Luisa Ortiz Perez PhD

Dr. Luisa Ortiz Perez is a gender-equality champion, media entrepreneur and a nonviolence political action specialist. As the executive director and co-founder of Vita-Activa.org, Luisa conceptualized and launched a helpline to aid women journalists and womens rights defenders facing online violence and harassment based on gender. She has been a producer for NPR, WNYC and the BBC, and an executive manager for Yahoo! Hispanic Americas and Televisa Interactive Media. Most recently, she has integrated a taskforce providing Psychological First Aid to journalists in the aftermath of human, natural disasters and crises online and in person -i.e. El Paso TX., after the shooting. She holds a PhD in Ideology and Discourse Analysis from the University of Essex and qualifications in Psychological First Aid from Johns Hopkins University.

Luisa is a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow in the class of 2022-2023.

Sub-specialties:
Gender-based violence, Violence against women, Psychological First Aid, Mental Health, Gender Equality