Ashley Westerman

Ashley Westerman is with Voice of America in Washington, DC. Previously she worked at NPR member station 89.3 WRKF in Baton Rouge, La., where she hosted “Morning Edition” and covered a number of issues in Louisiana's capitol region with a primary focus on healthcare. Ashley was also part of ICFJ’s 2013 Bringing Home the World: International Reporting Fellowship Program for Minority Journalists covering labor and immigration issues in the Philippines for stories broadcast on NPR.

She is a former NPR Intern (Summer 2011) and former production assistant temp with NPR's Morning Edition and Tell Me More in Washington, DC. Ashley is a 2010 graduate of the University of Kentucky and is currently working on her Master’s in Journalism at the University of Maryland. She is also a member of the Asian American Journalists Association. Ashley was born in Manila, Philippines, but grew up in rural western Kentucky.

Ashley will report on healthcare issues in the Appalachian region.

Proposal: The effects of the Affordable Care act, premature deaths, maternal/child health, lack of mental health care in Appalachia.