Ruth Ann Harnisch
Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Design Matters Media
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ruth Ann Harnisch is an investor, philanthropist, social activist, media producer, and founder of Harnisch Foundation, which supports work that breaks down barriers to equality and opportunity. She joins CreativeMornings live to reflect on her path from teen broadcaster to first female anchor, and how finding her voice in inequitable newsrooms shaped everything that followed.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | one of your bosses was chasing you around the sofa. |
| 0:03.4 | Literally chased me around the sofa to try and tackle me to the sofa. |
| 0:09.9 | It's a cliche because it was so true. |
| 0:16.1 | From the chat audio collective, this is Design Matters with Debbie Millman. |
| 0:23.2 | On Design Matters, Debbie talks with some of the most creative people in the world about what they do, how they got to be who they are, and what they're thinking about and working on. |
| 0:32.5 | On this episode, a conversation with philanthropist Ruth Ann Harnish about breaking through barriers as a broadcast journalist. |
| 0:40.7 | I don't let me down. I can count on me. |
| 0:50.3 | Ruth Ann Harnish is an investor, philanthropist, social activist, and media producer with a long history in journalism and broadcast TV. |
| 1:00.4 | The interview was presented by Creative Mornings and Laliants, New York, and it took place in New York City in front of a live audience on December 5th, 2025. |
| 1:10.4 | Welcome Ruth Ann Harnish. |
| 1:12.4 | What a delight to be here. |
| 1:15.6 | Ruth Ann, I'd like to begin by going back to your beginnings in Buffalo. |
| 1:23.4 | Is it true that when you were 15 years old, you worked as a DJ at the local radio station under the name Karen Kelly? |
| 1:35.6 | Karen with an I, K-A-R-I-N, Karen Kelly. |
| 1:39.5 | Karen Kelly. |
| 1:40.4 | And I have long said that if anybody can find a photograph of me riding in a parade with WYSL's |
| 1:50.4 | Karen Kelly welcomes the Blue Max. |
| 1:54.2 | I was in a parade and photographed that way, but I have never been able to get a hold of the... |
| 2:01.0 | I'll pay a reward. |
| 2:02.4 | Okay, well, the gauntlet has been thrown. |
| 2:05.4 | You know how much I love research. |
| 2:08.1 | I will look for you. |
... |
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