Natasha Alford

Natasha S. Alford is an award-winning journalist, host and millennial media executive driven by the power of storytelling to inspire and change people’s lives. Alford is known for her dynamic on-camera interviews where she’s probed the minds of prominent figures such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Stacey Abrams, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Gloria Steinem, and more. Alford was named “Emerging Journalist of the Year” by the National Association of Black Journalists in 2018. Her honors include being a 2020 Poynter Women’s Leadership Academy graduate, 2019 Maynard 200 Fellow, and a 2017 Harvard Women’s Leadership Award recipient.

Alford's writing and on-air commentary appeared on theGrio during her tenure as Deputy Editor, as well as numerous other outlets including The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, The Breakfast Club, and The Oprah Magazine. A former educator, Alford has also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in visual journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

Prior to theGrio, Alford was a general assignment news reporter at WROC-TV (News 8) in Rochester, NY. There she chronicled the local rise of Black Lives Matter, the plight of the homeless community, and stories of domestic violence survivors. Before her career in journalism, Alford worked at the investment management firm Bridgewater Associates, LP, eventually leaving to become a middle school English teacher in Washington, D.C. through Teach For America. Inspired by her classroom teaching experience, she went on to work in the field of education policy.

Alford holds a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism (MSJ ‘14), and a B.A. from Harvard University in Social Studies (‘08). She is a member of NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists) and NAHJ (National Association of Hispanic Journalists). Alford currently resides in New York City and devotes her free time to mentoring aspiring journalists and students, through The OpEd Project.