Program Manager & Digital Media Leader

Alita McCalmon,
M.Ed

Turning ambitious ideas into programs
that ship on scope and on schedule.

10+ Years Experience
1.8M Educators Reached
250K+ Students Served

Where strategy meets execution

I'm a bilingual (English/Spanish) Program Manager with a decade of experience across public media, education, and nonprofits. My career has been built at the intersection of creative vision and operational rigor — moving programs from whiteboard to world stage while keeping teams aligned and timelines intact.

My Full Story →

Program Delivery

End-to-end management from concept through distribution across multi-platform, multi-workstream initiatives.

Operations & Workflow

Scalable content operations, budget management, and cross-functional team leadership.

Education & Impact

Award-winning curriculum programs and community-rooted initiatives that reach millions nationwide.

2024

Telly Awards — Silver

Campaign: Education & Training (Iconic America)

2024

Collision Awards — Gold

Marketing & Comms: General Education (Benjamin Franklin)

2020

NETA Award

Educational Resources in the Community (Buried Truths)

Where content strategy meets lasting impact

From a $50K ad buy to a national curriculum reaching 1.8 million educators — I keep complex programs on scope, on schedule, and aligned to what matters.

Hi, I'm Alita.

I'm a Program Manager and Digital Media leader with 10+ years driving multi-workstream initiatives from conception through delivery across public media, education, and the nonprofit sector. I've built my career on a simple belief: the most ambitious programs succeed not by accident, but by design.

Whether I'm directing full-lifecycle delivery of a documentary series at WETA/PBS, managing a curriculum program that reaches 1.8 million educators, or launching a free tutoring platform that served 250,000+ students, I bring the same approach: build the workflow, align the stakeholders, hit the deadline, prove the impact.

I manage cross-functional teams, agency partners, and high-value stakeholder relationships simultaneously — translating strategic vision into operational execution that keeps complex programs on scope and on schedule.

Multi-Platform Program Delivery Stakeholder Communications Strategic Planning Workflow Design & Optimization Cross-Functional Team Leadership Content Operations Budget & Campaign Management Partnership & Vendor Management Bilingual EN/ES

Professional Journey

2022 – 2025

WETA (PBS Member Station)

Director, National Digital Content

  • Managed end-to-end program delivery across original digital film, series, and multi-platform content initiatives — coordinating cross-functional teams, external agencies, and production partners across simultaneous workstreams.
  • Directed full lifecycle of the Out of the Dark documentary series from production through distribution, delivering a program that secured premieres at 20+ film festivals including the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival — on scope and on schedule.
  • Designed and launched #ShareYourCaregivingStory, a multi-channel program integrating influencer strategy, social campaigns, and stakeholder activations — successfully shifting the core audience demographic from 60+ to 25–40 and opening new revenue streams.
  • Built and maintained scalable content operations workflows for development, review, approval, and distribution, increasing team output velocity and reducing rework across a multi-platform portfolio.
  • Governed strategic partnerships across media, education, and healthcare sectors — managing stakeholder communications, deliverable timelines, and relationship health for high-value organizational accounts.
  • Spearheaded the technical and content development of the Iconic America digital hub, directing web developers to build out the companion site for the David Rubenstein-hosted PBS series — work recognized with a 2024 Telly Award (Silver, Education & Training).
  • Orchestrated the YouTube release strategy for The Curious Mind of Benjamin Franklin, driving the content rollout of this educational video series from production through publication — earning a 2024 Collision Award (Gold, Marketing & Communications: General Education & Training).
2021 – 2022

WETA (PBS Member Station)

Senior Manager, National Education

  • Authored the inaugural Well Beings Mental Health Language Guide in partnership with the Founder of Black Girls Smile and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, then owned full program expansion including webpage development, social media, newsletter, and stakeholder outreach — establishing a national mental health language standard for adults working with young people.
  • Managed curriculum development program for Season 8 of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr., translating documentary content into curriculum-aligned resources distributed to up to 1.8 million educators through PBS LearningMedia.
  • Supervised 10+ contributors across internal teams, PBS, and external agencies to develop digital toolkits, guides, and educational resources reaching millions of educators and families nationwide.
Nov 2020 – Mar 2021

WABE (Atlanta Public Media)

Director, Education

  • Developed and managed strategic partnerships with school systems, libraries, museums, and Atlanta-based organizations to provide free educational content and community engagement opportunities to local families.
  • Led pandemic pivot converting all in-person educational programming to digital and intergenerational formats, maintaining continuity of community engagement under accelerated timelines.
  • Owned integrated marketing and engagement strategies spanning podcast, web, live events, and five-figure paid digital campaigns, ensuring alignment across station priorities and partner SLAs.
2018 – 2020

WABE (Atlanta Public Media)

Education Manager

  • Managed end-to-end launch of TutorATL, a free online 1-to-1 tutoring platform serving 250,000+ students across APS, Fulton County, and Cobb County — owning everything from grant application through in-person marketing, a promotional shoot on WABE TV, press release, media toolkit, and physical collateral distribution. Managed a $50K YouTube ad buy to drive platform awareness.
  • Collaborated with Atlanta Public Schools and the Center for Civil and Human Rights to train 250+ educators on Buried Truths lesson plans during Professional Development Week, resources that earned a NETA Award for Educational Resources in the Community.
  • Produced 8th grade and high school curriculum based on Buried Truths, a Peabody Award-winning podcast.
  • Managed community engagement programming with organizations including Atlanta Public Schools, Junior Achievement, and the Chick-fil-A Foundation, designing immersive studio experiences and large-scale student events at WABE.
2015 – 2018

Bright Horizons

Pre-K Lead Teacher

  • Designed and implemented a proprietary weekly goal-setting and progress-monitoring framework for the GA Pre-K team, establishing clear performance expectations and improving instructional cohesion across the curriculum.
  • Led weekly team-wide convenings to establish shared priorities, coordinate input across functions, and ensure consistency in instructional delivery, aligning team efforts with broader program objectives.
  • Diagnosed operational pain points in staff performance and developed a structured feedback process, delivering immediate, actionable insights to leadership that supported improved team capacity and staff development.
  • Developed and maintained effective systems for institutional knowledge by synthesizing and communicating assessment data across the teaching staff, ensuring all members had readily accessible insights to inform daily practice and long-term planning.
  • Handled highly classified and confidential client information daily, demonstrating robust data management and operational diligence in maintaining sensitive organizational assets.
  • Served as an essential resource to the administrative and leadership teams, providing as-needed project support to ensure the smooth execution of organizational priorities and address operational gaps.

Credentials

🎓

Master of Education

Literacy Education: Families, Communities & Cultures

Georgia State University

🎓

Bachelor of Arts

Psychology

Spelman College

📜

Business Essentials Certification

Business Strategy & Operations

McKinsey & Company

Work Samples

Programs, platforms, and educational initiatives delivered on scope, on schedule, and at scale.

Multi-Channel Program WETA / PBS 2022–2025

#ShareYourCaregivingStory

Designed and launched a multi-channel program integrating influencer strategy, social campaigns, and stakeholder activations — mobilizing influencers, celebrities, and everyday people to share stories of vulnerability and resilience. The program successfully shifted WETA's social media core audience demographic from 60+ to 25–40, opening new revenue streams.

25–40New Core Demographic
NewRevenue Streams Opened
MultiChannel Activation
Program DesignStakeholder ActivationInfluencer StrategyCampaign Management
Share Your Caregiving Story
Program Delivery WETA / PBS 2024

Out of the Dark

Directed the full lifecycle of this documentary series from production through distribution, coordinating cross-functional teams, external agencies, and production partners across simultaneous workstreams. Delivered a program that secured premieres at 20+ film festivals — including a world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival — on scope and on schedule.

20+Film Festival Debuts
2024Tribeca World Premiere
Full Lifecycle ManagementProduction OversightDistribution Strategy
Out of the Dark film poster
Digital Hub · Telly Award WETA / PBS 2024

Iconic America

Spearheaded the technical and content development of the digital companion hub for Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories, the David Rubenstein-hosted PBS series. Directed web developers to build out the site's episodes, lesson plans, and interactive activities — work recognized with a 2024 Telly Award, Silver, in Campaign: Education & Training.

Telly2024 Silver Winner
8Episode Hub Pages Delivered
Technical DirectionWeb Developer SupervisionContent DevelopmentPBS
Iconic America series
Video Series · Collision Award WETA / PBS 2024

The Curious Mind of Benjamin Franklin

Orchestrated the YouTube release strategy for The Curious Mind of Benjamin Franklin, an educational video series exploring Franklin's life through themes like curiosity, citizen science, and playfulness — driving the content rollout from production through publication. The series earned a 2024 Collision Award, Gold, in Marketing & Communications: General Education & Training.

Collision2024 Gold Winner
4Themed Episodes Released
Content StrategyYouTube Release StrategyEducational Video
The Curious Mind of Benjamin Franklin
Program Expansion WETA · Black Girls Smile · APA Foundation 2021–2022

Well Beings Mental Health Language Guide

Authored the inaugural guide in partnership with the Founder of Black Girls Smile and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, then owned full program expansion — including webpage development, social media, newsletter, and stakeholder outreach. The result: a national mental health language standard for adults working with young people.

4New Content Partners
2Endorsements from Mental Health Organizations
Program OwnershipPartnership DevelopmentStakeholder OutreachAPA Foundation
Well Beings Mental Health Language Guide cover
Curriculum Program WETA / PBS 2021–2022

Finding Your Roots — Season 8 Curriculum

Managed the curriculum development program for Season 8 of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr., translating documentary content into curriculum-aligned resources distributed to up to 1.8 million educators through PBS LearningMedia. Supervised 10+ contributors across internal teams, PBS, and external agencies.

1.8MEducators Reached
10+Contributors Supervised
Program ManagementPBS LearningMediaCross-Team Supervision
Finding Your Roots Season 8
Award-Winning Program WABE (Atlanta Public Media) 2018–2020

Buried Truths Lesson Plans

Produced 8th grade and high school curriculum based on Buried Truths, a Peabody Award-winning podcast. Collaborated with Atlanta Public Schools and the Center for Civil and Human Rights to train 250+ educators on the lesson plans during Professional Development Week — resources that earned a NETA Award for Educational Resources in the Community.

250+Educators Trained
NETA2020 Award Winner
Curriculum DevelopmentEducator TrainingAPS PartnershipCommunity Education
Buried Truths: The Lesson Plans
Platform Launch WABE (Atlanta Public Media) 2018–2020

TutorATL

Managed the end-to-end launch of TutorATL, a free online 1-to-1 tutoring platform serving students across APS, Fulton County, and Cobb County — owning everything from grant application through in-person marketing, a promotional shoot on WABE TV, press release, media toolkit, and physical collateral distribution. Managed a $50K YouTube ad buy to drive platform awareness.

250K+Students Served
$50KAd Buy Managed
3School Districts
End-to-End LaunchGrant ManagementMedia StrategyEquity in Education

Awards

2024

Telly Awards — Silver

Campaign: Education & Training · Iconic America

2024

Collision Awards — Gold

Marketing & Communications: General Education & Training · The Curious Mind of Benjamin Franklin

2020

NETA Award

Educational Resources in the Community · Buried Truths Lesson Plans