Kansas City PBS President & CEO Cara Williams Fry 

Cara Williams Fry is President and CEO of Kansas City PBS, where she leads one of the region’s most trusted public media organizations. 

She advances the station’s mission to inform, educate, inspire and connect the Kansas City community through trusted journalism, compelling local storytelling, lifelong learning and the arts. 

A nationally respected media executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience in public media and commercial television, Cara is known for building collaborative teams, strengthening community partnerships and creating content that inspires and brings people together. 

One of the most meaningful chapters of Cara’s career was her work with Children’s Miracle Network (CMN), where she wrote and produced stories of children overcoming extraordinary challenges and produced an annual live television event that raised millions of dollars for Penn State Children’s Hospital. The experience became a full circle moment when her family joined the production. Her daughter Megan served as the floor manager, her son Ian was the event photographer and during the last production, Cara’s granddaughter Ella made her debut as an assistant floor manager. Telling these families’ stories of survival reinforced the extraordinary power of storytelling to create connection, inspire generosity and make a difference.

Before joining Kansas City PBS, Cara served as General Manager of Northwest Public Broadcasting, a Washington State University licensee serving communities across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia.

Previously, she was Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer at WITF Public Media in Pennsylvania, where she led award-winning journalism, education and community-centered storytelling.  

Earlier in her career, she produced a nationally distributed wildlife television series that reached 92 percent of U.S. households. The show was especially meaningful to Cara, allowing her to combine her lifelong love of animals with her passion for traveling the world to experience wildlife in its natural habitat. 

Cara serves on the PBS KIDS Leadership Council and as an Ambassador for NPR’s Alliance of Rural Public Media. She has received numerous national and regional awards for journalism, storytelling and innovative content production.  

After five years in the Pacific Northwest, Cara and her husband now call Kansas City home. They enjoy exploring the region’s neighborhoods, trails, arts, music and food scene with their two Wirehaired Pointing Griffons. An avid hiker, traveler and jazz enthusiast, Cara believes public media is essential to building informed, connected and thriving communities — and that the best stories remind us of our shared humanity.