Area of Focus
Tara Alatorre is a managing editor at Western Resource Advocates where she collaborates with staff and partners to support editorial projects from conception to completion. She uses storytelling methods to clearly communicate the positive change WRA is making in the fight against climate change and its impacts in the West, compelling audiences to act.
Background
Tara joined WRA in December 2024 with more than a decade of experience working as a news reporter and editor at publications in Arizona and Colorado. Her diverse upbringing inspired her to become a journalist and shed sunlight on information as a catalyst for change.
Prior to joining WRA, she specialized in writing about sustainability topics that focused on water, species, and land issues as a freelance journalist. She wrote stories ranging from Uranium mining near the Grand Canyon to habitat loss for burrowing owls. In 2017, she became the managing editor of The Foothills Focus, which provided critical media coverage to rural, drought-stricken communities in northern Maricopa County. She created the town of Cave Creek’s first communications program in 2019. There she helped launch a rebranding project, new website, historic landmark program, and educational collateral about an invasive plant that exacerbates wildfire risks.
She arrived in northwest Colorado in 2023 to serve as the editor of Sky-Hi News. With a small but mighty team, the newspaper published compelling content that increased its reach and trust with local and regional audiences. The newspaper tackled complex topics from wildfire recovery to regional initiatives aimed at restoring the upper Colorado River’s ecosystem.
Accomplishments
In 2016, she won a first-place investigative journalism award from the Arizona Newspaper Association for her work as a reporter. Under her leadership, Sky-Hi News received 25 editorial awards from the Colorado Press Association for its work in 2023, including best newspaper in the state in its class.
Education
- Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University with a minor in global sustainability
Favorite thing about the West
I love exploring the amazing diverse landscapes and admiring all the plants and creatures that inhabit it. Feeling pure joy after a desert rain and smelling the creosote. I am grateful that burritos, salsa and chiles are almost always on the menu. Sassy hummingbirds and crested saguaros.
