Keosha Varela

Keosha Varela is Director of Strategic and Enterprise Communications and Marketing at The Aspen Institute, focused on leading communications efforts to raise the visibility of the institute as a whole. She was previously managing director of communications and marketing, managing all daily operations of the department. She first joined the Institute in 2013, where she served as senior digital editor and producer at the Institute, developing the strategy for and working with staff and speakers on written editorial and video content.

Since then, Varela has served as vice president of content at the public engagement firm 270 Strategies, and as director of communications at InterAction, an alliance of international NGOs and domestic organizations focused on eliminating poverty and restoring human rights, where she launched InterAction’s new website and visual identity.

Earlier in her career, Varela spent several years as a new media editor and producer at NPR affiliate stations in Washington, D.C., and in Boston, where she and her colleagues received the2011 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence Radio Station Website. She began her career at NBC News, working with producers on the TODAY Show, MSNBC, and “Dateline.”

Varela is an alumna of two fellowships, the International Career Advancement Program (ICAP) and the Women’s Executive Leadership Program (WELP). She holds an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism and a B.A. in Print Journalism from American University.