FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 23, 2022

Contact: Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr@rfa.org

RFA Names Kataryna DeLisle its New General Counsel

WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia (RFA), a nonprofit news corporation that brings accurate and timely journalism to populations in Asian countries under authoritarian rule, today named Kataryna DeLisle as its new General Counsel. DeLisle brings 17 years of legal professional experience working across the nonprofit, private, and public sectors, having previously served in senior roles at RFA’s parent federal agency and sister networks. Additionally, her background includes earning her undergraduate degree in journalism and starting her post-college career as a video journalist with CNN. At RFA, DeLisle will manage overall legal affairs relating to the company’s governance, employment, global operations, and contracts, in addition to serving as Secretary to RFA’s Board of Directors.

“We are delighted to welcome Kataryna to Radio Free Asia. Our organization will greatly benefit from her unique professional background – a rare combination of extensive legal expertise and journalistic knowledge,” RFA President Bay Fang said. “She joins RFA at a critical time in our growth and is an exceptional addition to our leadership team.”     

“RFA plays a pivotal role in informing publics with little or no access to accurate news and information,” DeLisle said. “I’m thrilled to begin a new chapter in my career that returns me to my roots in leading the legal operations of a journalistic operation on which so many rely.”

Prior to joining RFA, DeLisle worked for 7 years at National Geographic Partners and National Geographic Society, where she worked in a number of positions including Assistant Chief Counsel, Assistant Chief Compliance Officer, Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel. From 2008-2015 DeLisle served as the Assistant General Counsel for the BBG, the independent federal agency later renamed as the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), where she was the lead counsel for Voice of America (VOA) and Radio and TV Martí (OCB). She began her professional career as a video journalist at CNN. DeLisle earned her Juris Doctor at American University, Washington College of Law and her Bachelor of Science in Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

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Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media.  RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media.