WAMU Names Kearns As COO
• American University’s WAMU/Washington has named Kara Kearns as its new Chief Operating Officer. Kearns was most recently Director of Emerson Collective’s Media and Journalism Portfolio, where she executed strategic initiatives and organizational change for both non-profit newsrooms and commercial journalism ventures. She also served as founding Chief Operating Officer of The Meteor, a media organization focused on storytelling, centered on diverse voices and perspectives, where she had oversight of finance, human resources, legal, administration, and operations. Kearns was also an Executive Producer and Production Executive on a weekly podcast, two Audible specials, and the Gracie and Webby-award winning Because of Anita.
Kearns earlier served as publisher of a political magazine start-up, in partnership with Emerson Collective, and was the Director of Operations at Politico. She is also the proud co-founder of the Politico Journalism Institute, an annual summer program for college students with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. The program is now entering its tenth summer and is supported through a long-standing partnership with American University.
Kearns began her career as Deputy Political Editor for NBC News Digital, and in various roles at The Associated Press, MSNBC, and CBS News. She holds both graduate and undergraduate degrees from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
