Meet the Team

Niru Ramachandran

Producers Club Specialist

Niru Ramachandran joined KPBS as the Producers Club specialist in December 2016, after volunteering with the development department for a year and a half. She is the go-to person for all Producers Club-related matters, from updating payment methods for sustaining pledges to explaining how to switch to support from donor-advised funds and IRA/Qualified Charitable Disbursements, from walking members through activating KPBS Passport, to… just about anything KPBS-related. Niru began listening to and watching KPBS when she moved to San Diego from Singapore in 1995, and set out on a career as an executive assistant, supporting senior and C-level executives at various companies in San Diego and Silicon Valley (where she missed KPBS’s programming choices). Members of the KPBS Producers Club since 2012, she and her partner were such stalwart supporters that when they finally tied the knot that year after 10 years together, they asked family and friends to contribute to KPBS in lieu of gifts, apparently a first for the station!

RECENT STORIES ON KPBS

National

President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden

The Associated Press

Hayden, who became the first woman and the first African American to serve as the Librarian of Congress when she was appointed in 2016, was abruptly fired via email late Thursday.
International

First Afrikaners granted refugee status due to arrive in U.S.

Kate Bartlett

Three months ago, President Trump signed an executive order telling white Afrikaans South Africans they could apply for refugee status in the U.S. The first group has been swiftly processed and is set to arrive on U.S. soil Monday
Fear Is Wrong
Economy

Wine sales slip in San Diego, but optimism remains among vintners

Alexander Nguyen

Local wineries generated $51.7 million in gross sales last year, a 5% decline from 2023. However, sales were still more than double what they were in 2016.
Health

Kaiser mental health workers return after historic strike, citing gains and gaps

Heidi de Marco

Following nearly seven months on strike, San Diego Kaiser mental health workers ratified a new contract, securing patient care improvements — but still pushing for pay equity.
Local

San Diego leaders, institutions welcome Pope Leo XIV as first American pontiff

City News Service

San Diego-area Catholics and religious and elected leaders on Thursday hailed the selection of Chicago native Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope, becoming the first American to ever hold the position.