30 Emerging Leaders Institute Fellows Celebrate Their "Big Finish"

BY OLIVIA HOLLER, News Leaders Association Communications Intern

After six months of participating in the highly competitive News Leaders Association’s Emerging Leaders Institute (ELI) for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program, 30 exceptional ELI fellows celebrated graduation recently with colleagues and NLA Board members. 

Emerging Leaders Institute for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has played an important role in these graduates' lives and helped them grow as a leader and a person. Now in its 10th year, the program has helped hundreds of journalists become stronger leaders in their newsrooms.

ELI co-director Jill Geisler, an internationally renowned leadership coach who serves as the Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University’s School of Communication, introduced each fellow and asked them to share a “take away” from the program. She praised the ELI graduates for their initiative, curiosity and drive and encouraged them to build on the network they created during the past six months. 

“Leadership is a journey, a long journey, a self-discovery journey; you learn a lot of lessons, you fall on the ground, you struggle. You get satisfaction, but at the end of the day you understand that it is about serving journalism and serving others” said ELI co-director Alfredo Carbajal, managing editor at The Dallas Morning News who oversees Al Dia, the Spanish-language publication. 

ELI’s goal is to accelerate the rise of traditionally underrepresented journalists into the management ranks of news organizations and to support those who have already launched their leadership careers.

“Without having people that are diverse in the newsroom, you have one-sided coverage that does not reflect the ‘rainbow nation’ that we live in,” said Ron Nixon, NLA Treasurer and among dozens of seasoned journalism leaders who participate as guest speakers during the six-month program. 

The “Big Finish” event took place March 5th over zoom. The graduates discussed what they learned from the program. They hailed the Emerging Leaders Institute for giving them the opportunity and confidence to achieve their goals and dreams as a mentor, a friend, a leader and a better co-worker. 

Many fellows were promoted to new positions during their ELI fellowship, which helped them advance those ELI leadership skills to lead new teams and create new initiatives. 

“Remember that we have all earned the right to be where we are and our life experiences and skills all worked to make us good at what we do, and we should not be afraid to lean into that as we push for better journalism and better newsrooms.” said Washington Post deputy education editor April Bethea, a graduate of the program.

Ashley Brown, senior editor at NPR’s  All Things Considered, said her biggest takeaway from the program was learning the value and power of your voice.

“Editing yourself doesn't mean silencing yourself, and it is necessary that we speak up and trust our gut as to what we see as necessary, or missing.” said Brown, an ELI fellow.

Similarly to Brown, Nic Garcia, Politics Editor at the Des Moines Register, said he learned the value of listening. 

“Not just the value of listening, but how to demonstrate my listening in a constructive way,” said Garcia.  

The program not only gave the graduates the skills they need to become a better leader, but the cohort also gave them a network of people to lean on for advice and support. 

“As newsroom leaders, we are leading the way and modeling but many times we are walking alone,” said NLA President and Austin American-Statesman editor Manny Garcia. “But what I want to share is that what you have in this cohort, together,  you’ll never walk alone.”

The impact that the ELI fellowship had on everyone will follow them for years to come. “Your influence and leadership at heart is needed more now than ever,” Manny Garcia added. 
“The one thing about that journey is you are always learning. And that's what we have been doing here….At one point, you realize it’s not about you, it's about others.” Carbajal said.

Congratulations to all who completed the program!