Ryan Y. Kellett is a co-founder of the Independent Journalism Atlas, a vetted directory of independent creator-journalists, and an ethical AI consultant for the media industry.
At Harvard, Ryan has been an fellow and affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center since 2024, when he started as a Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellow for Journalism Innovation. He also continues to teach at Harvard Extension School. As a journalist, futurist and former media executive whose work is focused on the creator economy, Ryan serves publishers, audience-first organizations of all kinds and independent creators. He co-founded "Going Solo," a course and cohort-based program for traditional journalists transitioning into content creation, training hundreds of creators over the past three years. Ryan also works as an industry consultant on AI and its applications in journalism, currently serving as Expert in Residence (XIR) for AI at American Public Media Group.
He has done consulting work with The Atlantic and The Pulitzer Center. He was previously vice president of audience at Axios Media and spent 11 years at The Washington Post. At The Post, he guided the organization through the rise of mobile and social internet publishing, quadrupling readership globally and substantially expanding subscriptions. He was also an author of the proposal on comments and communities that became The Coral Project. Ryan and his teams have won multiple Edward R. Murrow, WAN-IFRA, and Webby awards. He got his start at NPR, where he was selected as its first-ever social media intern. He serves on the board of the Online News Association and the board of The Conversation US.
