About Heather Gilligan
I’m a writer and journalist based in Oakland. Before beginning the graduate program at Berkeley, I spent more than a year covering gay and lesbian issues for local and national publications. I've since reported on subjects ranging from crime to the environment. But mostly, I cover health, especially health inequalities and violence as a public health problem.
I came to journalism as a second career. I worked as a visiting assistant professor and lecturer in Black Studies and Women’s Studies at the University of California until 2007.
Education:
- Ph.D., Rutgers University
- English
- Bachelor of Arts, University of Maryland
- English
Published Stories:
- Do Gang Injunctions Work?
- healthycal.org
- The emotional cacophony that surrounds gang injunctions, though fueled by genuine concerns about crime, safety and civil rights, drowns out extended discussion about effectiveness. Do gang injunctions work? Do they reduce crime and make city streets safer? Heather Tirado Gilligan, class of 2011, reports for healthycal.org.
- New Dietary Guidelines: Eat Less Food
- healthycal.org
- Can low-income people afford to follow the USDA's new dietary guidelines? Heather Tirado Gilligan, class of 2011, asks that question in her article for healthycal.org.
- Sex, love and videotape in Prop 8 closer
- KALWnews.org
Heather Tirado Gilligan, class of 2011, covered the Prop 8 closing arguments for Crosscurrent's online magazine.
- 'A stay-away from my own house'
- The Bay Citizen
Heather Tirado Gilligan, class of 2011, wrote this article about Roy Johnson Jr., who is named on the North Oakland gang injunction.
- Richmond Searches for Answers to Soaring Homicide Rate
- healthycal.org
Heather Tirado Gilligan, class of 2011, talks to violence prevention workers, politicians, police and experts about efforts to reduce the city's soaring homicide rates.
- Richmond Residents React to Spate of Homicides
- Northgate Radio
- Richmond has one of the highest homicide rates in California. The recent murder of a pregnant mother and a daylight church shooting have brought more attention to a city infamous for its struggles with violence. Heather Tirado Gilligan, class of 2011, spoke to four Richmond residents who work in violence prevention about the situation. This audio postcard won a Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists (Region 11).
- Living with the sound of gunfire
- healthycal.org
- Heather Tirado Gilligan, class of 2011, writes for HealthyCal about the painful effects of living with gunfire in Richmond.
- We Have to Make Sure Gay and Lesbian Citizens Count
- Real Clear Politics
Heather Tirado Giligan, class of 2011, wrote this op-ed about counting same-sex marriages for the Progressive Media Project, which distributed the piece on the McClatchy wire.
- During Gay Pride Month, We Need to Address Larger Issues
- The Progressive
Heather Tirado Gilligan, class of 2011, wrote this op-ed for the Progressive Media Project. It appears on the website of The Progressive, and was picked up by papers including the Houston Chronicle when it was distributed by McClatchy.
Awards:
- Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award (Region 11) (March 2011)
- Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy Fellowship (July 2010)
- Department Fellowship (September 2009)
- National Association of Hispanic Journalists Scholarship (August 2009)
Work Experience:
- Reporting Fellow
- KALW - San Francisco CA ( May 2010 - August 2010 )
- Reported and produced stories for Crosscurrents, a half-hour news magazine that aired four times a week on KALW, a San Francisco NPR affiliate. Wrote and produced stories for the show's digital magazine, KALWnews.org.
- Reporter
- HealthyCal - Sacramento CA ( January 2010 - )
- Produce stories for healthycal.org, a news not-for-profit covering public health and health policy in California. Cover Richmond, Calif., for the community report section of the website.
- Reporter
- Richmond Confidential - Richmond CA ( September 2009 - December 2009 )
- Reported on Richmond, Calif. for Richmond Confidential. Reporting focused on crime and violence as a public health problem. Wrote features and news stories, produced articles and multimedia pieces.
- Reporter
- Bay Area Reporter - San Francisco CA ( March 2008 - March 2009 )
- Stringer for San Francisco's gay and lesbian newsweekly. Covered stories from community events to state Supreme Court hearings.
- Writer
- Freelance ( March 2008 - August 2009 )
- Placed freelance pieces in print and online publications including The Progressive, Huffington Post and Curve Magazine.
- Editorial Assistant
- Curve Magazine - San Francisco CA ( November 2007 - February 2008 )
- Copyedited, fact-checked, wrote reviews and feature articles for the leading lesbian magazine in the United States.
- Visiting Assistant Professor and Lecturer
- University of California - Santa Barbara ( July 2004 - July 2007 )
- Developed and taught literature courses for Black Studies and Women's Studies programs. Led small seminars and lectured to large audiences. Published scholarly articles based on original archival research in peer-reviewed journals. Literary historian with expertise in African-American literature and culture, late nineteenth century American literature, and race and American culture.
Skills:
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Copyeditor, trained in AP and Chicago styles
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HTML, CSS, ProTools, Garageband, Soundslides
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