Ashley Alvarado will serve as the next president and CEO of Texas Public Radio, the station’s board of directors announced Monday.
Joyce Slocum, who previously led the San Antonio station, died of cancer in March. Rebecca Caven, TPR’s VP of development and membership, served as the station’s interim president and CEO.
“From my first interaction, I’ve been impressed with the team at Texas Public Radio,” Alvarado said in a press release. “Here is an organization that is thinking about what it needs to serve its audiences now and into the future. That means impeccable journalism that reflects and engages the people who make up San Antonio and meets them where they are: on-air, online, and in person. It means taking the work seriously but also having fun and boldly representing what makes San Antonio such a special place.”
Alvarado, VP of community engagement and strategic initiatives at LAist, begins in the new role in December. She has been at LAist for more than a decade. She is also on the board of Greater Public, Poynter’s National Advisory Board and the executive committee of the Online News Association board.
“A true innovator, Ashley is among the most experienced and respected executives working in public media today,” said TPR Board Chair Lori Castillo in the release. “Her lifelong passion for journalism together with her impressive track record of transformational leadership make us confident that Ashley is the right leader to move TPR into the future and transform how we engage existing and new audiences.”
The board conducted the search with Iris Dayton-Spann of Stanton Chase, an executive search firm.