White House Correspondent April Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House—a position she has held since the Clinton era. Her position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her unusual insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation’s past presidents.
Ryan can be seen almost daily on CNN as a political analyst. She is also the Washington D.C Bureau Chief on TheGrio. She has been featured in Essence, Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Elle magazines to name a few.
Ryan has served on the board of the prestigious White House Correspondents Association. She is one of only three African Americans in the Association’s over 100-year history to serve on its board. She is also an esteemed member of the National Press Club.
In 2015, Ms. Ryan was nominated for an NAACP Image Award (Outstanding Literary Work - Debut Author) for her first book. In 2016 she was a National Council of Negro Women, Mary McCloud Bethune Trailblazer awardee. In 2019, Ryan became an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and was recognized as the 2019 Freedom of the Press Award Winner by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. April was nominated in 2021 with the NAACP Image Award for Social Justice Impact.
Ryan is a Baltimore native and Morgan State University graduate, and she gives back to this community by serving as a mentor to aspiring journalists and assisting with developing up-and-coming broadcasters. She considers her greatest life’s work raising her two daughters, Ryan and Grace, who are phenomenal young women.
Ryan is the author of the award-winning book, "The Presidency in Black and White" as well as "At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White," where she looks at race relations through the lessons and wisdom that mothers have given their children. Her latest book is "Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House."
