The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has promoted Morna Willens to Chief Policy Officer and Karen Silhol to Chief Financial Officer.
The industry organization, which played a crucial role in the lobbying for the US Music Modernization Act, has also appointed Ken Doroshow as Chief Legal Officer.
Each position is effective immediately and reports to RIAA Chairman & CEO, Mitch Glazier.
A skilled legislative strategist with extensive knowledge of Capitol Hill and the Executive Branch, Willens previously served the RIAA as SVP, Federal Public Policy.
Most recently, Willens led industry advocacy efforts and worked closely with congressional leaders on the passage of the landmark Music Modernization Act which increased royalty rates for digital radio and delivered new protections to pre-1972 recording artists through the CLASSICS Act.
Before the RIAA, Willens was Vice President at the Glover Park Group. In addition, she served as a legislative assistant to Representative John Shimkus.
Doroshow, who previously served as RIAA’s head of litigation from 2005-2008, returns to the RIAA as Chief Legal Officer after many years as a partner in the law firm of Jenner & Block LLP, where he represented a broad range of media and entertainment clients with a particular focus on content protection, intellectual property enforcement, and First Amendment law.
“I am thrilled to have Morna, Ken and Karen as key members of the RIAA leadership team.”
Mitch Glazier
In addition to his time at RIAA and in private practice, Doroshow served as the General Counsel to the Entertainment Software Association, as a prosecutor in the US Department of Justice’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), and as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Civil Division (Federal Programs Branch).
A leading media and entertainment attorney, Doroshow received his law degree from Cornell Law School and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Joseph L. Tauro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Previously EVP, Finance and Administration for RIAA, Silhol has been responsible for overseeing all aspects of the organization’s financial management, information technology and administration. She is the chief architect of the organization’s budget and financial structure. Silhol has more than 20 years of accounting, managerial and strategic planning experience in the nonprofit sector through her work at RIAA and in public accounting. Before joining the RIAA in 2001, Silhol spent three years as an auditor with the public accounting firm Calibre CPA Group.
“I could not be happier to be working alongside such talented people who think outside the box and whose experience in their respective fields will prove invaluable as our industry continues to transform itself.”
Michele Ballantyne, RIAA
“I am thrilled to have Morna, Ken and Karen as key members of the RIAA leadership team,” said Glazier.
“As true experts in their fields, each has a unique skill set that will help drive our industry forward and continue RIAA’s track record of advocating for creators as a leading trade organization in Washington.”
RIAA COO Michele Ballantyne, added: “What an incredible team to be leading this organization into our next phase.
“I could not be happier to be working alongside such talented people who think outside the box and whose experience in their respective fields will prove invaluable as our industry continues to transform itself.”
[Pictured: Morna Willens, Karen Silhol and Ken Doroshow]Music Business Worldwide
