Tena Rubio is the senior producer and host of the National Radio Project's nationally syndicated, half-hour public affairs show Making Contact. The award-winning Oakland, California-based show takes on current events and hot-button social and political topics including reproductive rights, prison and capital punishment reform, anti-war action, and immigrant and environmental justice issues. Rubio was instrumental in developing the program's Katrina Uncovers/New Orleans Now series, which examined the political, social, cultural, and economic landscape of the region in the wake of the disaster.
Previously, Rubio was the senior producer for Pacifica Radio's Washington, DC, bureau, WPFW. There she produced, reported, and acted as fill-in host for "Pacifica Headline News." She also field-produced several landmark Washington news events, including the March for Women's Lives, the 9-11 Commission hearings, and the Downing Street memo hearings.
With a background in local television news and national news magazine programming, Rubio's experience also includes positions as producer, field producer, and news writer at NBC, CBS, and Fox affiliates in a variety of television markets. She was also a segment producer for the McLaughlin One-on-One news commentary show.
Rubio holds a BA degree from the University of California at Berkeley and received her MA in broadcast journalism and public policy at American University in Washington, DC. She enjoys hiking, yoga, cooking, reading, college football, and hanging out with her dog, Bodine.