Carmen Fields has been a fixture in Boston’s journalism community for over 25 years.  Her experience includes both print and broadcast journalism; journalism education and media relations. For many Boston-area residents, Carmen’s comments on the news of the day, in her Boston Globe column and as a television reporter and anchor for Channels 7 and 4 and Channel 2’s “Ten O’Clock News” with Christopher Lydon were part of daily life!

When her news program was cancelled in the early 1990’s, Fields became the press secretary for Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph C. Martin II, where her astute media practices helped establish his name and share the work of the office with the public.  After a five-year tenure that included Martin’s first successful political campaign, she became Director of Communications for the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the largest funding entity of human services outside state government.

In recent years, she moved into the corporate world and currently is Director of Media Relations and Corporate Giving at KeySpan Energy New England – which is now a part of National Grid. She also currently hosts a monthly public affairs show, “Higher Ground,” at WHDH-TV Channel 7.

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Carmen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Lincoln University in Missouri and a Master of Science degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University. She was a part of the Boston Globe team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Boston’s school desegregation. After work at the Boston Globe as a reporter, assistant city editor and later as a columnist, Fields became a television journalist. She was also an assistant professor of journalism at Northeastern University.

ABCD President/CEO Bob Coard praised Carmen’s ongoing contributions to quality of life in Boston and throughout the region. “Carmen’s commitment to the inner-city community and to issues of social justice and human rights combined with her outstanding communications skills have make a difference for all of us,” he said. “Now, in the corporate world, she successfully bridges the gap between commercial sensibilities and the needs and issues affecting ordinary families. We are proud and privileged to present her with an award from ABCD.”

Among many awards and citations for professional and civic service, Carmen Fields was awarded an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Salem State College in 1992.

Carmen is a member of the board of the Boston Adult Literacy Fund and an officer in the Newton Chapter of Jack and Jill of America. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a service organization.  She is married to Lorenz J. Finison, PhD., and they have a daughter, Karly.