Alison Kodjak

Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak is an American journalist and currently works for the ProPublica as Assistant Managing Editor for National News. She was previously acting Global Investigations Editor at the Associated Press. She previously reported for the AP from 1997 to 2000. She formerly worked for National Public Radio, where she led the science desk, the Center for Public Integrity, and at Bloomberg News for 10 years, and has also worked as a reporter for newspapers, including The Philadelphia Inquirer. She is a two-time winner of the George Polk Award, one of journalism's most prestigious honors.

Early life Kodjak attended high school at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, In her senior year she missed several months of classes due to a bout with leukemia (AML), but succeeded in graduating on schedule with her class after receiving aggressive, newly developed treatment at the Tufts Medical Center Floating Hospital. She attended Georgetown University, graduating with majors in Italian and European Studies in 1991, and the Northwestern University - The Medill School of Journalism in 1994, with specialties in legal and science writing. She also attended the Università degli Studi di Siena in Siena, Tuscany, and is fluent in English, French, and Italian.

Career in journalism

She began her journalism career at the Boston Phoenix before moving to The Philadelphia Inquirer as a general assignment reporter, followed by a three-year stint at The Palm Beach Post. She next moved to become an international editor at the Associated Press World Desk in New York from 1997 to 2000. She frequently appeared on the Sunday morning talk show Political Capital with Al Hunt. In 2008, she broke the Allen Stanford ponzi scheme story after three years of investigation.

Kodjak was awarded the Overseas Press Club's Malcolm Forbes Award for her coverage of the international food price crisis in 2008 in a special seven-part series, "Recipe For Famine". Her coverage of the 2008 financial crisis and the ensuing government bailout won her several awards, including the 2009 George Polk Award for National Reporting with her Bloomberg colleagues Mark Pittman, Craig Torres, and Bob Ivry for their work entitled "Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Identify Bank Loan".

In 2010, Kodjak and her Bloomberg colleagues Mark Pittman, Bob Ivry, and Christine Harper were awarded the “Best of the Best” Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) in Projects for their "Lehman's Lessons" package that showed what led to the financial markets crash. In 2011, Kodjak was awarded the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress.

She moved to the Center for Public Integrity to head a new investigative journalism team in 2011. In 2013, Kodjak received her second George Polk Award for her reporting at the CPI on the fates of high-level financial and banking executives responsible for the 2008 financial crisis.

On December 7, 2018, Kodjak was elected as 112th president of the National Press Club.

Personal life Kodjak sits on the Board of Governors of the National Press Club and is past Chairwoman of the Capital City Symphony in Washington, D.C.

Kodjak is married to Drew Kodjak, executive director of the International Council on Clean Transportation. They have three children and live in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Awards 2008 - Malcolm Forbes Award - Overseas Press Club 2009 - George Polk Award 2009 - Gerald Loeb Award Finalist 2010 - Hillman Prize 2019 - Gerald Loeb Award for Audio 2023 - Peabody Award