In a note to newsroom staff Senior Director of Music and Visuals Keith Jenkins announced the following update:
"I am very excited to share some great news from NPR Music. Today we are announcing two new positions that will help us continue our work reaching younger audiences with a wide and diverse range of content.
LaTesha Harris is our newest Editorial Assistant who will be working with the team we are putting together to lean into our Hip-Hop and R&B coverage.
LaTesha is a curious (read: nosy) observer and top notch media connoisseur. Born and raised in Central Texas, she's spent the past five years in Chicago. Interested in the intersections of culture and justice, her work has taken her across the globe: entertainment in Los Angeles, immigration and cannabis racial justice in Chicago, gender-based violence in South Africa and the international student experience in China. When she's not working, LaTesha is losing her keys at shows; roller-skating to the beach; admiring her bookshelf; speaking with cats; and using her hands to express how much she loves Beyoncé.
LaTesha is a recent graduate of Northwestern University with a Bachelor's degree in journalism and creative writing and a Master's degree in investigative reporting. In September 2020, her love for T-Pain's Tiny Desk concert brought her to NPR Music in the role of an editorial intern; there, she adapted broadcast segments for digital copy and covered releases of new music. Since then, she's worn a variety different hats as a news assistant and production assistant, including helping on season one of Louder Than A Riot and the launch of the #NowPlaying music blog.
LaTesha's new role will be an essential element in the expansion of NPR Music's coverage of R&B and Hip-Hop, marking a much-needed effort to establish our site as an inclusive base of thought-provoking work.
No stranger to many of you, Suraya Mohamed is NPR Music's new Senior Manager.
Suraya is a 3-time Peabody award-winning producer, sound designer and editor. She is also the recipient of 3 Gracie Allen Awards and an NEA Chairman's Award for Distinguished Service. With years of experience in long-form audio documentary production and digital media content creation, she is a versatile media professional who also specializes in project management and multi-partnership collaborations.
Suraya serves as the project manager for Jazz Night in America and is also a contributing producer on the Tiny Desk Concert series. For many years, she's produced live events and NPR holiday specials including Toast of the Nation, Hanukkah Lights, Tinsel Tales, Jazz Piano Christmas, and New Year's Day from Vienna. This past spring, Suraya led the content production and promotion strategy for the NPR 50th Anniversary network celebration.
In her new role, in addition to supervising members of the NPR Music team, Suraya will help us create and implement strategies for new content development, audience engagement, and work that better leverages our network partnerships. As NPR continues to strive to serve younger and more diverse audiences better, Suraya will be integral to NPR Music's continuing efforts to lead this critical work.
Please join me in congratulating both LaTesha and Suraya; I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing all the great things they have in store for all of us!
Thanks,
k"
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