Van Allen, Kimberly Parker, Paul Yate To Co-Chair MFM’s 2021 CFO Summit

Van Allen, executive vice president and CFO, Radio Advertising Bureau; Kimberly Parker, vice president and CFO, Graham Media; and Paul Yates, vice president and corporate controller, Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., will co-chair the Media Financial Management Association’s 2021 CFO Summit. Scheduled for March 11-12, this year’s event will be held virtually.

Now in its 15^th year, MFM’s annual CFO Summit is an opportunity for senior media finance professionals to exchange thought leadership as they discuss issues facing the industry. Interactions with peers and expert speakers also result in real solutions to the challenges that media industry CFOs face daily. Confirmed topics for 2021 include a look at live events now being constrained by pandemic restrictions, a media-specific economic overview, a deep dive into automotive industry trends, post-pandemic revenue opportunities, and a CFO roundtable.

“We are extremely grateful for Van, Paul and Kim’s leadership of this year’s Summit,” said Mary M. Collins, president and CEO of MFM and its BCCA subsidiary, which serves as the media industry’s credit association. “While we are unable to safely meet in-person, we have assembled experts across multiple industries who will provide guidance and suggest pathways to success that will be required as the media industry continues to move forward. Our co-chairs have taken both our challenges and opportunities into consideration in formulating this year’s agenda; attendees will reap the benefits of their efforts in developing the program.”

Kimberly “Kim” Parker is vice president and chief financial officer for Graham Media Group. In her role, she is responsible for all aspects of the company’s finance and business operations. Parker started her GMG career in 2007 at WJXT (Ind.) and WCWJ (CW) in Jacksonville, Fla., as the business manager. She began her broadcasting career in 1996 working for broadcast software companies Enterprise Systems Group and Marketron.

She later became a Regional Controller at Media General for its Jacksonville, Fla., and Columbus, Ga., properties. Parker is actively involved in the broadcast industry holding the position of the treasurer of Pearl, a partnership of broadcast companies with shared interest in exploring forward-looking opportunities, including innovative ways of promoting local TV content and developing digital media and wireless platforms. She is also a member of the MFM board of directors.

Paul Yates began working in the media industry for Bonneville International in Salt Lake. He started as a controller for one of Bonneville’s small divisions before eventually becoming VP, director of finance.

In 2011, when Bonneville sold most of its stations to Hubbard, Yates moved to St. Paul, Minn., as controller over the radio division before becoming VP, corporate controller. He also serves on the executive committee of the Radio Music License Committee and committee member of the Television Music License Committee.

Van Allen is the executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Radio Advertising Bureau. He started his career in broadcasting 35 years ago with Group W at WBZ-TV-AM Boston as an accounting clerk and payroll manager. He was then promoted to an accounting analyst at the group’s data center in Connecticut and from there he moved on to a senior accounting analyst position at Group W headquarters in New York. His last position with the group was budget manager for Group W Television Sales.

In 1993, he accepted the controller position with the RAB; he was promoted to CFO in 1995. As a member of the RAB team for more than 27 years, Allen currently oversees accounting and human resource operations for the trade association.