Deutsch’s strong communication skills and creative marketing style has led to national features by NPR, Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Poynter, and local spotlights from CharlotteFive, the Charlotte Agenda, Creative Mornings/Charlotte, The Gantt Center, The Blumenthal Performing Arts, Discovery Museum and the Carolina School of Broadcasting. A supporter of innovative media and a mentor to digital women leaders, Deutsch has been recognized as an Emerging Voice Scholar by the Alliance for Women in Media, the West Virginia State Journal’s “40 under 40,” the Online News Association’s Women’s Leadership Accelerator, the Charlotte Agenda’s “30 under 30,” The United Way of Central Carolina’s Young Leader Awards, Duke University TiP’s Early Achievement Award, and Gracie Awards.

Joe Hunsaker is an event manager at Blumenthal Performing Arts, as well as the founder of History For Jerks, a podcast company producing American Timelines and the Nerd Skool Podcast.

Brian Baltosiewich is an Emmy-nominated writer/producer/director, Brian spent 28 years in broadcast television before developing and launching his own production company (Balto Creative Media, and The Queen City Podcast Network) in March of 2018 (queencitypodcastnetwork.com).

The network has grown to over 35 Charlotte-produced podcasts and is regarded as the first hyper-local podcast network in the country. BCM’s client list includes former athletes and television personalities, along with iHeart Radio’s Black Effect Network, and local businesses, city organizations, and non-profits looking to establish or strengthen their brand in the podcast medium.

Brian has been producing audio content on the internet since 2001, and has produced podcasts for The Sporting News and National Pro Fastpitch professional women’s softball, has spoken about podcasting at international conferences, and his book – “The Podcast Pep Talk,” can be found at Amazon.com.

Balto Creative Media also produces award-winning digital content for local businesses and non-profit agencies, in addition to producing and streaming live events, comedy and variety shows, and educational content.

Brian has also served as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Carolina School of Broadcasting, the nation’s oldest stand-alone broadcast school.

Originally from the Detroit, Michigan area, Brian and his wife, Terra, lived in Tucson, Arizona before moving to Charlotte in 2010.

Perrine DeShield is a first-generation Liberian-American who is always fascinated with the world around her and constantly pulling inspiration from her heritage. She loves social media marketing, influencer marketing, virtual events, content strategy and brand development.

As an avid podcaster and broadcast journalist, Perrine has created two shows, 1stGens and The Quarantine Couch, and has taught podcasting workshops. She also started her own creative agency, Eclecs, in 2019.

In addition to working full-time with Belk headquarters for the past seven years, community is a top priority for Perrine. She serves as Chair of Belk’s Black Resource and Inclusive Group of High-Caliber Talent (B.R.I.G.H.T.) is on the Young Professionals board for the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, was on the planning committee for the first Charlotte Podcast Festival, and is part of a collective of black Charlotte creatives celebrating art and culture through BlkMrkt CLT and more.

Perrine and Belk’s B.R.I.G.H.T. organization received the 2021 Above & Beyond Award for business impact from Seramount for the Belk Culture Shop. Perrine was honored as one of Charlotte Pride Magazine’s Best of the Best 2019, was nominated as a Best of Belk finalist in 2019, and named one of the Top 30 Under 30 Future Leaders of Charlotte by Elevate Lifestyle magazine in 2018.

Dante Miller joined WFAE as a Report for America Corps Member in 2020 as part of a unique partnership with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and Digital Public Library of America. Her work allows her to use radio, online stories, Wikipedia entries and events to meet the community’s news and information needs.

Prior to becoming a corps member for Report for America, she was a reporter for QCityMetro and Charlotte Media Group. She’s an alumna from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and received her Bachelor’s of Science in Journalism and Mass Communication August 2017.

Matt Rasnic is a digital news producer at WFAE who works to reach readers on social media and engage them with products such as email newsletters.

He studied journalism and computing at Indiana University before reporting and producing for NPR affiliate WFIU in Bloomington, Indiana. Matt has also helped produce projects that have received state and national awards, including one that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

When not at work, Matt enjoys tending to his excessive number of house plants and spending time outside.

Meghann Batchelor is the Membership Manager for WFAE 90.7. Meghann coordinates all aspects of individual contributions for the station, including direct mail, digital initiatives, vehicle donations and employer-matching gifts, as well as spearheading all on-air fundraising campaigns. She manages the station’s membership database and works in constant, direct contact with the station’s 20,000+ listener-contributors.

Meghann joined WFAE in 2013 and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the College of Charleston. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Meghann has lived in Charlotte with her husband and son since 2012.

Renee Rallos is WFAE’s community relations manager.