Ashley Westerman

Ashley is an award-winning freelance journalist and audio producer based in Manila, Philippines. An experienced reporter, editor and producer, she has more than a decade of journalism experience and has previously worked for outlets such as Voice of America and NPR in Washington, D.C. Her bylines can also be found at PRI’s The World. Ashley primarily focuses on Southeast Asia and Pacific news and issues. She has reported on everything in that part of the globe from the toppling of governments in Malaysia and endangered pachyderms in Laos to Islamists in the Philippines and pearl farms in French Polynesia. Ashley also closely follows U.S. policy toward the Asia-Pacific, developments in the Rohingya refugee crisis and has produced in-depth reporting on China’s Belt and Road initiatives around the world. Born in the Philippines, then adopted and raised in the U.S., Ashley uses her life experiences to inform and guide her coverage of adoption and Asian American issues. She has a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Kentucky and a M.A. in Journalist from the University of Maryland, College Park. Ashley is also an outspoken advocate for diversity in news media and has long worked to support initiatives to diversify not only who gets to tell stories (i.e. newsroom staff, contributing reporters, etc), but also the voices/experts/sources quoted and stories pursued. As the former head of NPR Morning Edition’s Diversity Council, she launched and helped manage the show’s first-ever Source Tracking initiative.