NEW YORK – July 11, 2023 – Scholarship recipients for this year’s Rising Through the Ranks program, presented by the RAB, BMI, Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, Inc. and Xperi have been selected. As previously announced, this year’s program will be hybrid, starting with a virtual session taking place on August 1, leading up to the in-person event August 8-10 at the BMI Nashville office.

Featured speakers include Lindsay Adams, general sales manager, Good Karma Brands; Hartley Adkins, president of market groups, iHeartMedia; Kristin Cantrell, owner and chief executive officer, Seven Mountains Media and CapCity Communications; Donna Detweiler, senior manager, broadcast services, Xperi; Erica Farber, president and chief executive officer, RAB; Lori Flowers, manager, integrated marketing and project management, Radio One; Kelli Frieler, executive director of digital, Leighton Broadcasting/Leighton Engage; Jessica Frost, executive director, industry relations, licensing, BMI; Suzanne Grimes, executive vice president, CUMULUS MEDIA and president, Westwood One; Kim Johnson, director of sales, RAB; Susan Larkin, chief operating officer, Audacy; Ruth Presslaff, board president, Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, Inc.; Jeff Schmidt, senior vice president of professional development, RAB; Ashley Wilson, director of country programming, Kentucky Region, iHeartMedia; Trisha Yearwood, award-winning artist.

This year’s binders are sponsored by Mr. Master.

The following is the list of 24 individuals attending this year’s program:

Amanda Allwood

Cox Media Group, Atlanta, Georgia

Melissa Amundson

Leighton Broadcasting, Alexandria, Minnesota

Sheifalika Bhatnagar

Cox Media Group, Jacksonville, Florida

Sheena Brook

BMI, Nashville, Tennessee

Debbie Cerrito

iHeartMedia, Studio City, California

Kierston Cook

iHeartMedia, Nashville, Tennessee

Kathleen Fink

Gen Media Partners, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Cindy Hunter

iHeartMedia, Cleveland, Ohio

Michelle Hurley

Saga Communications, Columbus, Ohio

Stacey Ko

SummitMedia, Honolulu, Hawaii 

Stephanie Korab

Stingray Media, St. John’s, Newfoundland

Meriah Kotary

Audacy, Fort Worth, Texas

Jen Lahmann

Leighton Broadcasting, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Jill Masek

NRG Media, Lincoln, Nebraska

Deanna Meadows

Forcht Broadcasting, Paintsville, Kentucky

Emmy Myers

Audacy, New York, New York

Annette Nagy

Salem Media Group, Los Angeles, California

Tiffany Robles

Cox Media Group, San Antonio, Texas

Tammy Sowder

Milner Media Partners, Bourbonnais, Illinois

Hannah Stromseth

Townsquare Media, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Kapi Thomas

Lotus Communications, Boise, Idaho

Josie Vote

SummitMedia, Omaha, Nebraska

Jessica Williams

Townsquare Media, Rochester, Minnesota

Mary Zukin

Iliad Media Group, Meridian, Idaho

RAB is the not-for-profit trade association representing America's broadcast radio industry. Its primary objective is to drive revenue growth through advocacy, providing the tools and resources to help the industry attract new sales talent to the medium and enhance industry professionalism through training and support. The RAB serves more than 6,000 member stations in the U.S. and more than 1,000 member networks, representative firms, broadcast vendors and international organizations. Learn more at www.rab.com.