Ashely Alvarado

Notable work and positions

Texas Public Radio - president and CEO, 2024-present
LAist / Southern California Public Radio - vice president of community engagement and strategic initiatives
California Watch / Center for Investigative Reporting - engagement manager and editor
Unheard LA - co-creator and co-producer
Journalism That Matters - former president
Online News Association, Greater Public, and First Amendment Coalition - board member
Poynter Institute - national advisory board member

Biography

Ashley Alvarado is an American journalist, public-media executive, and leader in engaged journalism. She grew up in Eugene, Oregon, and developed an early interest in news and in the need for trustworthy information that reflects the experiences of the people it serves. She studied at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, double majoring in print journalism and Spanish and graduating in 2005. Her early career included an internship and contract work with the Los Angeles Times Magazine, work at Tu Ciudad magazine, and freelance journalism. In 2010 she joined California Watch, then part of the Center for Investigative Reporting, in an engagement role that asked how investigative reporting could better reach the people most affected by the subjects being covered and equip them to make informed decisions. Alvarado joined Southern California Public Radio in 2012 and spent twelve years at the organization, which operates KPCC and LAist. She helped expand community engagement from a one-person function into a department and later became vice president of community engagement and strategic initiatives. Her work included participatory reporting, source development, voter guides, partnerships with ethnic-language media, live events, human-centered design projects, newsroom experimentation, diversity and inclusion strategy, and digital transformation. She co-created and co-produced Unheard LA, a live storytelling series built around the experiences of Southern Californians, and developed engagement-sourcing gatherings such as Feeding the Conversation. In December 2024, Alvarado became president and CEO of Texas Public Radio, overseeing its strategy, operations, programming, and journalism across broadcast, streaming, digital, and in-person platforms. In May 2026, she and San Antonio Report president and CEO Angie Mock announced that the two nonprofit news organizations would unite beginning July 1, sharing resources and capabilities while initially continuing to operate their own websites and channels. Alongside her executive work, Alvarado has coached newsrooms and journalism leaders through programs associated with the American Press Institute, Poynter Institute, Blue Engine, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Asian American Journalists Association. She is a former president of Journalism That Matters and serves on journalism and public-media boards and advisory bodies.

Notable work

• Texas Public Radio leadership 2024-present · As president and CEO, Alvarado leads the nonprofit public-media organization serving San Antonio and South and Central Texas. Her stated priorities include multiplatform journalism, community partnership, digital development, organizational belonging, and reporting designed around how audiences actually seek and use information.

• Texas Public Radio and San Antonio Report combination Announced in 2026 · Alvarado and San Antonio Report leader Angie Mock developed a plan for the two nonprofit news organizations to unite and share resources beginning July 1, 2026. The initiative is intended to expand local reporting, reach new audiences, and create a more sustainable model for community journalism while long-term integration proceeds.

• Unheard LA · A community-centered live storytelling series co-created and co-produced by Alvarado at Southern California Public Radio. The project invited residents from across the Los Angeles region to tell personal stories through spoken word, music, and performance, bringing thousands of people outside the traditional public-media audience into direct contact with the newsroom.

• Community engagement at KPCC and LAist 2012-2024 · Alvarado helped build engagement into the organization's editorial practice through participatory projects, audience questions, inclusive source development, voter guides, community events, partnerships, and human-centered design. Southern California Public Radio received the Online Journalism Awards' Gather Award for its engaged-journalism portfolio in 2019 and again in 2020.

• Feeding the Conversation · A continuing series of engagement-sourcing gatherings that brought community members and journalists together around defined issues or coverage areas, helping reporters broaden their sources and understand public information needs before and during reporting.

• Newsroom coaching and field leadership · Alvarado has advised journalists and news organizations on community listening, newsroom change, engagement strategy, inclusion, and audience development. Her coaching has included American Press Institute programs and leadership initiatives serving members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association.

Ashley Alvarado
Texas Public Radio: tpr.org
Profile: Ashley Alvarado at Texas Public Radio
Email: ashley@tpr.org