PRSA CT Autumn Social & Membership Meeting
Time & Location
About the Event
With fall colors right around the corner, it's a great time to connect with fellow PRSA CT members and future members at the historic Hartford home of Paddi LeShane, PRSA CT board member and CEO of Sullivan & LeShane Public Relations. Our host's beautiful home is in Hartford's picturesque West End, just a few blocks from the Governor's Residence, and offers a skyline view of the city.
In addition to networking with Connecticut's PR leaders and professionals, there will be a brief member meeting. Guests will enjoy delicious hors d'oeuvres along with beer, wine and soda.
RSVP by Sept. 19 to reserve your spot!
Please note: On-street parking only. Guests are encouraged to use the east side of Prospect Avenue (the Hartford side).
- Members$25$250$0
- Non-Member$35$350$0
About Mark Contreras
Mark Contreras is President and Chief Executive Officer of Connecticut Public, the NPR and PBS community licensee for Connecticut.
He came to public media after a long career in local, mission-oriented news organizations.
His interest in local journalism began during his work with U.S. Senator Paul Simon on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC.
Mark began his media career with Capital Cities/ABC, Inc and after a number of roles at several of their newspapers served as President and Publisher of The Times Leader newspaper in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
He was then named Senior Vice President of Pulitzer Newspapers based in St. Louis, Missouri. In this role he had profit-and-loss responsibility for the newspapers and digital properties in 13 markets from Illinois to Hawaii. Pulitzer was a publicly-traded company with a controlling interest by the Pulitzer Family.
He then became the head of the newspaper division (SVP/Newspapers) of the E.W. Scripps Company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Scripps newspapers and digital operations were the 10th largest publisher in the US and had markets from South Carolina to Washington state. The company was publicly-traded and controlled by the Scripps Family.
In 2011, he became the Chief Executive Officer of Calkins Media based in Levittown, Pennsylvania which owned 3 ABC affiliated television stations in Florida and Alabama and 5 newspapers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The company was privately-held and owned by the Calkins Family. The company was sold in 2017.
In 2017, Contreras was then named Dean of the School of Communications of Quinnipiac University.
He joined Connecticut Public in March 2019. While serving as President and CEO of Connecticut Public, the organization has undergone a reinvestment in local reporting resources as well as significant digital transformation including publishing its content today over more than 48 platforms, up from 3 in 2019.
He served as a past or current board member of a variety of media organizations including the Newspaper Association of America (chairman), The American Press Institute (chairman), Cincinnati Public Radio, Futuro Media, GFR Media (based in San Juan, PR) and Woodward Communications, Inc (based in Dubuque, IA).
He holds an A.B. in History from the University of Chicago and an MBA from The Harvard Business School.
He was also named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
His father is a Mexican immigrant and his mother and Irish-American school teacher.
Mark has been married to Marybeth Sughrue for 36 years and their son, Michael, lives in Brooklyn, NY.
PRSA Antitrust Compliance Statement
PRSA’s policy is to comply with federal and state antitrust laws. Participants in PRSA meetings and programs are not to discuss industry-wide or individual company prices (current or projected) or matters relating to pricing such as costs, profits, wages, market allocation, or other competitively sensitive information. Compliance with the antitrust laws is a requirement for PRSA membership and responsibility for compliance rests with each member. Participants have an obligation to terminate any discussion, seek legal counsel’s advice, or, if necessary, terminate any meeting if the discussion might be construed to raise antitrust risks.