Aaricka Washington

Aaricka Washington is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Los Angeles who brings extensive experience in reporting, editing, audience engagement, social media strategy, and marketing in both the newsroom and classroom. She currently leads marketing and communications initiatives for Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting investigative journalists with training, fellowships, resources, and conferences.

Before joining IRE, Washington was an associate editor and reporter at LAist, the largest NPR station in Los Angeles. In that role, she helped shape editorial strategy and collaborated on reporting for How To LA, a daily podcast, contributing to impactful, audience-centered multimedia storytelling that built a loyal and deeply engaged listenership. Her reporting centers students and marginalized communities across Los Angeles, with a focus on equity, access, and lived experience.

Previously, Washington worked as an education reporter at Chalkbeat Indiana and the Austin American-Statesman, where she covered K–12 education, policy, and systemic inequities. Her reporting has been published in The Guardian, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Time magazine, Capital B, and numerous local news outlets.

Washington is deeply committed to mentoring and teaching the next generation of journalists. She regularly speaks with students of all ages about navigating journalism with integrity, resilience, and purpose, and conducts sensitivity readings for news organizations to help ensure accurate, ethical, and inclusive reporting.

Prior to her journalism career, Washington was a Teach For America corps member in Houston, Texas, where she taught Black, Latino, and Southeast Asian students in under-resourced schools—an experience that continues to inform her reporting, pedagogy, and commitment to equity in education and media.

She holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University - Bloomington.