Kathy Bissen is Associate Director and Chief Operating Officer for PBS Wisconsin. As Associate Director, she is second-in-command to the Director of Television, handling a range of executive-level tasks coordinated with schedules and needs. As Chief Operating Officer, she is responsible for a wide variety of internal-facing duties crucial for the organization's seamless functioning and demanding close coordination across the station. She oversees budgets, finances, and operations, as well as working directly with Wisconsin Public Media Human Resources and handling HR policies related to UW-Madison, of which WPM is a division.

Bissen takes a strong leadership role with TV facilities in collaboration with PBS leadership, maintaining and improving one of the largest production studios in the Midwest.

Bissen’s expertise in editorial ethics and integrity emanates from her previous roles as PBS Wisconsin’s Director of Production and Executive Producer of News and Public Affairs. She is an award-winning journalist and producer, herself, while having led a multipe Emmy-award winning team of the same. She currently sits on the Board of Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin’s award winning nonprofit center for investigative journalism.