Breeze Richardson

Breeze joined the Aspen Public Radio team in June 2021. Highly-respected in public media for her strategic planning and communications background, she has a passion for telling stories and producing community-focused programming.

Since arriving in the Roaring Fork Valley, Breeze has been seen on Aspen 82 to promote the station’s 2022 event, “Money Talks: An Evening of Powerful Stories from Powerful Women in Celebration of Equal Pay Day,” and was featured in LOCAL magazine as a neighbor you should know. She has been on stage exploring disability and inclusion with 1A’s Jenn White as part of the 2022 Lawn Bash, and discussing the importance of local journalism for the Aspen Institute’s Society of Fellows. In the Fall of 2022, she interviewed Dr. Becky Johnson, author of “Good Inside,” for Aspen Country Day School, and has been in conversation with Tockukwu Okafor and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk for Aspen Words. In February 2023, she took the stage at the Wheeler Opera House with NPR’s Ailsa Chang to explore making big career changes, representation in media, and the impact of investigative journalism.

Before returning to public radio, Breeze worked as director of marketing and communications at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri, where she oversaw the institution’s brand and managed the overall communications strategy of the organization. From 2013-2017 she worked for the Kansas Board of Regents, gaining extensive experience in state government communications and higher education while working in government relations and media relations roles as the agency’s public information officer.

Breeze began her career at WBEZ 91.5 FM/Chicago Public Media, where she worked for over decade in a variety of roles for the station, including daily show producer, StoryCorps producer, lead community engagement researcher, and director of strategic partnerships. Richardson fostered collaborative relationships with more than 70 cultural institutions and community organizations across the Chicagoland region on behalf of the station; ran the Off-Air Event Series, producing over 45 live events for nearly 30,000 participants; founded Chicago Amplified to archive community events; and launched a Sonic ID initiative. For nearly a decade, Breeze also volunteered as a producer for the Young Chicago Authors’ annual teen poetry slam, Louder Than A Bomb, pursuing national PRX distribution in celebration of National Poetry Month each April, to bring the voices of young writers to public radio airwaves across the country.

Breeze received a master’s degree in public policy from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and bachelor’s degrees in economics and American Studies from the University of Kansas. She enjoys exploring the valley with her husband, Kelsey, and teenage boys, Gus and Ignatius.