Gina Baleria
What Civity means to me:
Connecting with each other and building relationships across our differences is integral – to our ability to co-exist with one another; to cultivating healthy communities and society; and ultimately to sustaining our existence. Civity is – at last – providing an explicit name for the process we critically need to share and hear stories, make connections, increase belonging, and learn to work together across divides. This is Civity.
How I came to Civity:
My career path has always been driven by mission – to inform people and contextualize information with the goal of helping people navigate their communities and solve community problems. I sought this out in journalism, nonprofit communications, and education. Though I did partially fulfill this mission during my happy years as a news producer and writer at KCAL in LA, KXTV & KFBK in Sacramento, and KCBS & KGO TV and Radio in San Francisco, there was more work to do. While working at nonprofits, such as The Commonwealth Club and California Forward, I went more in depth on discussing and exploring solutions to the issues that dog us. Now, as an educator, I work with young people on how to do journalism and communications work that can help heal our divides and improve the health of our communities and society.
But it is Civity that has offered a glimpse at what feels to be a missing piece – cultivating relationships across differences by sharing and hearing stories, and coming to see the humanity of others across divides. As Civity’s communications consultant, I enjoy connecting with other bridging organizations and leaders to communicate Civity’s mission and vision. I am of Italian descent and present as a white woman. I am married to a Black man who generously challenges me to recognize and confront my biases and those of the societies we live in.
I host both This is Civity, the podcast, as well as the podcast, News in Context (@NewsInContextSF). I also co-authored Writing & Reporting the News for the 21st Century, which earned a 2020 Broadcast Education Award; and wrote The Journalism Behind Journalism: Going Beyond the Basics to Train Effective Journalists in a Shifting Landscape, which focuses on teaching intangible skills, such as empathy, curiosity, tenacity, and recognizing our unconscious biases.
I earned my Ed.D. from San Francisco State University, my Master’s in Communication from Stanford, and my Bachelor’s in English with emphases in film and history from UCLA.
Other things I like to do: hike, walk, read, travel, hang out with friends & family, pet every dog I see, swing dance, play and coach basketball, laugh with my husband.
Things I’d like to do: more swing dancing, more traveling; improve my Italian and Spanish; more exploring my world – near and far.