Thought Leader: Anette Ruiz Morales

Anette Sofía Ruiz Morales was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to a bicultural family (Puerto Rican mother, and Colombian father), and has always been interested in observing, understanding, explaining, and recording patterns of life from different cultural, social, and economic backgrounds. She has a B.A. in journalism and anthropology from The University of Puerto Rico, School of Communications, and is currently developing her thesis project on critical thinking and news literacy to obtain a M.A. in Media and Culture, from Universidad Sagrado Corazón (University of Sacred Heart), Puerto Rico.

Her young professional career has mostly developed in the non-profit sector in Puerto Rico, where she has worked as an AmeriCorps*VISTA Volunteer in a grassroots community journalism organization that develops media outlets (radio, TV, print, online, short-films) for and by people from socioeconomic disadvantaged communities (both public housing projects and rural areas). She worked as a news correspondent, Coordinator of Communications for the Development of Third Sector project, and moderator of forums, and workshops. She was also the Supervisor of the Center for Volunteerism Development, a nation-wide initiative to promote volunteerism in universities, private companies, and build the capacity of non-profits to successfully manage volunteer programs.

In 2008, she was an International Scholar of The Golden Key International Honour Society, where she participated in the Delegation of Anthropology and Archaeology to China. She was also finalist of The Corporation for National and Community Service, Spirit of Service Award, and during the last semester she worked as a Research Intern for The National Council of La Raza, Puerto Rico Office, which is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. In 2010, she participated in a five months fellowship program of The Kettering Foundation in Dayton, Ohio, where she did more than 30 interviews to journalists and media professionals and wrote a paper about democratic practices that have been developed in the field of journalism in the U.S. context.

She was part of the strategic planning team that organized the "Community foundations, information empowerment, and democracy" that brought to Puerto Rico, for the first time, the president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Most recently, she is working in the Center for the Freedom of the Press of Puerto Rico as an Assistant Director, and has another job as a Research Assistant of a graduate professor.

Anette has written the essay, The Value of Community as part of the IVOH Voices & Values of Journalism Project - listen to and read the entire collection of essays here.