Nonprofit home of Report for America, Report for the World opens search for new chief development officer
Ten years at one news organization might seem like a lifetime for many journalists today, and perhaps even more so for a co-founder. Yet despite the pride a leader has in what’s been built, the call to take on new challenges can be powerful.
This is the case for Kevin Grant, who will be stepping down from his current role as The GroundTruth Project’s chief development officer to embark on a new role heading development with the Allbritton Journalism Institute.
“Seeing founders and co-founders in our space realize that a time comes when a leader must pass the torch to new leadership, I wanted to do the same,” Grant said. “Over this last decade, I have evolved as the organization has, taking on roles from managing editor to chief content officer to vice president of strategy to my final role at GroundTruth, chief development officer. And with the largest and most diverse group of funding partners we’ve ever had, our team has never been better positioned for the future so I’m leaving it in excellent hands.”
Grant, and fellow GlobalPost journalist Charles Sennott, founded GroundTruth a decade ago to create transformative opportunities for early-career journalists, helping audiences understand their own countries and the larger world through a largely globally-focused fellowship program.
“Our international fellowships supported award-winning multimedia reporting on complex global stories about climate change, gender equality, threats to democracy and public health,” Grant said. “Our reporting teams won many of the biggest awards in journalism, including the Edward R. Murrow, duPont, Webby, World Press Photo and Online Journalism Award.”
However, after hosting more than 300 fellowships in 50 countries, it became clear that GroundTruth had an opportunity to shift its focus to the growing crisis in local news, including closer to home.
“In light of a crisis in local news eroding communities’ access to information and paving the way for extremism, we launched Report for America and then its sister program Report for the World to be part of the solution,” Grant said. “ We’ve created more than 700 full-time positions in more than 400 newsrooms in 29 countries, working with many of the world’s leading philanthropic, academic and editorial partners.”
The GroundTruth Project will launch a nationwide search for a new chief development officer, however, Grant leaves big shoes to fill.
“Kevin’s contributions to our organization are incalculable. His skills, energy, award-winning journalism, entrepreneurship, and engaging ‘let’s-go-save-news style’ have been on display for a decade,” said GroundTruth’s CEO Rob Zeaske while sharing the news of Grant’s departure to staff. “Kevin’s work is visible in every part of our organization — and while we’re excited for him, he will be missed.”
About The GroundTruth Project
The GroundTruth Project is an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to rebuilding journalism from the ground up. GroundTruth serves under-covered communities by supporting the next generation of journalists to do on-the-ground reporting and to advance sustainability, innovation and equity in journalism worldwide. GroundTruth’s flagship programs — Report for America and Report for the World — place talented, diverse local reporters in the newsrooms that need them most.