The Detroit Regional Chamber has announced that PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger will deliver a keynote address at the 2018 Mackinac Policy Conference May 29-June 1.  She will discuss the importance of building trust and restoring confidence in the critical institutions of government, media and business.

This topic is one of the pillars of the conference this year. For 14 consecutive years, PBS and its member stations – including Detroit Public Television – have been ranked as the most trusted national institution by independent research. Most of those years have been under Kerger’s leadership.

“Detroit Public Television is thrilled to have Paula return to our state,” said Rich Homberg, President and CEO of DPTV.  “Last year, when federal funding for public broadcasting was being challenged, she spoke to our Detroit Economic Club.  We’re proud to have her back to speak to the state’s premier gatherings of thought leaders on issues that will shape the future of Michigan.

Since joining PBS in 2006, Kerger has helped grow the system’s audience to become the nation’s sixth most-watched network in the United States, with 80 percent of American households watching. She is the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history. In addition, Kerger serves as the board chair for Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and has been named to Hollywood Reporter's "Women in Entertainment Power 100," an annual survey of the nation's top women executives in the media.

At Mackinac, Kerger will share her insights on how media institutions such as PBS can contribute to greater levels of trust in society in a session sponsored by PNC Bank. DPTV will stream the session as well as the rest of the Mackinac Policy Conference online for the seventh consecutive year.