Hilary Powell

Hilary Powell is a digital journalist who revels in telling multimedia stories.

She is currently a reporter with Lakeshore Public Media (PBS), covering Northwest Indiana for the region’s only local broadcast. Every day brings the promise of knocking on new doors — and perhaps even knocking some down.

Previously, she was an Associate Producer at The Oprah Winfrey Network, crafting digital content for Oprah.com. Content she and her team produced for “Oprah’s Lifeclass,” was honored with a juried award for social TV experience for the 2013 Creative Arts Emmys. She also served as the main associate web producer for the Emmy award-winning, “Super Soul Sunday.”

Hilary has more the five years experience developing compelling content for television audiences, starting as an intern at The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 2011, she became the only researcher at The Oprah Show to earn a Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United States for a show which raised public awareness of animal rights issues. She earned her first book editing credit as part of the hand-picked editorial staff for Oprah’s book, The Oprah Winfrey Show: Reflections on an American Legacy.

Before working with Harpo Studios, she reported for the NBC station in Quincy, Illinois, and for the CBS affiliate at Purdue University. In 2008, she was one of 30 emerging journalists nationwide to report for The New York Times Company, when she traveled to New Orleans to report on how the Ninth Ward was recovering Post-Katrina. Her writing has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Scripps Howard Foundation, and the Knight-Batten Awards for Journalism Innovation.

Outside of the office, Hilary volunteers as a storyteller with the Kohl McCormick StoryBus to promote early childhood literacy at various Chicago Public Schools. She is also a Girl Scout mentor and likes to blog about the next generation of go-getter girls under the alias, “Millenigal.”

Hilary is a Hoosier who originally hails from Indianapolis, but calls Chicago home after graduating from Northwestern University in 2008. She has a BS in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, and also earned her Masters in New and Social Media Journalism from Medill that same year. Connect with her on Twitter @mshilary. She’s probably online unearthing an untold story right now.

JAWS quote: “JAWS is generosity. Women give their time, talent, and treasure because, — when they look at their sister shark — they see themselves. I undoubtedly love these ladies and will leap to give my certain countenance to this sisterhood.”

Term expires Oct. 11, 2015.