(PRNewsfoto/Urban One, Inc.)

Urban One announced Radio One/Washington, D.C., Operations Manager, Kashon Powell has been named Vice President of Programming. As such, she will be the first woman to hold this position for Urban One.

 As Vice President of Programming, Powell will oversee the programming strategies for the D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia, markets.  In addition, she will continue to manage the six station D.C. cluster; WMMJ-FM, WKYS-FM, WPRS-FM, WYCB-AM, WTEM-AM and WOL-AM, as well as continue programming for WMMJ and syndicated programs, The Russ Parr Morning Show and Love and R&B with John Monds. 

Powell began her radio career in 1992 at KBXX-FM in Houston, TX as Research Assistant and worked her way through the ranks to become the first female Program Director for the station. In 2002 she was named Urban Editor for Radio & Records (R&R) in Los Angeles, CA. Powell joined Clear Channel/Philadelphia (now iHeart) in 2004 as Assistant Program Director/Music Director and was soon promoted to Program Director for WUSL-FM and WDAS-FM. She would later move on to serve as iHeart’s Director of Urban Programming for Virginia, which included WOWI-FM, WKSA-FM, and WBTJ-FM. In 2015, Powell joined Radio One/Washington D.C. as Program Director of MAJIC 102.3 and 92.7 and two years later was promoted to Operations Manager of the cluster.

 “I’m honored to be entrusted with the programming and content creation of stations with such rich tradition and culture. I’m thrilled to be a part of the brain trust that continues to cultivate content across our numerous programming platforms” said Powell.

 CEO of Radio One, David Kantor said, “I’m delighted to have Kashon in this position.  Not only has she proved to be an outstanding programmer with the huge success of our Washington cluster but it will be great to have the voice of a woman, our primary demographic, among our senior programmers. I know Kashon’s contributions to the company will be enormous.”