Managing director
Feet in 2 Worlds, New York City
Age: 34
In three words: “Visionary, creative, compassionate”
What colleagues say: Mia Warren’s work as a reporter/producer is exemplary. She has a great instinct for finding compelling, original stories and telling them in ways that truly engage audiences. As an editor, she has a unique collaborative style that involves truly listening to the reporters and producers she works with, while adhering to the highest standards of journalism ethics and editorial excellence. That same spirit of collaboration can be seen in her new role as managing director of Feet in 2 Worlds, an organization that mentors and supports immigrant journalists and journalists of color. Mia has built teams that center diverse experiences, perspectives and communities within American society, and enabled those she works with to produce engaging award-winning journalism.
What Mia says
Decision to work in public media: I fell in love with radio as a college student listening to This American Life. After I graduated, I spent a year in Peru on a Fulbright research fellowship and participated in one of Transom’s early online workshops. That’s when I got my first field kit, started doing on-the-street interviews and produced my first radio piece for Latino USA.
My first full-time public radio job was as a field producer for StoryCorps — an incredible experience that took me all over the United States. That job taught me so much about narrative structure — how to set up a recording space, how to craft an arc in tape and how to listen deeply, with an editor’s ear.
Key accomplishments:: In 2018 I co-created Feeling My Flo, a podcast about menstruation for tweens. I was able to produce it soup to nuts and stay true to my vision for a gender-inclusive podcast about menstruation.
In 2020, as the inaugural editing fellow for Feet in 2 Worlds, I worked with a team to produce a podcast about how COVID-19 changed and challenged immigrants’ ideas about what it means to be American, A Better Life? Our team was composed almost entirely of immigrants or children of immigrants, and we were working at the height of the pandemic.
Inspired by: Art, often in mediums other than audio. I’m obsessed with the children’s book author Linda Sue Park. She’s Korean American and has written more than 20 books. I admire her ability to explore Korean heritage in such a fun and accessible way.
I also love food and am constantly inspired by it. I love food media. I’ve been a judge for the James Beard Awards the past couple of years, which has been so fun.
Advice for young public media professionals: If you can, make something of your own. You will learn so much from the process, even (and perhaps especially) if you encounter failure along the way.
Advice for public media leaders: Embark on regular listening tours with your staff. They are on the ground doing the work, and they are the experts you should be consulting with to make sure that work is supported.
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