Elaine AyalaQueen of the Barrio
Elaine Ayala worked in mainstream journalism for 45 years, capping her career as Metro columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and as host of her podcast, ¡Nosotros! with Elaine Ayala.
After retiring in 2026, she launched a new podcast with co-host Michael Quintanilla, The Buena Vista Project — exploring Mexican American history, politics, cultura y más from San Antonio, the Mexican American capital of the United States. She is also lead editor of two on-going book projects on San Antonio's Mexican American civil rights figures and the historic Alameda Theater.
A San Antonio native who grew up on the West Side and still resides there, she graduated from Memorial High School in the Edgewood Independent School District and earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She began as a grass-roots reporter in 1980 and went on to cover U.S. Latino politics, religion, immigrants, and Mexican American history, arts and culture for six metropolitan dailies — the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the Arizona Daily Star, The Plain Dealer in Ohio, the Austin American-Statesman, the El Paso Times and, from 1996 to 2026, the Express-News — serving as editorial writer, features editor, blogger and editorial page editor.
Awards & recognition
- Henry Guerra Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Journalism, SAAHJ
- Phillip True Award for Reporter of the Year, given by her peers at the Express-News
- Governor's Yellow Rose of Texas Award
- Inaugural Community Voice Award, San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Inaugural Mission Heritage Award, American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions
- Honors from the Martinez Street Women's Center, IMAGE of San Antonio, and — most recently — the West Side's legendary Snakepit Society
Hall of Fame
- Edgewood Independent School District
- San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame
- National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Service to the profession
Past president of the San Antonio, Austin Area and El Paso associations of Hispanic Journalists, and a board member of NAHJ, where she spoke, organized plenaries and panels, and co-chaired its national conventions. A product of the Maynard Institute's Editing Program, where she also taught.
See her crowned at Piñatas in the Barrio →