Gabriel Tyler is the deputy director of communications, media and social media at the Knight First Amendment Institute. He leads the Institute’s media relations and social media strategy, building the systems and processes that strengthen the organization’s relationships with journalists and extend its reach among legal observers and the broader public.

Before joining the Institute, Tyler directed communications for the National Equity Atlas and Bay Area Equity Atlas, a collaboration between PolicyLink and the USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute. He ran end-to-end media and narrative strategy for the Atlas platforms, turning data and expert insights into campaigns that drove visibility and uptake among researchers, policymakers, journalists, and advocates. Under his leadership, research examining California’s emergency rental assistance program drove sustained national coverage and helped catalyze public accountability leading to a lawsuit and settlement expanding access to rental assistance for tenants across California. He also led communications for research on the labor and wage impacts of Proposition 22, helping elevate worker pay and equity concerns in national and local policy conversations.

Earlier in his career, Tyler was a senior associate at Burness, where he partnered with foundations and their grantees to lead national communications campaigns focused on housing and health care practice and policy. He also served as assistant director of communications at the Center for Community Investment and spent six years at Scholastic as assistant editor for The New York Times Upfront and as a freelance writer and reporter covering social issues.

Tyler also served as an impact producer for “The Area,” a documentary depicting a South Side Chicago neighborhood’s fight against displacement by a multi-billion-dollar freight company. In that role, he helped shape the film’s community engagement strategy, strengthening partnerships with local organizers, advocates and media to extend the film’s reach into policy and organizing conversations.

He holds an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. in communications from DePaul University.