A bald Black man with a full beard wearing a navy jacket with a white button down underneath.
Christopher Norris, Strategic Adviser to the CEO.

We are pleased to announce that Christopher Norris is joining StoryCorps’ executive team as Strategic Adviser to the CEO, where he will coordinate alignment across the organization to maximize StoryCorps’ public service and revenue opportunities. Norris is known for his innovative approaches to journalism, which are deeply rooted in community engagement, and is highly regarded as a brand builder and cross-enterprise, entrepreneurial thinker.

Norris previously was Managing Editor for Community & Engagement at NPR/PBS affiliate WHYY, Philadelphia’s largest public media station, where he cultivated and managed relationships with philanthropic institutions across the region and built out a portfolio of innovative community outreach programs, including the News and Information Community Exchange (N.I.C.E.). N.I.C.E.—a mutual aid journalism collective that organizes, supports, and develops grassroots news and information creators—was nationally recognized as a Local That Works model. Norris also produced premium live events at the station, produced and hosted community conversations on WHYY TV 12, and oversaw the rebranding and rollout of a citywide civic dialogue program that brings together politically and culturally diverse households for conversation and problem-solving.

Before joining WHYY, Norris worked with a diverse group of media outlets in Philadelphia. He hosted “Wake Up With WURD,” the flagship morning broadcast for Pennsylvania’s only Black talk radio station; wrote guest opinion pieces for The Philadelphia Inquirer and served as a sociopolitical commentator at 105.3 WDAS FM, an urban adult contemporary radio station owned and operated by iHeartMedia.

In 2009, Norris founded Techbook Online, a grassroots news and information company, and scaled it to become the most active publisher on Comcast’s PhillyinFocus.com, a former website dedicated to local content. During his 10-year stint as CEO, Norris became the first grassroots publisher in Philadelphia to distribute original content through Apple News. He brokered a strategic partnership between Comcast and the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, resulting in the development of a digital channel to distribute mental health resources and information.

Also known as “Flood the Drummer,” Norris is a professional drummer, a voracious consumer of conservative and liberal media, a lifelong fan of pro wrestling, and an avid student of how that industry has grown audience, community, personalities, and revenue.

Norris’ official start date with StoryCorps is February 13.