D-C Radio: Kara Kearns Joins WAMU As COO

WAMU has named Kara Kearns as its new Chief Operating Officer. Kearns was previously the 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. In that capacity, she served as founding Chief Operating Officer of The Meteor, a media organization focused on storytelling, centered on diverse voices and perspectives.

Kara Kearns

At The Meteor, she led operational management and cross-functional initiatives, including oversight of finance, human resources, legal, administration, and operations. She was also an Executive Producer and Production Executive on several audio programs.

Previously, Kearns served as publisher of a political magazine start-up, in partnership with Emerson Collective, and was the Director of Operations at Politico, where she was a senior adviser and activator for the Chief Operating Officer. At Politico, she worked across all departments on finance, legal, budgeting, strategy, organizational structure, technology, partnerships, and large-scale initiatives.

She has a particular interest in journalism education and is a 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 entering its tenth summer and is supported through a long-standing partnership with American University.

Kearns began her career as a journalist, serving as Deputy Political Editor for NBC News Digital, and in various roles at The Associated Press, MSNBC, and CBS News.