We are thrilled to announce that Florangela Davila has joined us as Crosscut’s new managing editor. Florangela is a journalistic dynamo and a well-known presence in Seattle and surrounds. She brings with her more than two decades of experience in reporting, editing and community engagement.
As a Seattle Times staff writer from 1994 to 2008, Florangela covered such diverse topics as race, immigration, arts and the environment. Her investigative and multimedia reporting earned local, regional and national awards. Her most memorable stories included a feature story about the guilt Latinos feel when they hire other Latinos and an investigative project, co-reported with Ken Armstrong and Justin Mayo, about the crushing caseloads carried by public defenders in Eastern Washington.
Since leaving the Times, Florangela has worked in radio (she created the Artscape program on then-KPLU, which is now KNXK-FM), television (you may remember her work for Crosscut’s sister organization, KCTS 9, where she produced pieces for the program PIE) and higher education (she taught in UW’s communications department from 2008 to 2013). She comes to us most recently from the nonprofit conservation organization Forterra, where she launched Ampersand magazine and the Ampersand Live storytelling events.
Florangela is no stranger to Crosscut readers. She has been our contributing arts editor for the past three years (remember her story about ballet dancer Kaori Nakamura?), and contributes to our weekly list of “things to do in Seattle.”
As managing editor, Florangela will be right at the heart of the operation, overseeing the editorial team and working with freelance writers to create a steady stream of award-winning news, analysis and commentary. She will also be a key collaborator with our sister organizations, KCTS 9 and What’s Good 206, helping us hone our arts coverage and our ongoing Race, Justice and Democracy initiative.
“I'm a woman of color and the child of immigrants. Those are the lenses through which I've practiced journalism for the past 20-plus years,” Florangela says. “What does that mean? It means I see race. I am comfortable with difference. I notice who is on the sidelines and whose voice is not being covered.
“My background isn't better than anyone else's, but it represents change for the journalism industry,” she continues. “I will bring my perspectives into the Crosscut newsroom, one that's ready to cover a community that's hungry for smart, relevant and representative storytelling.”
Florangela takes the place of Drew Atkins, who left Crosscut at the end of December to pursue his own writing (including for Crosscut — he wrote yesterday's top story about the tech industry moving to Canada). During his time here, Drew helped to raise the quality of our journalism and won a number of awards for his own work.
Florangela lives in Rainier Beach with her journalist husband Glenn Nelson, who runs The Trail Posse, a media initiative that covers race and inclusion in the outdoors.
“I'm excited to return to journalism full-time, to be working with passionate and ambitious journalists at an organization that's nimble and growing and important, and that welcomes change,” she says. “Change is what our region has always been about and right now, our region continues to be a fulcrum of national and international change. You're going to want to pay attention to how we cover that.”
