Maria Ressa

A journalist in Asia for 35 years, Maria Ressa co-founded Rappler, the top digital-only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Philippines. As Rappler’s executive editor and CEO, Maria has endured constant political harassment and arrests by the Duterte government. In 2021, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work “to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.” Maria was also named Time Magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year, and is the recipient of the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, the Tucholsky Prize, the Truth to Power Award, and the Four Freedoms Award. Before founding Rappler, Maria focused on investigating terrorism in Southeast Asia. She opened and ran CNN’s Manila Bureau for nearly a decade before opening the network’s Jakarta bureau, which she ran from 1995 to 2005.