Discover our mission, values, and leadership.
Explore benefits that power your success.
Browse our network of businesses.
Explore opportunities to connect and grow.
Come hear from Governor Maura Healey as she addresses Chamber members as the 73rd Governor of the Commonwealth.
02/24/2026
9:45am - 11:00am
The Westin Boston Seaport
Take advantage of exclusive perks and programs for members.
Browse our directory to find and connect with member community.
Join experiences that build relationships and spark ideas.
City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.
Our Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL) program provides emerging leaders with a socially conscious and civically engaged leadership toolkit, as well as the opportunity to apply their knowledge through experiential assignments.
The Massachusetts Apprentice Network convenes employers, training providers, and talent sources interested in developing and implementing apprenticeship programs in occupations across industries and statewide in fields such as tech, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and more.
Our Women’s Leadership Program enables you to take your leadership to the next level by arming you with the most in-demand leadership toolkit.
The Chamber Foundation invites the business community to engage with Boston Public Schools leaders and their students to help build the future workforce.
Level up your leadership and communication in this Boston Chamber workshop for professionals—gain essential skills in team alignment.
Learn how we advance talent and small business growth.
Explore our key priorities and strategic efforts.
Join us at our next Foundation event.
2020 is testing our resolve. Public health, social justice, climate action, equity in education and economic security – from jobs, to housing, to food – hang in the balance. And, in anticipation of a contentious presidential election, our democracy is polarized and vulnerable. Livelihoods and habits have been dramatically altered and there’s a weariness brought on by the unyielding news cycle.
We all need a big dose of humanity’s brighter side. Sometimes it’s as simple as hearing the right song at the right moment. Music evokes memories and captures the present. Restorative, uplifting and deeply personal yet connective, when music meets radio, it’s inherently communal.
Since March, Nielsen Scarborough data suggests that whether it be to escape or engage, listeners are tuning in to Boston’s public media music station, 88.9 WERS, for three hours a day or more, staying with the station longer than many competitors in Boston’s audio market.
An eclectic mix of alt, indie, classic rock, soul, R&B, hip-hop, showtunes, a cappella, singer-songwriters, and cutting-edge new artists, 88.9 fm is uniquely positioned as a listening oasis here in Boston, across New England, and around the globe.
“In a time of heightened uncertainty and disrupted routines, consumers are turning to radio as a trusted source of information and community connection, mirroring patterns observed during past regional and national disasters and weather events.” – Brad Kelly, Managing Director, Nielsen Audio
Patented in 1897, radio is no stranger to connecting communities during unprecedented times. In 1912, nascent radio was credited with playing a role in saving over 700 survivors of the Titanic. The medium continued to emerge as a connective force in the early 20th century as a far-flung global community faced World War I, the 1918 flu pandemic and the Great Depression.
Public media’s inaugural broadcast launched in 1910 Manhattan. Credited to Lee de Forest’s Radio Telephone Company, members of the press and public were treated to a live performance of the Metropolitan Opera. From their private apartments around the city, surprised and delighted listeners donned headphones to receive the broadcast. This transformative event brought music enthusiasts together to share their passion for the first time at a previously inconceivable scale.
To this day, public media continues to bring passionate music enthusiasts together. Broadcast from Emerson College in the heart of Boston’s Theater District and voted Princeton Review’s 2019 # 1 College Radio Station, 88.9 is the longest-running public media platform in New England. Woven deeply into the tapestry of one of the mightiest and most progressive public radio markets on the planet, 88.9 attracts and shares an affluent, educated, influential audience with heavy hitting news siblings, GBH and WBUR.
The breadth of media today is limitless with audiences’ appetites for media consumption to match. In COVID times, we are digesting more media than ever before. It’s remarkable to consider that with so much choice, radio remains the top reach medium in America. In fact, 92% of US Adults 18+ tune in to radio at least once per week. It’s easy to overlook the impact of this time-tested medium.
Additionally, for 17 years in a row, public media has been voted the most trusted institution in America.
Since March, eight in ten public radio listeners are working from home, tuning in throughout the day. For over half a decade, the migration to digital listening has been on the rise, and with the onset of work from home, the trajectory has shifted dramatically. With streaming and smart speaker usage at an all-time high, local radio is now global, available to listeners anytime, from anywhere.
In March 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, local stations quickly reimagined operating plans. With a goal of staying true to mission, WERS mobilized with a commitment to:
Expanding 88.9’s PSA Program
Serving the Greater Boston community is baked into the DNA of WERS. With that in mind, WERS General Manager Jack Casey designated inventory and creative production for national, state and local relief-oriented non-profits. To date, WERS has run over 1900 messages aimed at raising awareness for COVID-19-related funds for musicians, performers and food and housing insecure families. This election season, the station is providing critical voting information listeners need before mailing in ballots or heading to the polls.
Black History, Equity and Justice in Massachusetts:
In the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor and too many more, Americans across the country have taken to the streets, protesting police brutality and centuries of systemic racism. Mobilizing the reporting skills of our You Are Here student-led news team, WERS Secret Spot Host and Operations Manager Howard “D” Simpson launched the station’s first-ever podcast – Shadows of a Dream: The History of Racial Inequality in America. An in-depth look into the history of systemic racial injustice across Massachusetts and beyond, the series reveals the reverberations of inequity that impact Black Americans today.
Increasing Representation in Boston’s Media Market
As the master of late-night soul and R&B series The Secret Spot, D has taken the genres even further, diving deep with The Vault of Soul. As part of City Awake’s Fierce Urgency of Now Festival, D and WERS Traffic Coordinator Ashley Lindsay hosted Don’t Keep it a Secret on September 17.
In response to our listeners’ yearning for live-theater performance, WERS is producing Standing Room Only: Kitchen Kickline, an off-off-off Broadway virtual extravaganza, shining the spotlight on local Boston and regional stage companies. A weekend-long celebration, The Kitchen Kickline airs Saturday October 3rd and Sunday October 4th. The festival is accompanied by a virtual “Kitchen Table” panel featuring artistic directors from leading stage companies across Greater Boston. The session will stream on the Standing Room Only: Stage Door Group at 2pm on October 3rd, and will be moderated by Emerson College Artistic Director, Annie Levy.
Radio continues to thrive as the tested and trusted platform of choice for countless listeners in Boston and beyond. It’s the connective medium that continues to resonate with over 90% of households across the country. To learn more about the benefits of public media partnerships here in Boston, reach out to our WERS team. Discover new music, find a little inspiration and make your day a little brighter by tuning in anytime, anywhere.
Ali Dorman Fernandez is Associate Director of Underwriting & Corporate Support for 88.9fm WERS. In this role Ali is responsible for B2B end-to-end partnership journeys focused on brand impact. Ali’s worn a menagerie of hats in education and public media with highlights that include producing Reading Rainbow’s first online venture, amplifying a solutions-oriented teacher leader organization on a national scale, and shepherding corporate funding narratives for iconic PBS series FRONTLINE, Masterpiece, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, and Arthur. In addition to expanding the reach of non-profit, performance and arts organizations across New England, Ali is happily energized at WERS mentoring Emerson student leaders, the next generation of media professionals.
Popular Resources