Henrietta J. Burroughs is the founder of the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media, a nonprofit organization which was established in 2003 to create media outlets in the City of East Palo Alto, that would fill the city’s information void. In January 2006, under her leadership, the EPA Center for Community Media launched East Palo Alto Today, the first continuously published newspaper in East Palo Alto in 20 years.

​

Prior to founding the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media, Burroughs started Personalized Broadcasting Service, a video production company she headed for more than a decade.

​

Burroughs is an award-winning journalist, who started her career in New York City as a newspaper reporter. She later became a television news reporter and worked for several television news shows, including the "Evening News" at WNBC TV and the 51st State at WNET TV, where she later hosted a weekly television show called "Dateline New Jersey." Just before moving to California, she worked for Newsweek’s Broadcasting Unit, where she began producing syndicated stories to air nationally.

​

In California, she worked as the Editorial Director for KNTV TV in San Jose, where she won an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a Golden Medallion from The State Bar of California for Distinguished Reporting, and an “Excellence in the Media” award from the San Jose community. She has received other awards for her work in the media including a 2006 Media Recognition Award from Rotary International District 5170.

​

She currently produces and hosts the bi-weekly television show, 'Talking with Henrietta," which is produced at the Midpeninsula Community Media Center in Palo Alto, CA. The Talking with Henrietta show can be seen in the Bay Area on Channel 27 in the following cities: Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton and Stanford. The show can also be seen on the Internet. To see the days and times and to get more information about the show, click here.

​

Her shows can be seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/Henrie818. Talking with Henrietta is also on Facebook and on Twitter.

​

Her writings have appeared in the New York Post, The New York Times, McCall’s Magazine, Black Enterprise, the San Jose Business Journal, the Palo Alto Weekly, Newark Magazine, Encore, More Journalism Review, The Council on Foreign Relations Handbook and other publications.

​

Burroughs received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy with Departmental Honors from Howard University, a Masters in International Affairs degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a Certificate in Broadcast Journalism from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University.

​

From 1991 to 1996, Burroughs served as a city commissioner on the Palo Alto Human Relations Commission.

​

In April 2006, she was awarded the "PR Media Recognition Award" by the Rotary 5170, which includes the 60 Rotary clubs in the Silicon Valley. The award was given for professional excellence and service in the field of media and media relations. In May 2009, she was honored by The Links Inc. Peninsula Bay Chapter for her efforts in founding the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media and the East Palo Alto Today newspaper.

​

In July 2011, one of her talk shows, titled "Strengthening the Bonds between Fathers and their Children," received national recognition by the Alliance for Community Media when it was selected for a Hometown Video Award.

​

On September 13, 2011, Burroughs was given a plaque, containing a resolution in her honor, that was presented to her by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. See an excerpt from the ceremony here.

​

In October 2012, her show on The Dream Act and the Dreamers was chosen from 350 entries, as a finalist by the Alliance for Community Media Western Region, for a WAVE Award in the category of best talk shows.

​

Currently, her show, Protecting Ourselves from Internet Crime, was selected as a finalist for a CreaTIVe Award, which is given by CreaTV in San Jose, CA. Awards will be given in January 2013.

 

Her show, Fighting a Global Disease, was a finalist for the National Association of Black Journalists' "2013 Salute to Excellence Award."

 

Talking with Henrietta received additional recognition and awards in 2014, 2016 and in 2017. These awards included recognition from New America Media and the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club.

In 2015, Burroughs was honored by both the East Palo Alto Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women and the East Palo Alto Senior Center for my media contributions in East Palo Alto.

In 2017, the East Palo Alto Today newspaper and one of its interns received second and third place awards for excellence in journalism from the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club.

 

In 2017, her Talking with Henrietta show titled In the Aftermath of the Mass Shooting in Orlando was selected for a New America Media Award for Outstanding Coverage of Gender/LGBTQI Issues.

 

Talking with Henrietta won additional awards in 2019.

See photos and descriptions of some of the television awards on the East Palo Alto Today website at www.epatoday.org/tv.html.

On February 10, 2018, Burroughs was inducted into the Black Legends Hall of Fame Silicon Valley. See more information about the award and read about the other inductees at https://www.blacklegendawards.org/