NPR Reshapes Digital Leadership With Promotions.

NPR is elevating two longtime executives to new leadership roles focused on transformation, audience technology and data as the public media organization works to expand its digital reach and strengthen collaboration across the NPR Network.

Chief Operating Officer Ryan Merkley announced that Bryan Moffett has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Transformation, while Michael Seifollahi has been promoted to Vice President, Audience Technology and Data.

"NPR is in a pivotal moment when we are working across the Network to better serve audiences across news, digital products, fundraising, marketing, and distribution," said Merkley. "These appointments position us to deliver on transformative investments that will deepen our connections and build more dynamic experiences for our audiences. Bryan and Mike are both exceptional leaders who have consistently driven growth and innovation throughout their tenures and developed a deep understanding of NPR and the Member organizations."

Moffett will lead NPR’s enterprise-wide transformation initiatives, working across teams to execute strategic priorities tied to audience growth and greater collaboration throughout the Network.

He has served since 2022 as both Chief Operating Officer of National Public Media and Senior Vice President for Network Growth at NPR. He will retain his NPM COO responsibilities while shifting more of his focus to leading NPR’s Office of Transformation.

Moffett has played a key role in developing NPR Network initiatives designed to leverage NPR’s digital capabilities for the benefit of Member organizations. Those efforts include NPR+ and the NPR Network Donation platform, which NPR says has generated more than $70 million in new audience revenue shared with the Network.

During more than two decades with NPR and NPM, Moffett also helped launch digital sponsorship at NPR and developed sponsorship models for the organization’s apps and podcasts. He previously served as NPM General Manager before becoming COO in 2016.

“This is a critical moment in media, and particularly for public media,” Moffett said. “The challenges are formidable, but so is the opportunity.”

He said his new role will focus on using digital transformation to drive audience and revenue growth while helping public media rethink how it delivers its mission.

Seifollahi, meanwhile, will oversee NPR’s Audience Technology and Data organization. His responsibilities include leading and expanding a team of engineers working across full-stack, front-end, mobile, voice and quality assurance functions.

He will work closely with NPR’s forthcoming Senior Vice President of Product and Data on the technical and architectural strategy for the next generation of products supporting the public media digital ecosystem.

Seifollahi joined NPR in 2013 as a Lead Mobile Engineer. He was part of the team that developed the on-demand digital listening experience that became NPR One and later helped lead NPR’s transition from supporting multiple mobile applications to its current unified mobile app strategy.