Debra Gersh Hernandez is director of communications for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and is a coordinator of the national Sunshine Week open government initiative, in partnership with the American Society of News Editors. Previously, she was the first full-time Sunshine Week coordinator for ASNE. She has served in various communications roles for the Newspaper Association of America and the American Advertising Federation.

For many years, Gersh Hernandez was a reporter and editor for Editor & Publisher magazine, first in New York City and later in Washington, D.C. She has worked asa consultant/freelancer for various organizations, including the Open GovernmentPartnership, National Judicial Education Program, the Student Press Law Center, andthe National Newspaper Association.

A graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University,Gersh Hernandez is currently an alumni board representative to The Daily Orange, theindependent student newspaper at Syracuse.