Amber Payne

Amber Payne is Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Rocky Mountain Public Media. She leads content strategy and audience journeys across Rocky Mountain PBS, KUVO JAZZ, THE DROP 104.7, Civic Engagement, and Programming teams. Amber served as founding co-editor in chief and then publisher of The Emancipator, a digital magazine dedicated to exploring solutions to racial inequity. She was a 2021 Nieman fellow at Harvard University. She formerly served as managing editor of BET.com, leading editorial and digital video strategy; executive producer of Teen Vogue and Them; and, in 2015, launched NBCBLK, a section of NBCNews.com dedicated to elevating the conversation around Black identity, social issues, and culture. Amber started her career at NBC Nightly News producing breaking news and feature stories.