CEO and Co-Founder, The Texas Tribune
Regional Judge

Evan Smith is the CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news organization recently called “one of the nonprofit news sector’s runaway success stories.” The Tribune's deep coverage of Texas politics and public policy can be found at its website, texastribune.org; in the pages of The Washington Post; and in newspapers and on TV and radio stations across Texas. Until recently, Smith also served as editor-in-chief.

Since its launch in 2009, the Tribune has won international acclaim and numerous honors, including nine Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, two general excellence awards from the Online News Association, and IRE's Gannett Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism. Before co-founding the Tribune, Smith spent nearly 18 years at Texas Monthly, including eight years as editor and a year as president and editor-in-chief. On his watch, Texas Monthly twice won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence.

Smith has a bachelor's degree in public policy from Hamilton College and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Smith has written for Newsweek, GQ, and other national magazines.