The American Journalism Project (AJP), which seeks to nurture a healthy, informed democracy by supporting local press, has announced that 2006-07 Luce Scholar Sarabeth Berman will be its first CEO. The venture philanthropy organization aims to sustain and grow non-profit local news outlets through grantmaking, investments, and operational support.

Berman joins AJP after leading global public affairs at Teach For All. During her Luce Year in Asia, she worked at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.

“I’m thrilled to share that on May 1st, I’m starting as CEO of The American Journalism Project, a venture philanthropy supporting non-profit local journalism. This is a dire time for local news – but there is also a thrilling group of new non-profit news outlets taking root across our country. I’m lucky to be joining an incredible team and supporting an inspiring group of journalists and civic news entrepreneurs.”

Today, the American Journalism Project (AJP) announced the selection of its first CEO, Sarabeth Berman. Berman will report to the AJP Board of Directors and will replace co-founder John Thornton as AJP’s day-to-day leader.

Berman comes to AJP with a decade of leadership experience in thriving, innovative social-change organizations. Most recently, Berman served as Global Head of Public Affairs at Teach for All, a global network of 53 social enterprises tackling education challenges. In that role, she helped build national movements to expand opportunities for students and promote systemic change in education around the world.

Berman is inspired and ready to begin her new position. “Anybody who tells you that local journalism is doomed has not looked seriously at the problem or at the extraordinary creativity already underway,” she said. “The American Journalism Project is determined to help shift the trajectory from decay to growth. Most of all, that means reimagining how we finance and sustain these organizations. Our goal is a country in which every community has the information it needs to sustain democracy and hold local powers to account. I’m beyond thrilled to be a part of it.”

AJP is a venture philanthropy organization founded in 2019 with an ambitious mission to grow sustainable nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsrooms that are governed by, sustained by, and look like the public they serve. AJP was founded on two core beliefs: First, local news is a crucial public good and fundamental democratic institution which holds the powerful accountable, combats disinformation, and deepens civic participation; and second, as communities across the U.S. lose their newspapers to failing revenue models, there is an urgent need for a new approach to local news.

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