Ashley Hopkinson

Ashley Hopkinson is an award-winning journalist, newsroom entrepreneur and leader dedicated to excellent storytelling and mission-driven media. Ashley joined The Solutions Journalism Network after 15 years in U.S. newsrooms writing and leading coverage on health, immigration, education, social justice and the arts. She is currently a media coach with SJN where she helps lead newsrooms in solutions-focused enterprise projects. Ashley previously managed the Solutions Insights Lab where she oversaw projects on social issues and global responses in the nonprofit sector. Prior to that, she led SJN’s inaugural Journalists of Color Fellowship dedicated to supporting the next generation of emerging media leaders and the networks’ first Health Equity Initiative focused on advancing the public health conversation around health disparities. In 2019, Ashley served as the founding editor for The American South, USA Today’s first regional vertical in the South producing enterprise content for the flagship publication and Gannett newsrooms. Within media academia, Ashley has served as a Journalist in Residence and Visiting Assistant Professor of Journalism at The Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University. Ashley has worked for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, The Desert Sun in Palm Springs and The Associated Press Bureau in Atlanta. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Auburn University and a master’s degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley.