Governance

Radio Free Asia is led by President Bay Fang. 

Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation, funded by the U.S. Congress through the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an independent federal government agency that oversees all U.S. civilian international media. RFA’s non-partisan Board of Directors includes leading journalists, issue experts, former officials, and scholars who are all committed to RFA’s founding principle of informing and empowering audiences living under authoritarian regimes, while holding those in power to account.

RFA Leadership

Bay Fang, President

As President, Ms. Fang provides Radio Free Asia with leadership, vision, and mission-based strategic and operational direction. She first came to RFA as Managing Director for East Asia, overseeing the management and editorial content of RFA’s five East Asian language services. She went on to become RFA’s Executive Editor, supervising coverage across all of Asia. Ms. Fang earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and was a visiting fellow at Oxford University and a Fulbright scholar in Hong Kong.  

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Carolyn Bartholomew, Chair

Carolyn Bartholomew joined RFA’s Board of Directors in September 2021, bringing more than a decade of experience being on non-profit and corporate boards. She is currently serving as the Chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Previously she has worked at senior levels in the U.S. Congress, serving as a long-time counsel, legislative director, and chief of staff to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She has particular expertise in U.S.-China issues related to trade, human rights, and has led efforts on the promotion of human rights and strengthening civil society in countries around the world.

Michael J. Green

Mike Green joined RFA’s Board of Directors in September 2021 and is currently serving as chief executive officer at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Previously, he served as senior vice president for Asia, Japan Chair, and Henry A. Kissinger Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and director of Asian Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He also served on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) from 2001 through 2005, as director for Asian affairs and as special assistant to the President for national security affairs and senior director for Asia.

Michael Kempner

Michael Kempner has been on RFA’s Board of Directors since 2014. He is the Founder, President and CEO of MikeWorldWide (MWW), a public relations firm he founded in 1986. From 2010-2012 he served on the White House Council for Community Solutions. He is currently a board member of Goodwill Industries International and a Founding Board Member of ConnectOne Bancorp.

Keith Richburg

Keith Richburg joined RFA’s Board of Directors in September 2021 and is currently the Director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. While serving as bureau chief in Beijing and Hong Kong for the Washington Post, he reported on the 1997 Hong Kong handover and the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th Party Congress in Beijing in 2012. He is also the President of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club.

Shanthi Kalathil

Shanthi Kalathil joined RFA’s board in July 2022. From January 2021 to February 2022, she served as the National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights. Prior to her appointment at the NSC, Kalathil was the senior director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy. She also held various positions at other international affairs organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Early in her career she worked as a reporter at the Asian Wall Street Journal before transitioning to policy and academia. She currently is a senior fellow at the USC Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.

Allison Hooker

Allison Hooker joined RFA’s board in July 2022. She currently serves as senior vice president at American Global Strategies. Previously she held senior positions within the White House, serving as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the NSC and as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Korean Peninsula. Previously, she was a senior analyst for North Korea in the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research from 2001 to 2014 and was the 2013-2014 Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in South Korea.

CHIEF OFFICERS

Kataryna DeLisle, Secretary

Kataryna is RFA’s General Counsel. She joined RFA in May 2022. She previously worked at National Geographic Partners and National Geographic Society and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (now the U.S. Agency for Global Media).

Gijsbrecht de Leede, Treasurer

As Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer to RFA’s board, Gijsbrecht de Leede manages the overall financial affairs of the organization. 

De Leede brings almost two decades of experience overseeing and managing financial departments of multi-million dollar nonprofits and media corporations. Prior to joining RFA, he was the CFO of Children’s Defense Fund. Before that, he worked as a Controller at Experience Works Inc., where he managed a $100 million U.S. Department of Labor Senior Community Service Employment program. He previously has held senior financial positions at Atlantic Media and National Geographic Society. De Leede earned his CPA in the state of Maryland and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.