San Rafael, Calif. – The First Amendment Coalition today announced the appointment of four new members to its board of directors. Ashley Alvarado, Janice S. Gin, Antonia Hernández, and Irene Lee bring decades of experience and leadership to FAC as it continues expanding its impact in defense of a free press, open government, and free expression.
Ashley Alvarado is the newly appointed President and CEO of Texas Public Radio (TPR), a nonprofit media organization that serves South Central Texas. Prior to joining TPR, Ashley was the Vice President of Community Engagement and Strategic Initiatives at LAist, where she led the diversity, equity, and inclusion program and strategized how the station could further engage with new and existing audiences throughout Southern California. She is also an award-winning journalist, and previously served as president of Journalism That Matters. She also serves on the boards of the Online News Association and Greater Public.
An award-winning journalist, Janice S. Gin brings decades of experience as a broadcast news executive. Janice’s most recent newsroom position was as the News Director at KITV, the ABC affiliate in Honolulu. Her career has taken her to leadership positions across the country, including stops in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Phoenix, and Atlanta. Janice is currently a journalism lecturer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association, Society of Professional Journalists, and the Asian American Journalists Association.
For 20 years, Antonia Hernández served as President and CEO of the California Community Foundation (CCF). During her tenure, CCF’s assets grew from $540 million to $2.3 billion, and more than $3.4 billion in grants were distributed to fund CCF’s education, health, housing, and immigration priorities in Los Angeles. Prior to joining CCF, Hernández was President and General Counsel at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and worked as staff counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Irene Lee is an Associate Attorney at the law firm Cannata, O’Toole, & Olson, where she specializes in media and public records act litigation, commercial and real estate litigation, and employment law. In a previous role at Common Sense Media she evaluated the use of educational technology in K-12 classrooms.
“FAC is thrilled to welcome such a remarkable group of women to its board of directors,” said David Snyder, Executive Director of the First Amendment Coalition. “As FAC embarks on a new era of growth in the coming year, their vast knowledge and expertise will strengthen FAC’s ability to advance its mission to serve even more individuals and organizations across the state.”