Celeste LeCompte

Chief Audience Officer

Celeste LeCompte is Chief Audience Officer for Chicago Public Media, responsible for leading the organization’s audience development efforts, digital audience strategy, growth marketing and brand-building initiatives. 

Previously, she was the vice president of strategy and operations at ProPublica, where she launched new products, helped guide the development of new regional reporting teams and led efforts to grow the reach and impact of ProPublica’s journalism in partnership with news leadership. In previous roles, she has worked on product development, content strategy and editorial management for numerous media companies, nonprofits and corporate clients.

She is also an award-winning journalist, primarily covering technology, innovation and environmental issues. Her work has taken her from rural farms in Illinois to factory floors in China, with stories appearing in a diverse range of consumer and business publications, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Outside, Smithsonian, Scientific American, Nieman Reports and more. She continues to advocate for better science communication as a board member for the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

LeCompte was a 2015 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, from which she previously received her bachelor’s degree in Social Studies. Outside of work, she’s an avid cyclist, runner, and lover of urban waterways. She’s a trustee of an Awesome Foundation chapter that funds creative projects happening “on the water” and an active board member of the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, for which she co-organizes paddle-in movie nights, floating concerts, and more.