The Infinite Dial

Title: Director, Community Outreach, Emmis Communications, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Who is Sarah? "Sarah Harris is a social entrepreneur who daily finds ways to harness the resources of the private sector to support positive social change. Sarah founded and now leads a nationwide Community Outreach program at Emmis Communications that creatively leverages the promotional power of radio to support the public education and mobilization efforts of nonprofits, corporations, foundations and government agencies. Sarah weaves components of programs together in a way that works for everyone. A local nonprofit seeks to enlist residents in anti-crime efforts. City government has resources, but needs help activating the community. Radio regularly engages local audiences and is always looking to sell its services. Enter Community Outreach with a program that taps available city money for a communications campaign. Through a combination of on-air messages and local events, the radio station enlists residents to join the nonprofit's crime prevention program. The nonprofit mobilizes the resulting volunteers into a collaborative effort that reduces neighborhood crime. Beginning in Indianapolis where she incubated the idea, Sarah has since spread Community Outreach to New York, Los Angeles, Austin and St. Louis. Emmis loves the program because it not only provides a rapidly growing revenue stream, but also helps elevate the contributions its stations make to their respective communities. Scores of organizations are now better able to accomplish their social missions as a result of creative partnerships that harness the power of radio via support from corporate and government entities. These efforts have demonstrated her heartfelt conviction that there is no trade-off for companies between doing well and 'doing good'. Prior to joining the Emmis team, Sarah held a variety of positions within the media, ranging from the local ABC and PBS affiliates to K-12 and university-based television stations. Through these early exposures, she experienced first-hand the power of media to shape, inform and inspire people and communities. Sarah's work has put her in a position to be tapped for an elite community leadership program and invited to speak on several occasions about her experience using media to shape community partnerships. Sarah holds dual graduate degrees in philanthropy and public affairs from Indiana University and a B.S. from Butler University. Outside of Emmis, Sarah enjoys working with organizations such as the Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana and Joy's House where she can test her evolving understanding of how community leadership and collaboration promote positive social change. Service to such worthwhile efforts keeps her energized and helps keep her in direct touch with those who are less fortunate.

As Sarah has made her journey from small town Indiana to social entrepreneur, she grows ever more certain that major societal issues can best be addressed by finding the common ground at the intersection of business interests and community needs."

What would your dream job be? "My dream job would be leading a media-based cause marketing and strategic philanthropy communications firm providing integrated marketing solutions to a variety of clients. Our services would begin with strategic consultation and end with program evaluation - offering everything needed in between from crafting the strategy, to building the partnerships and executing the plan."

Who has been your greatest influence? "John Griffin. Griffin is a respected colleague, mentor and friend. Griffin taught me how radio can really make a difference for clients; and therefore our communities. His example taught me to take pride in my work, always strive for my best performance and to push for the best in those around me. Perhaps most importantly, he taught me how to get things done!"

What is the one format that you can't believe nobody has done? "For my husband, all Prince all the time!"

How could radio do a better job of attracting younger listeners? "Radio can and should do more to attract a new generation of listeners. One way is through increasing user-generated content. As evidenced by You Tube and other online phenomena's, young people are creative, entertaining and looking for outlets to channel their voice. Rather than relegate this generation to use only newer tools and platforms (such as the internet and multi-featured cell phones), radio needs to embrace this high level of engagement and harness youth creativity for fresh content."

How will radio remain relevant in a digital world? "In the same way marketing campaigns must adapt for changing client needs, radio must also adapt its delivery mechanism and approach to content to remain relevant and competitive in a digital world. Radio needs to utilize new and different portals to make accessing radio easier. Every device that has an audio component should have a radio tuner. The industry is shifting in this direction, but needs to move quickly to capture the listening habits of today's tech-centric, media-savvy consumer."