Sajni Kumpuris named interim executive director of Arkansas PBS
by May 21, 2025 10:44 am 439 views
The Arkansas Educational Television Commission appointed Tuesday (May 20) Sajni Kumpuris as interim executive director of the public television network during a special meeting.
Kumpuris works as Arkansas PBS education director and production director. She will assume the role of interim executive director Monday, May 26, following the departure of Courtney Pledger who has served as executive director and CEO since 2017.
“Sajni has been an integral part of Arkansas PBS leadership for more than five years, and the commission is confident in her ability to guide the network while we research candidates to fill the position permanently,” said West Doss, Arkansas PBS Commission chair. “We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Sajni in this new role.”
In the May 20 meeting, Doss said the commission will conduct a nationwide search to fill the role of executive director and that Kumpuris would be among the candidates under consideration.
“I am honored to step into the role of interim director at Arkansas PBS,” said Kumpuris. “This organization has long been a vital resource for our communities, and I’m committed to continuing our mission of providing high-quality educational content and programming that reflects the values and needs of all Arkansans. I look forward to working with our incredible team as we build on our legacy of service and innovation.”
Kumpuris leads ArkansasIDEAS, an online professional development resource serving over 96,000 educators in the state with more than 600 courses.
She has produced the educational productions “Rise and Shine,” “Arkansas AMI” and “Mystery League,” as well as storytelling initiatives, including the documentary “7 Days – The Opioid Crisis.” Kumpuris has been nominated for six regional Emmy Awards, winning one for her work on “Arkansas AMI” and two for “Mystery League,” which was picked up for national broadcast distribution by PBS KIDS in March 2025.
Under Kumpuris’s leadership, Arkansas PBS has earned multiple Public Media Awards from the National Educational Telecommunications Association for its education efforts. In 2022, the network received the National State Educational Technology Directors Association Award (SETDA) in the category of Professional Learning for the ArkansasIDEAS program.
In 2022, Kumpuris was selected to serve on the PBS KIDS Leadership Council. She is also a school board member for The Excel Center at Goodwill Industries of Arkansas – the first adult high school in Arkansas.
Kumpuris has a master’s degree in applied communication and was a broadcast producer and on-camera talent at Dillard’s Inc. for 18 years.
In 2011, she freelanced as a producer, writer and director for educational training and storytelling videos, and she spent five years at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences on a federal grant focused on education.
In 2019, she received the Karen Russ Memorial Award for Excellence in Research for her graduate work on opioid education in rural Arkansas, and the Applied Communications department’s Alumni Making a Difference in 2023 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
