Media 2024: JAYME SWAIN

Swain leads VPM, a network of television, radio and digital media outlets across the Central Virginia and Shenandoah Valley regions that reaches nearly 2 million people. The foundation manages its endowment.

Before joining VPM in 2019, Swain spent nearly a decade as senior vice president of strategy and operations at the Arlington-based Public Broadcasting Service. With more than 20 years of media experience, Swain has developed multimedia content, consumer-focused digital products and social media strategies for recognizable brands, including PBS, CNN, FOX Sports, U.S. News & World Report and Revolution Health.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Swain is active incommunity service with her roles as board member of the Richmond Performing Arts Alliance, ChamberRVA and the National Education Telecommunications Association (NETA). Her first term on PBS’ board ends in September, but Swain is nominated for a second three-year term, with the vote taking place in August.

In 2023, Swain announced that VPM would be moving in 2026 to a new downtown Richmond building on Broad Street from its 60-year location in Chesterfield County. In December 2023, VPM launched a rebrand of Style Weekly, the Richmond publication the network purchased in 2021, and mounted an exhibit of 40 years of Style photos at The Valentine museum in July.