Meet the Candidates! 2022 Candidates for the New Wave Corporation Board of Directors Election

The Board of Directors of the New Wave Corporation announces the 2022 Election of Directors 

The 2022 election for the New Wave Corporation/KOPN Board of Directors will take place in February.  If you are a member of The New Wave Corporation/KOPN who is interested in the future of the station and willing to work to help make positive things happen, please consider running for one of the four positions coming open on the board.  Three of these elected positions are for terms of 3 years and one is for one year.

2022 Candidates

T. Sharif Abdul-Hakim

After reviewing the job description and requirements for board service, I am certain that I have most of the necessary skills and the passion to successfully do the job adeptly and perform above expectations.

I arrived at KOPN after a seven-year hiatus from Jazz programming. I was very reluctant to come back and substitute for Angela on The Good Sounds of Jazz.  Then I met Tim Pilcher, Laird, Kevin Walsh, DR, and others I’d been listening to for years. That was the hook. Here was an opportunity to work with some of the BEST JAZZ PROGRAMMING IN THE MID-WEST. (Period).

I am an adaptable retired professional who is totally passionate about Jazz radio in particular and excellent programming in general. I have nearly 30-years’ experience as a radio announcer, programmer and advocate. I hold a B.S. in Business Administration from Lincoln University (Jefferson City). I was trained in radio by former KOPN GM David Owens and KJLU GM Jorey Spears, a Chicago radio personality and my first general manager. Overall, I believe I have consistently demonstrated teamwork, communication, and creative thinking abilities in every aspect of my previous roles at sister station KJLU 88.9FM and at KOPN.

Linda S. Day

Long-time KOPN listener and supporter, multipurpose station volunteer for the past several years, board member for three years.  It has been gratifying to be part of a dedicated board of directors that was determined to find a way to make KOPN physically accessible to all.  After a long search, a lot of due diligence, and a successful capital campaign (at its midpoint now) we are finally on our way, having recently purchased an accessible building that should serve the station well for the next 50 years.  It’s a recently renovated steel structure originally dating, like KOPN, to 1973.  The move will not be easy but what a difference it will make to the future of KOPN both in functionality and expense.  I would like to continue on the Board to help with the move, to finish work to refine procedures and controls that ensure accuracy and transparency in our accounting, and to continue to help with grant-writing.  That KOPN is about to celebrate its 50th year is a miracle only possible because of a community of supportive listeners and volunteers with diverse tastes and interests but a shared appreciation of the importance of independent community radio.

Gordon Rogers

I am a current board member who has participated in the multi-year process of acquiring, for the first time in its history, ownership of our own station building for KOPN.  Much work remains to transform the building into a radio station and to move and install our current equipment, files, and music library.  As we begin operating from our new home my goal is to help KOPN become even more of a local, fully accessible community resource as it continues to offer in-depth news, diverse talk, and music of the world.

Joy Rushing

Joy Rushing is a long-time volunteer with, and supporter of, KOPN. She started working in the KOPN office in 2006, indexing the Reel-to-Reel project. She then helped Lucille Salerno with her Early Times program until Lucille retired from the station. Joy then took on her own early jazz show, and then became the host of Ragtime with Joy. She just retired from that show after hosting it for about 10 years. She also helped Woody Adkins with his Real Deal Country show for a number or years. Joy has served on the KOPN Board for the last several years, currently in an appointed position.

Joy retired to become a self-described “professional volunteer.” She has been active in various volunteer work with the City of Columbia, and is currently serving on its Planning Commission. She has also been active in volunteer work with her church.

Joy is very excited about KOPN’s fantastic future, and would like to serve on its Board until its transition to its new home is completed. She will work to help make that transition as smooth as possible.

Annual Meetings and Election

The Board typically meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm in the Cope Ashlock Room at KOPN, 915 E. Broadway, Columbia, MO.  When necessary because of weather or pandemic, we hold the meetings via Zoom.  We try to finish by 9:00 pm.  Board members are expected to prepare for (by reviewing all electronically distributed materials) and attend these monthly meetings.  Access to a computer with email, audio/video capacity, and a dependable internet connection is necessary.

There are reports to read and sometimes to help prepare, funds to raise, financial reports to review, occasional problems to help solve, and easy and difficult decisions to make.  We try to carry on with good humor in those endeavors knowing that it is for a very good cause:  the future of our very special community radio station.  If you are considering throwing your hat in the ring but have some questions, please email your contact information to  Ally@kopn.org  who will arrange for a current board member to be in touch with you.

How to Become a Candidate

To become a candidate for a position on the New Wave Corporation (NWC) Board of Directors, please prepare a brief statement (of 200 words or less) providing your reasons for wishing to serve on the board and how you see yourself contributing to its work, and a brief background summary of relevant knowledge, skills, and experience.  Please submit your statement to   election@kopn.org   by January 4, 2022.  

Candidates’ statements will appear in online announcements of the election and will be mailed with ballots to current members of the NWC in January.  The Annual Members Meeting of the NWC will be held the afternoon of February 13, 2022, via Zoom.   Votes will need to be mailed or delivered in person in time to arrive at the station by 4:00 pm Wednesday, February 9 to be counted.  Election results will be announced at the meeting and posted on the KOPN website.