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Sofia Lachapelle
Reporter, “Al Rojo Vivo”
Sofía Lachapelle has been a reporter for Telemundo’s “Al Rojo Vivo” since 2011. She has covered countless stories for the network, among them the tragedy in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and the “Cambiando Vidas” segment, which she acknowledges is her favorite portion of the show. Sofía was born in the Dominican Republic and graduated from Puerto Rico’s Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in 1995. In the last two decades, she has made a name for herself as a reporter in North and Central America.
Sofía began her career as a correspondent for WAPA TV in Puerto Rico. In 1996, she moved to Miami to take a job as a news reporter with Univisión. Two years later she transferred to Univisión 41 in New York, where she experienced some of the most intense moments of her career trapped under the rubble of the Twin Towers while covering the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. She received multiple awards and recognitions for her work on this story, including the Dominican Republic’s Cassandra Prize and the honor of being named “Reporter of the Year” at the A.C.E Awards in New York City. In 2000, New York’s Diario La Prensa named her “Journalist of the Year.” She also expanded her work beyond the news to develop a children’s educational segment known as “ABC.”
Sofía returned to the Dominican Republic in 2002 as news anchor for Canal 27, and in 2004 she had her own talk show on Canal 13, “Controversia.” In 2005, she moved back to the United States and had her first child, Jayson, in June of that year. Jayson and his younger brother, Maximus, are autistic, and they were the inspiration for Sofía’s foundation, “Un Paso a la Vez” (One Step at a Time), which is dedicated to offering information, education and motivation to parents of special children.
Sofía took a break from journalism for five years following Jayson’s birth, returning to television on Telemundo’s local affiliate in Miami in 2010. She went on to join “Primer Impacto” on Univisión until returning to Telemundo in 2011 for her current position with “Al Rojo Vivo.”