New INN Program Supports Emerging Leaders in Nonprofit News

LOS ANGELES -- Feb. 27, 2017 -- The Institute for Nonprofit News is launching a new program to support leadership and skills development for future leaders of nonprofit news organizations.

The INN Emerging Leaders Council will provide training, professional development and peer support for 10 mid-career individuals in nonprofit news who have demonstrated the potential to become top executives and leaders of the nonprofit news media sector in the U.S.

Nonprofit news organizations have grown rapidly across the U.S. About 10 percent of INN’s 120 member organizations reported in 2016 that they were in the process of or had recently completed succession planning to name new leaders, often replacing the founding journalists.

“Succession is a milestone in ensuring these newsrooms are here for the long haul and can keep serving and informing their communities,” said INN Executive Director & CEO Sue Cross. “We are excited to encourage and support these emerging leaders who can take the helm of nonprofit news organizations in the future.”

The Emerging Leaders Council is funded by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, part of EEJF’s generous support of INN programs to advance investigative reporting and professional development for journalists. As part of that mission, INN works to build the business capacity of journalists founding, leading and inventing new types of nonprofit news media dedicated to the public interest.

Call for nominations

The INN Emerging Leaders Council is open to full-time staff at INN member organizations. They may be at mid-career level in a larger organization or leaders of small operations who would like to develop their potential to run large nonprofits. Participants are nominated by their organization’s top director or board chair.

Participants will come together twice in person for day-long trainings and meet monthly by video conference throughout the one-year program, working together on common challenges as well as receiving professional development training. Nominations are due March 15 and the first council will be selected in early April by a panel of INN members and industry leaders. The council will meet June 20 in Phoenix, where members also will be invited to participate in INN Day.

The program will be coordinated and led as a peer organization by Jason Alcorn, a nonprofit news consultant and experienced advisor to INN members.

For more information about the program, contact Sue Cross at sue@inn.org or Jason Alcorn, jason@inn.org.

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About INN:

The Institute for Nonprofit News is a growing national network of 120 nonprofit news organizations dedicated to providing investigative and public service reporting. INN was founded in 2009 to foster a new collective of newsrooms serving the public interest. Today it functions as an innovation network, helping members develop new ways to support journalism and engage communities, providing  business, technology and leadership support and a framework for collaboration. INN’s work helps newsrooms bring investigative and civic news to more people, hold the powerful accountable and strengthen democracy. More information can be found at https://archive.inn.org.

About EEJF:

The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation is a grant-making foundation based in Oklahoma that provides grants to journalism organizations throughout the United States. EEJF has four program areas: Investigative Reporting, Professional Development, Oklahoma Journalism and Special Opportunities. Within each of these program areas, the foundation gives special preference to programs focusing on ethics and new media.