Meet our next CEO: Sarah Adler Hartman

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On behalf of the board of directors, it is my honor to announce that Sarah Adler Hartman will become The Texas Tribune's next chief executive officer in December.

An accomplished entrepreneur and media executive, Sarah brings a rare combination of vision and leadership experience across both emerging and established platforms. She will step into the role during a pivotal moment for the Tribune, as the organization expands into new communities, strengthens statewide impact and secures long-term and organizational resilience.

As we get ready to welcome Sarah to the Tribune, I want to first thank our outgoing CEO, Sonal Shah, for her tireless work these past three years. As you may know, Sonal announced earlier this year she was making the difficult decision to step down in order to be closer to and care for her parents.

In her message at the time, Sonal said that working at the Tribune has been one of the great honors of her life, and as we set forward last spring to find her successor, it was important we choose an individual who held that same respect not just for this organization, but the idea of nonprofit independent news.

We have found that in Sarah. She is someone who knows how to meet the needs of our audience today and understands what their needs will be in the future.

With this search, we were looking for someone who had proven media leadership skills, an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset, a passion for mission-driven leadership and a vision for the future of the Tribune. Sarah checks all of those boxes. She is a native of Austin, who comes to us from The New York Times, where she most recently served as the head of product, subscriber experiences, charting innovative product strategies for the global news leader. She started at The New York Times in 2020 building new products as its entrepreneur in residence, before focusing on the news subscription business for the last several years.

Prior to her work at The New York Times, Sarah cofounded Spoon University, a next-generation food media platform that grew to 300 college campuses globally with more than 25,000 student members. After selling that business to Scripps Networks Interactive, she served as a Vice President of Product at Discovery, Inc. Sarah is also a board member at the McDonald Observatory with UT Austin.

Most important, Sarah is a strident believer in the need for trust and innovation in today’s newsrooms, meeting Texans where they are. She knows that the Tribune is a beacon for accountable reporting and a national model for how effective independent nonprofit news outlets can be.

Sarah will work closely with the Tribune’s editor-in-chief, Matthew Watkins, to foster an inclusive and high-energy newsroom that delivers results. She will work with our development team to ensure the Tribune’s operational and financial needs are well-supported.

As CEO, Sarah will drive the Tribune into its next phase of growth, setting strategy, strengthening fundraising and leading operations, with a focus on serving and building trust with all Texans.

Since its launch, the Tribune has raised an impressive $161 million to fund the newsroom’s ambitious reporting, and currently attracts 3 million monthly unique visitors to the destination website. The organization boasts more than 144,000 newsletter subscribers and has 14,000 current members.

As a board, this has been both a challenging and exciting search process. Challenging because we know how high the stakes really are, and exciting because we were able to find someone who is ready to push the Tribune forward.

And at all times as a Board we’re fully aware that the success of the Tribune begins with you. The Texas Tribune is possible because of you. Readers, members, subscribers, followers, event attendees, sponsors — you make it possible for the continuing impact the Tribune has on Texas. At this critical moment of transition, your support matters more now than ever. You don’t have to look hard to see the challenges the media is facing globally. Honest, accountable and independent news sources are vitally important and your support allows us to play our part in meeting that need.

Trei Brundrett is chair of The Texas Tribune’s board of directors.

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TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.