Ruth Ann Harnisch on Blogger

About Ruth Ann Harnisch

Ruth Ann Harnisch began her career in media as a teenager working as a DJ in her native city of Buffalo, New York. She went on to pursue a career in journalism at a time when the field was dominated by men. First breaking the glass ceiling in her twenties, she became the first female news anchor at the Nashville, Tennessee, CBS affiliate where she earned an Emmy-nomination for her TV reporting. Ruth Ann Harnisch also hosted a daily talk-radio show and led a 17-year career as a columnist publishing in the Nashville Banner. During her time as a journalist, she focused much of her reporting on social-justice issues.

Leaving journalism in 1998, Ms. Harnisch turned her focus to philanthropy, serving as the chair of More Than Money, a nonprofit dedicated to helping wealthy individuals give to causes aligned with their values. That same year, she co-founded the Harnisch Family Foundation along with her husband. She immediately directed the foundation’s efforts to fight for social justice by funding a Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays’ billboard in central Nashville declaring, ‘Someone You know and Love is Gay.’ Since then, the foundation has been an active supporter of numerous campaigns and organizations promoting gender equity and the rights of the LGBTQ community in Tennessee and around the World. Additionally, the foundation is an active supporter of journalism and media and was a founding sponsor of the Center for Sustainable Journalism in 2011.