Bill Johnson, chair of the board for the nonprofit Embarcadero Media Foundation, announced Friday that Julie Makinen will assume the roles of publisher and chief executive officer. She is scheduled to begin her duties on Oct. 19 at the organization, which serves as the parent company for the Pleasanton Weekly.
Makinen brings more than three decades of experience in journalism to the position. Her career includes leadership roles at major national outlets such as The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the International New York Times. Most recently, she served as editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Standard, a digital news startup.
Her professional background also encompasses significant work in regional media. In 2018, Makinen became executive editor of the Desert Sun in Palm Springs, where she oversaw nine Gannett publications in California. During her tenure there, she negotiated the first labor agreement with editorial staff, which was adopted in 2024. She also co-founded the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation to support local news through grants.
Makinen’s connection to the Bay Area is longstanding. She earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University and later returned as a JSK Journalism Fellow in 2016. She subsequently worked at the Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Center for Entrepreneurial Studies as a case writer. Her parents reside in Palo Alto.
Earlier in her career, Makinen worked on the metro and foreign desks at The Washington Post before joining the Los Angeles Times in 2001. Over eight years, she held positions including deputy business editor and assistant foreign editor. She later worked in Hong Kong for the international edition of the New York Times before returning to the L.A. Times as film editor.
Her reporting took her to Beijing as the paper’s China bureau chief, with bylines from Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries. In 2024, she served as board chair of the California News Publishers Association.
