Gabrielle Sierra

Gabrielle Sierra is the Director of Podcasting and the host of "Why It Matters" at the Council on Foreign Relations, overseeing the production of CFR's four award-winning flagship podcasts. As host of "Why It Matters", Gabrielle's goal is to reach a diverse general audience and connect them to issues of foreign policy and international affairs. Gabrielle comes from a journalism background, and has her Masters degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Prior to her time at CFR, she spent over a decade working in arts and culture reporting, writing for publications like Billboard, Gothamist and InStyle. She also held an editorial position with Facebook (Meta) for over two years. In 2023 she was selected for Poynter's Leadership Academy for Women in Media and chosen to represent US Hispanics in Germany by the German Embassy and Goethe Institute. As the first female and first Latina to host a show for CFR, as well as an ICAP Fellow, and co-chair for CFR’s Employee Resource Group on Diversity of Underrepresented Groups in the Workplace, a focus on DEI has been and continues to be part of Gabrielle’s mission as a leader.