Kristen Welker ’94 is used to asking tough questions—as the moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” a former White House correspondent, and the moderator of the final presidential debate in the 2020 elections, she’s interviewed world leaders, lawmakers, community advocates, and entrepreneurs. On Thursday, February 20, she was the one fielding questions as the featured speaker at Germantown Friends School’s annual Christopher Allen ‘09 Lecture. 

On the Taulane Auditorium stage in the Barbara & David Loeb Performing Arts Center, before an audience of GFS Upper School students and faculty, and many of Welker’s friends, family, and former teachers, the lecture began with a candid discussion between Welker and her longtime mentor, Chris Blackman. Blackman is the Director of Career Services at Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication, and a former NBC News executive who hired Welker to the network. 

The Christopher Allen '09 Lecture series was established by John Allen and Joyce Krajian in memory of their son Chris, a freelance journalist who lost his life in 2017 while covering the conflict in South Sudan, and Welker opened with a heartfelt tribute to him.

“Christopher Allen represented what journalism is about: democracy, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech,” she said. “It’s humbling how brave he was, reporting on the front lines. What he did was extraordinary and so important.”

The conversation between Blackman and Welker then turned to her career in journalism and what the role of journalism is in the modern political landscape.

“A job like this gives you a front row seat to history—I’ve covered two Obama administrations, the first Trump administration, and the Biden administration. It’s a heavy responsibility because you’re asking questions on behalf of the American people.”

Welker spoke warmly of her time as a student at GFS (“one of the most special places on earth”), and traced her appetite for journalism back to writing for Earthquake, the school’s student-run magazine. She also noted how the practice of silent reflection, which she learned in Meeting for Worship, remains a helpful tool for centering herself in high-pressure situations to this day. 

She recalled how supportive her GFS teachers were, and urged current students to stay connected with mentors throughout their lives. Internships, she also noted, are an important avenue of exploring passions and interests and finding workplaces that “feel like home.” 

Later in the lecture, students posed a number of thoughtful questions to Welker about big moments in her career, such as How did you prepare for your interview with President Trump after he won the 2024 election? 

“You prepare for something like that by working on it every minute of every day, doing extensive research, sharpening the questions, and doing mock interviews,” she replied. “The role of political journalism is to get beyond the talking points and hold politicians accountable to their word.”

Head of School Dana Weeks shared the school’s commitment to exposing students to a range of people and experiences that seed ideas for how they might approach their own lives and careers. 

“Kristen is widely recognized for her accomplishments, and she gave our students an invaluable view into how she has developed into the professional she is today,” said Weeks. ”Her persistent focus, work ethic, and commitment to discerning truth has led her to a consequential career of purpose and meaning in a complex world. Her presence here serves as a reminder to our students that they have the ability and agency to create the same purpose and meaning in their areas of interest.”

After a luncheon in the All School Commons, Welker and Blackman met with two smaller groups of students: the André Robert Lee ’89 Fellows and the staff of the student news publication, the Earthquake. In those meetings, Welker expanded on her statements in the lecture about the importance of including many different voices in journalistic storytelling.

“This political moment requires that we hear from a real diversity of voices. It's important for any news program to make sure that there are people who are represented from different socioeconomic backgrounds, different racial backgrounds,” she said. “A lot of times that happens organically, but it's important to pay attention to that, and that's one of the lessons I learned, working with Chris.”

Welker reminded the Fellows and the young journalists to remember that it takes time to progress through a career, and most professional journeys begin with entry level jobs after college or grad school. 

“You don't start off in your dream job—you have to work your way up, take a lot of detours, and you do a lot of jobs that aren't necessarily what you thought you'd be doing,” she said.

Welker’s own career in broadcast journalism began far from home in Redding, California, where she was the news anchor, camera operator, editor, and weather forecaster. In 2005, she joined an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia as a reporter and weekend anchor. In 2010, she became a correspondent at NBC News in Burbank California; a short while later, in 2011, she joined NBC News’ White House unit as a correspondent and later NBC News’ chief White House correspondent, before becoming the moderator of “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” in September 2023.

During the Christopher Allen '09 Lecture, Blackman told the audience that, after hiring Welker at NBC, he predicted she would become a White House Correspondent in five years (it took six). He sensed that her unwavering passion for politics would feed her ambition to thrive and make an impact in such a demanding position. 

“After every story Kristen reported on, she'd come into my office and we'd talk about politics. I knew that her passion for politics would take her beyond the local news,” Blackman remembered. “She turned her passion into her purpose."

“And to Chris' point,” Welker replied, “you want to find what you're passionate about and when you do, you will know. And that's why I encourage you to get internships, because when you're sitting in an environment and you feel like, ‘This is it, this is what I want to be doing, this is exciting,’ that’s when you know what you're doing is contributing to the community around you.”

About the Christopher Allen ’09 Lecture: The Christopher Allen '09 Fund was established by his parents, Joyce Krajian and John Allen, to honor Chris' memory and his commitment to practicing journalism from under-reported areas of the world. Christopher lost his life in 2017, while covering the conflict in South Sudan as a freelance reporter. GFS nurtured Chris' love of writing and of giving voice to the voiceless through print and photography. Joyce and John hope this lecture series, which features eminent journalists and writers, will raise students’ awareness of how the stories we tell matter and will imbue future generations of GFS students with Chris' love of learning, passion for ideas, and his commitment to making a difference in the world. Read more about Christopher Allen's life and work.