KCET Appoints Wells Fargo Regional President John Sotoodeh to Board of Directors
Burbank, CA - October 23, 2012 - KCET, the nation's largest independent public television station serving Southern and Central California, today announced the appointment of Wells Fargo's L.A. Metro/Orange County Regional Bank President John Sotoodeh to its board of directors.
"We are thrilled to have John join our board and contribute his exceptional financial expertise and business savvy about the Southern California market to KCET," said Al Jerome, President and Chief Executive Officer of KCET. "He will be an invaluable asset to our organization as we continue to chart a new course in public media and engage our viewers - both on-air and online - with informative, educational programming and innovative community initiatives. We are deeply grateful for the longstanding and supportive relationship we have enjoyed with Wells Fargo and look forward to continuing this valuable partnership for many years to come."
"I am delighted and honored to join the KCET Board, and am committed to continue growing the organization on its already solid foundation," said Sotoodeh. "We'll be focused on delivering culturally rich and relevant content to Southern California, providing high quality programming across a range of platforms."
As president for Well Fargo's L.A. Metro/ Orange County Regional Bank, Sotoodeh has oversight of 366 banking stores with $54 billion in deposits, employing more than 6,400 financial services professionals. A 22-year veteran of the company, Sotoodeh assumed his current role in 2009. He previously served as regional president in the company's Southern California markets with oversight of 161 banking stores, and 2,200 financial services professionals in San Diego, Imperial, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Prior to that, he served as regional president for the Pennisula area in the San Francisco market. Sotoodeh began his career with Wells Fargo in 1990 as a bank teller.
Sotoodeh is active in many community and charitable organizations and serves on the board of directors for the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and board of trustees for the Autry National Center of the American West. He is also a member of the Young Presidents' Organization, Los Angeles chapter. In 2009, Sotoodeh chaired Well Fargo's Community Support Campaign, which raised more than $4.2 million in personal team member cash contributions to benefit Los Angeles area nonprofits.
Sotoodeh received his bachelor's degree in finance from San Jose State University. He is also a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School.
ABOUT KCET
On-air, online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. KCET currently produces the Emmy®, duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning SoCal Connected, a hard-hitting prime-time weekly television news program that examines the issues and people of Southern California. Throughout its 48-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and children's programs, its outreach and community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org.
