Soledad O'Brien

CEO
Bio

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning journalist, speaker, author and philanthropist. She is the CEO of Starfish Media Group, a multi-platform media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on range of social issues.

O’Brien anchors and produces the Hearst Television political magazine program “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien.” She also reports regularly for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and PBS NewsHour. She has appeared as an anchor or contributor on all three major networks, is Philanthropy Editor of Worth Magazine and is a frequent author of op-ed pieces for publications like the New York Daily News and the Huffington Post.

O’Brien, who was anchor of two CNN morning news programs and their documentary unit, created the “In America” documentary series. “Black in America” and “Latino in America” which continue to be produced under SMG and are subjects of an annual speaking tour. She also speaks on a variety of social issues at college campuses and corporate events.

Earlier in her career, O’Brien co-anchored on “Weekend Today”, and contributed segments to the “Today” show and “NBC Nightly News.” In 2003, O’Brien joined CNN, where she anchored the morning news program for many years. O’Brien’s coverage of race issues won her two Emmy awards and she earned a third for her reporting on the 2012 presidential election. Her coverage of Hurricane Katrina for CNN earned her and the network a George Foster Peabody Award. She also won the Peabody for her coverage of the BP Gulf Coast Oil Spill, and her reporting on the Southeast Asia tsunami garnered CNN an Alfred I. DuPont Award.

She is also the author of two books, her critically acclaimed memoir “The Next Big Story” and “Latino in America.”

O’Brien was named journalist of the year by the National Association of Black Journalists and one of Newsweek magazine’s “10 People who Make America Great.” In 2013, O’Brien taught at Harvard University as a Distinguished Fellow and was appointed to the board of directors of the Foundation for the National Archives. In 2015, O’Brien joined the RAND Corporation’s Board of Trustees.

In 2011 O’Brien and her husband Brad Raymond created the PowHERful Foundation, which helps get young women get to and through college. This year, their conference series will visit 8 cities across the country.

O’Brien lives in New York with her husband and four children.

Follow her on Twitter:@soledadobrien