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Erika Aguilar will be the new 'Morning Edition' and 'Up First' Executive Producer

Erika Aguilar, new executive producer of <em>Morning Edition </em>and<em> Up First.</em>
Payam Pakmanesh
/
KQED
Erika Aguilar, new executive producer of Morning Edition and Up First.

In a note to newsroom staff Vice President for News Programming Sarah Gilbert, announced this staffing update:

Hi everyone,

I'm writing today to share some fantastic news: Following an extensive national search and review by a panel of NPR staffers from across the organization, Erika A. Aguilar is our new Executive Producer for Morning Edition and Up First!

Erika hails from KQED, where she is currently the podcast director, overseeing podcast production teams, new show development and on demand strategy. She has been instrumental in helping to launch key journalism projects at KQED (among them, Consider This and On Our Watch) that have expanded the organization's audiences, content offerings and editorial vision toward more inclusive news coverage.

Erika has held various editorial positions during her 15 years in public media including reporting for KPCC in Los Angeles and KUT in Austin where she covered national breaking news events for the network. She also worked a short stint on the assignment desk for the local CBS TV news station in Austin.

When she isn't in the newsroom, Erika is mentoring the next generation of journalists. She is an alumna and mentor with NPR's Next Generation Radio Project, a program that trains and coaches young journalists of color. And she is currently teaching for the Fall 2021 semester at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She herself is a journalism and history graduate of Texas State University. She was born and raised in San Antonio making her a Spurs fan forever. She believes in teamwork, Monday mornings and Selena.

Erika starts with us on November 8th, and will be spending that week in DC, and the following one at NPR West. She'll be on deck full time in DC from mid January.

Please join me in giving Erika the warmest possible welcome to the heart of NPR! We're so excited that she is joining us.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Sarah Gilbert is the Vice President for News Programming at NPR. Previously, she was the Executive Producer for Morning Edition, during which time she created and launched Up First, NPR's morning news podcast.