Laura S. Washington

Laura S. Washington is a Chicago Tribune contributing columnist and political analyst for ABC 7, Chicago’s ABC-owned station. Before moving to the Tribune, she served as a contributing columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

In 2015 and 2019 she served as a Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. Washington brings more than two decades of experience as a multi-media journalist and non-profit professional specializing in African-American affairs, local and national politics, race, and social justice. From 2003 to 2009 she served as the Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor at DePaul University.

She is the former editor and publisher of The Chicago Reporter, served as deputy press secretary to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Northwestern University. Her work has been honored with dozens of local and national awards, including two Emmy Awards, the Peter Lisagor Award, the Studs Terkel Award for Community Journalism and the Racial Justice Award from the YWCA.

Her journalism and commentary has been widely featured in the national media, including the Associated Press, New York Times, NBC Nightly News, CNN, MNSBC, the PBS News Hour and the BBC.