Bert Huffman has been named Georgia Public Broadcasting’s new chief executive officer, stepping into his role in August.
Born and raised in Fannin County, Huffman credits his ability to do his job to growing up in a small town and “building relationships with and knowing everyone.”
Huffman was born at the Copper Basin Hospital and graduated from Fannin County High School in 1995. From there, he found himself at Young Harris College for two years before moving to Tennessee Wesleyan. In 2005, Huffman earned his master’s degree in public administration from Kennesaw State University.
A fundraiser by trade, Huffman jumped from Emory College to the Atlanta Opera, before landing at GPB in January of 2014.
Teresa Dillard, longtime beloved administrator of Fannin County High School, recalls teaching Huffman in both her homeroom class and Keyboarding 1, where Huffman was the only senior in the class that year.
“He was so talented in so many ways,” she said. According to the FCHS 1995 yearbook, that statement rings true – he was voted Most Talented in his class.
He described watching his father, longtime Blue Ridge city council member Wayne Huffman, in the way that he interacted with his city and position. “It comes very naturally to me,” he said, speaking of growing up in a town where at the time, everybody knew everybody, which made networking a soft skill of his.
“Our role is to represent everyone as people in the media,” Huffman said.
He said that he never felt as though he had to leave Blue Ridge in order to succeed, and said, “Be happy wherever you are.”
“I’m proud to be from a place like Blue Ridge...it still has its charm. I’m proud to see it [the town] flourishing.”