Editing Pacifica Foundation (section)

=== 2002–2009 ===
Pacifica National News director [[Dan Coughlin (director)]] was voted Interim Executive Director of the network in 2002 (the "Interim" was later dropped). The years of internal legal battles and financial mismanagement{{by whom|date=October 2024}} had taken a toll.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} In 2005, Coughlin resigned{{why|date=October 2024}}, the network was still largely disorganized{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}, and Pacifica reverted to operating with an interim executive director for most of the year.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In January 2006, Pacifica hired [[Greg Guma]] as the next executive director of the Pacifica Foundation. By the end of the year, the Foundation had fully recovered its financial health and had launched two new national programs: ''Informativo Pacifica'', a daily Spanish Language newscast, and ''From the Vault'', a weekly program drawn from Pacifica's extensive audio archives. Pacifica also produced ''Informed Dissent'', a ten-week series for the 2006 mid-term elections that drew from talent across the network. Guma left his post in September 2007{{why|date=October 2024}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1299528035837796976&hl=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205141919/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1299528035837796976&hl=en|url-status=dead|title=Greg Guma Interview|archivedate=February 5, 2012}}</ref>

Pacifica's National Board unanimously chose former KPFA general manager [[Nicole Sawaya]] as the next executive director.<ref name="Pacifica.org Nicole Sawaya">{{cite web |url=http://www.pacifica.org/current-events/nicole-sawaya-hired-as-new-pacifica-executive-director.html |title=Pacifica.org Nicole Sawaya Hired as New Pacifica Executive Director |work=Pacifica.org |access-date=July 19, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615040106/http://www.pacifica.org/current-events/nicole-sawaya-hired-as-new-pacifica-executive-director.html |archive-date=June 15, 2008 }}</ref> Sawaya had been among the staff members fired by the national board in 1999 amidst Pacifica's internal crisis. Sawaya began her tenure as executive director in mid-November 2007, but abruptly changed her mind two weeks later.<ref name="urlSawaya quits [sigh] - LLFCC.NET">{{cite web |url=http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/529 |title=Sawaya quits [sigh]  |work=LLFCC.NET |access-date=July 19, 2008}}</ref> Pacifica historian Matthew Lasar said she "found the level of internecine dysfunction at Pacifica overwhelming, and fled her job."{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} The Pacifica National Board spent the next several months negotiating with her, and Sawaya resumed her job on March 5, 2008.<ref name="urlSawaya unquits - LLFCC.NET">{{cite web |url=http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/562 |title=Sawaya unquits |work=LLFCC.NET |access-date=July 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905074916/http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/562 |archive-date=September 5, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She resigned effective September 30, citing "dysfunctional" governance and "shoddy and opaque" business practices that had plunged the organization into a financial crisis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2008/09/sawaya-leaves-pacifica-publishes.html |title=Sawaya leaves Pacifica, publishes regretful critique |publisher=American University School of Communication |date=September 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126222606/http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2008/09/sawaya-leaves-pacifica-publishes.html |archive-date=November 26, 2010 |access-date=February 22, 2012}}</ref>

Sawaya's departure was followed by major staff layoffs. In 2009, Pacifica Board chair Grace Aaron became interim executive director, former board member LaVarn Williams replaced Lonnie Hicks as chief financial officer, and the national office took control of WBAI in New York. Aaron appointed Williams acting GM of WBAI in May, and Hicks filed a lawsuit against the foundation alleging that he was dismissed because he is African American and a [[whistleblower]].{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}