Ashley Kierkiewicz

Ashley Kierkiewicz serves as President and CEO of Na Leo TV, Hawai'i Island's community access television station based in Hilo, where she develops initiatives that empower residents and youth to use media as a tool for community change. A graduate of the University of Hawai'i at Hilo and a native of Hawai'i Island, she has served on the Hawai'i County Council since 2018, including leading Lower Puna's recovery and resilience work following the 2018 Kilauea eruption, bringing to her media leadership a direct connection to the civic processes her station covers. Under her direction Na Leo TV launched the Youth Media Challenge, an annual competition that drew more than 250 participants in its inaugural year and awarded more than $20,000 in prizes, and the Ho'olono Scholarship to support Hawai'i Island youth pursuing careers in broadcast, journalism, and digital media. The ACM recognized her with the Emerging Leader Award in 2024.

Na Leo TV's work is shaped by the particular conditions of a geographically isolated island community where the station serves as one of the primary platforms connecting residents to their government, their culture, and each other across Hawai'i Island's diverse and dispersed communities.

Ashley's dual role as station CEO and county council member embodies the civic purpose community media has always claimed: not just broadcasting about the community, but being accountable to it.