Irving Washington is senior vice president and executive director of the Health Misinformation and Trust Initiative at KFF, where he leads a new initiative focused on identifying health misinformation to improve understanding of critical health news and research and build trust among communities.

Before joining KFF, Washington was the CEO of the Online News Association (ONA), one of the world’s largest membership organizations for digital journalists. At ONA, he led efforts to build a foundation for journalism’s future by leveraging the power of new media technologies to raise up the next generation of diverse media leaders, which doubled the organization in size, scope, and reach. His leadership also advanced the mandate for protecting the integrity of online news.

He began his career at the Radio Television Digital News Foundation, where he focused on improving internal systems to address equity gaps. Later, Washington advocated for black journalists working at the National Association of Black Journalists as part of a broader effort to shape diversity and inclusion in the media.

Washington is an advisor to the American Journalism Project, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Internews and the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). He’s also active in ASAE as a Fellow, a designation reserved for the nation’s top one percent of association executives, and a Diversity Executive Leadership Program (DELP) Scholar.

He’s participated in the prestigious Punch Sulzberger Media Executive Leadership Program through Columbia University and served as an Executive Fellow through the Open Society Foundations’ New Executive Fund and Fellowship.

Irving holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ball State University. He is also a Certified Association Executive (CAE).