Aaricka Washington

Aaricka Washington Email and Phone Number

Director of Audience and Community Engagement @ AfroLA
Los Angeles, CA, US
Aaricka Washington's Location
Los Angeles, California, United States, United States
Aaricka Washington's Contact Details

Aaricka Washington work email

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About Aaricka Washington

I first fell in love with storytelling as a ten-year-old comic strip writer. As a grown up, I write insightful, nuanced stories that both ten-year-olds and grandmothers can understand. After years of teaching and shoe-leather reporting in Texas, New York City and Indianapolis, I traveled back to Los Angeles to be closer to my family. I now serve as the Associate Editor for LAist's How To LA, where my ultimate goal is to make sure Angelenos of all backgrounds feel connected and "in the know" in the sprawling, complicated city of L.A. A community-driven local news reporter at heart, I've spent countless hours talking to parents, teachers, students, community members and school board trustees about the most crucial issues in education. I’ve covered breaking news, enterprise and investigative education stories for Chalkbeat Indiana and the Austin American-Statesman, focusing on the experiences of people from historically under-resourced communities that were similar to my childhood working class neighborhoods. I’ve also written for The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Time Magazine and several other news publications.I'm passionate about connecting with marginalized communities, giving them the space to be front and center in the media. A people-driven reporter at heart, I've built and sustained relationships with several community members, students, parents and educators in my time as a journalist. I also love flexing my multimedia muscles and creating new tech resources for people who need them. I am a naturally enterprising, passionate networker. Before becoming a professional journalist, I was a Teach for America corps member in Houston, Texas teaching Black, Latino and Southeast Asian kids in low-income schools.I earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University. While at IU, I minored in Sociology and African American and African Diaspora Studies, which I credit for making me a more socially aware communicator. I’m an avid roller skater, long-distance runner, (soon-to-be) swimmer, and a dope Auntie.Specialties: Digital Production | News Writing | Teaching | Tutoring | Public Speaking | Data Visualization | Public Relations | Video Production | Photography | Mentoring | Leadership

Aaricka Washington's Current Company Details
AfroLA

Afrola

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Director of Audience and Community Engagement
Los Angeles, CA, US
Employees:
19
Aaricka Washington Work Experience Details
  • Afrola
    Director Of Audience And Community Engagement
    Afrola
    Los Angeles, Ca, Us
  • Afrola
    Audience Development And Social Media Producer
    Afrola Sep 2024 - Present
    Los Angeles, California, United States
    In this position, I manage AfroLA's social media and newsletter presence, engage with readers, attract new audiences, and deepen connections with existing followers.
  • California State University, Northridge
    Freelance Writer
    California State University, Northridge Sep 2024 - Present
    Los Angeles, California, United States
  • Freelance
    National K-12 And Higher Education Reporter
    Freelance May 2020 - Present
    Los Angeles, California, United States
    Wrote in-depth articles about issues in education for The New York Times, Business Insider, Time Magazine, PBS NewsHour, PBS SoCal, Capital B, The Hechinger Report, The Seattle Times and the Austin Chronicle.
  • Southern California Public Radio
    Associate Editor At Laist.Com
    Southern California Public Radio Apr 2022 - Jul 2024
    Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
    - Generated and developed strategies to grow a loyal audience through impactful, captivating podcast, digital radio and social media storytelling. - Pitched and wrote original, community-driven stories daily and in-depth community and education stories monthly. - Organized, hosted and moderated community events and panels in order to broaden and retain LAist's audience. - Launched a daily, community-centered, engaging, unapologetically L.A. newsletter that captures the life, news and culture of the city, and increased the number of subscribers by over 7K. - Collaborates with producers, editors, reporters and external media partners on coverage. - Used analytics to make data-informed decisions to help grow traffic and engagement. - Cultivated stories on different social media platforms, like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook.
  • Chalkbeat
    Reporter
    Chalkbeat Sep 2020 - Aug 2021
    Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
    - Wrote stories centered around how the 11 Indianapolis school districts were navigating educating students in the COVID-era, as well as the city's unique charter school landscape and racial inequity. - Interviewed racially diverse teachers and students as they witnessed national, historically-significant events like the Breonna Taylor murder trial verdict, the U.S. Capitol insurrection, the presidential inauguration and the Atlanta spa shootings to gain their perspective. - Launched a text messaging service to keep Indianapolis citizens aware of important school board decisions, increasing readership and actively engaging with 80 readers a month.- Organized and published SEO-driven stories on Wordpress, Chalkbeat's content management system. - Spoke on panels and radio broadcasts about Indiana education coverage. - Acquired two new community partnerships, increasing engagement within underserved communities in Indianapolis. - Organized and published SEO-driven stories using Wordpress as a content management system. - Composed newsletters twice a week in order to increase readership within Indiana.
  • Austin American-Statesman
    K-12 Education Reporter
    Austin American-Statesman Sep 2019 - May 2020
    Austin, Texas Area
    - Wrote breaking news, enterprise and investigative stories focused on the 15 largest school districts in Central Texas. Covered policy, budgets, student enrollment shifts, school closures, school board ousts and monumental sex curriculum changes, racial discrimination and the beginning of COVID in schools. - Collaborated with colleagues on stories.
  • The Hechinger Report
    National Education Reporting Intern
    The Hechinger Report Jun 2019 - Sep 2019
    Greater New York City Area
    - Wrote a long-form article about how one school network based in Ohio took a unique approach to educating refugee students exclusively, which was also published on KQED MindShift's website. - Collaborated with a veteran reporter on an article about why a public college had a zero percent graduation rate for Black students in a state with already abysmal success rates for Black college students, which was also published on Eye on Ohio's website. - Contributed to shorter news items, newsletters and other reporting tasks.
  • Columbia University - Graduate School Of Journalism
    Graduate Student
    Columbia University - Graduate School Of Journalism Jul 2018 - May 2019
    Greater New York City Area
    Master of Science, focus on education. Training in data, multimedia and investigative projects. Covered education through William E. Grady Career and Technical Education High School – a predominately black male, career and technical school in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Highlights: - Master’s Project: Wrote a 5,000-word master’s project on the negative effects of co-located schools in traditional public school buildings. Focused on a traditional public school in Harlem that is facing over-utilization challenges due to being co-located with a charter school and a selective public school. - Documentary: Co-produced a documentary about a struggling NYC public high school’s goal to enroll a record number of students despite the city’s inequitable high school admissions process. - Investigative: Reported on a confidential investigative project under the guidance of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Walt Bogdanich
  • Indiana Commission For Higher Education
    21St Century Scholars - Americorps Vista
    Indiana Commission For Higher Education Jul 2017 - Jul 2018
    Indianapolis, Indiana
    - Facilitated and engaged in college readiness discussions and activities with nearly 3,500 students, parents, counselors, community partners and volunteers on behalf of the *21st Century Scholars program.- Worked heavily with school counselors to help parents apply for the 21st Century Scholars program at 18 middle schools in Marion County. - Helped plan events with high school counselors so that high school students could successfully complete their Scholar Success Program activities at 22 high schools in Marion County. - Launched the Scholar 2 Scholar Mentorship Program - a mentorship program between college 21st Century Scholars and high school 21st Century Scholars with the hope of supplying relevant role models who come from similar backgrounds for high school students. 21 College Mentors and 23 High School Mentees were involved in the pilot launch. - Planned and hosted the first Quarterly Community Engagement Meeting which had 39 Marion County community partners in attendance at Marian University.- Created the Marion County Community Engagement Report using Tableau's data visualization tool in order to pinpoint the gaps in college preparation activities provided in Indianapolis. *The 21st Century Scholars Program is a scholarship program that provides students who will most likely be first-generation college students up to four years of undergraduate tuition at any accredited public college or university in Indiana. I am very proud to say that I am a 21st Century Scholars alumna.
  • Kipp Houston Public Schools
    7Th Grade Social Studies Teacher
    Kipp Houston Public Schools Mar 2015 - Oct 2016
    Kipp Voyage Academy For Girls
    - Instructed 7th grade students in Social Studies (Texas History) and Writing - Led 74% of my 7th graders (Class of 2021) to passing their STAAR Writing Exam (March 2016)- Taught 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders how to become their own storytellers in a Creative Writing enrichment class. - Advised and Mentored a group of 20 students about character building and life skills.
  • Teach For America
    Corps Member
    Teach For America 2014 - 2015
    Houston, Texas Area
    - Selected as one of 5,800 corps members from a pool of 48,000 applicants- Instructed 20+ fourth grade students at Piney Point Elementary School during Teach for America's five-week long Summer Institute. - Taught 20+ second grade students Math, English Language Arts, Social Studies and Science at Foerster Elementary School during the 2014-2015 school year- Communicated regularly with parents, teachers, and school staff to create a positive learning environment in the classroom- Engaged in professional development, including conferences, workshops, and diversity trainings- Assisted in achieving the mission of all students receiving a quality education regardless of their socioeconomic status
  • Houston Isd
    2Nd Grade Teacher
    Houston Isd 2014 - 2015
    Houston, Texas Area
    - Taught 20 second graders core subjects at Foerster Elementary School. - Collaborated and communicated regularly with parents, teachers and school staff to create a positive learning environment. - Engaged in professional development including conferences, workshops, and diversity trainings to become a more effective teacher.
  • Indiana Daily Student
    Education And Culture Reporter
    Indiana Daily Student 2010 - 2014
    Indiana University-Bloomington
    - One of the 1,533 winners out of 11,407 entries that won an award for The Columbia Scholastic Press Association's 31st Gold Circle Awards - Certificate of Merit Award for "Full Time Aspirations," Indiana Daily Student - Reported, wrote, edited and published 60+ articles related to higher education policy, diversity and culture at Indiana University- Led the charge of increasing racial/ethnic diversity at the award winning college newspaper organization

Aaricka Washington Skills

Journalism Blogging Public Speaking Storytelling Social Media Event Planning Public Relations Editing Newspapers Microsoft Office Research Social Networking Multimedia Video Interviews Ap Style Creative Writing News Writing Video Editing Writing Leadership Teaching Broadcast Journalism Social Media Marketing Powerpoint Knowledge With Media Editing Software Copy Editing Final Cut Pro Facebook Press Releases Feature Articles Customer Service Community Outreach Multimedia Reporting Time Management Life Skills Microsoft Excel Microsoft Word Fundraising Teamwork Communication Nonprofit Organizations

Aaricka Washington Education Details

Frequently Asked Questions about Aaricka Washington

What company does Aaricka Washington work for?

Aaricka Washington works for Afrola

What is Aaricka Washington's role at the current company?

Aaricka Washington's current role is Director of Audience and Community Engagement.

What is Aaricka Washington's email address?

Aaricka Washington's email address is aa****@****ail.com

What schools did Aaricka Washington attend?

Aaricka Washington attended Columbia University - Graduate School Of Journalism, Indiana University Bloomington.

What are some of Aaricka Washington's interests?

Aaricka Washington has interest in Social Services, Children, Civil Rights And Social Action, Politics, Education, Poverty Alleviation, Human Rights, Arts And Culture.

What skills is Aaricka Washington known for?

Aaricka Washington has skills like Journalism, Blogging, Public Speaking, Storytelling, Social Media, Event Planning, Public Relations, Editing, Newspapers, Microsoft Office, Research, Social Networking.

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