The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY is proud to introduce the seventh cohort of the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership. These 20 accomplished journalism and media leaders bring expertise spanning editorial strategy, audience development, product and technology, artificial intelligence, revenue, visual journalism, nonprofit leadership, and organizational transformation.
“This cohort reflects the kind of leadership journalism needs right now: curious, collaborative, and ready to navigate change,” said Kyle Plantz, Senior Director of Leadership Programs at the Newmark J-School. “They bring an incredible range of experiences and perspectives to the program, but they also share a commitment to building stronger organizations and finding new ways for journalism to serve its communities. We’re excited to see what they learn from one another and what they take back to their organizations over the coming year.”
The Class of 2027 includes leaders working across nonprofit and commercial news organizations, public media, international news agencies, local journalism, and national outlets. This year’s cohort includes professionals from Chile, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States. Together, they will explore new strategies, business models, technologies, and approaches to leadership as they work to build stronger and more sustainable news organizations.
They join a growing network of more than 100 Executive Program alumni who are leading change across the global journalism industry, launching new ventures and products, taking on expanded leadership roles, and applying what they learned in the program to some of the most pressing challenges facing their organizations and communities.
The 2026–2027 program runs from August 31, 2026, to June 25, 2027, and blends virtual classes with three in-person residencies in New York City, individual coaching, Leadership Circles, and work on a Capstone Project. Thanks to the support of the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation, Microsoft, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Asian American Journalists Association, and Institute for Nonprofit News, the program continues to bring together a diverse group of journalism leaders from around the world.
EXECUTIVE PROGRAM CLASS OF 2027
Chibuike Alagboso
Current Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Country of Origin: Nigeria
Organization: Nigeria Health Watch
Role: Director of Media Programmes
Chibuike Alagboso is Director of Media Programmes at Nigeria Health Watch, a leading health communication and advocacy organisation. He oversees editorial, multimedia, digital and communications strategy, driving multi-platform content that shapes health policy discourse across Nigeria and beyond. With over a decade at the intersection of media, health, and development, Chibuike has worked with Nigerian, African, and global media organisations to strengthen health and development reporting. He led the five-year Solutions Journalism Africa Initiative in Nigeria and oversees Nigeria Health Watch’s cross-learning efforts, expanding its policy advocacy footprint across Africa. He has served as a mentor and grant jury member for the European Journalism Centre’s Solutions Journalism Accelerator, One World Media UK, and Journalism Fund Europe, and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Journalism Innovation and Leadership from the University of Lancashire. He is particularly interested in digital transformation and sustainability in non-profit media.
Jazmine Brazier
Current Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: The Atlanta Voice
Role: Development Specialist
Jazmine Brazier is the Chief Growth and Development Officer at The Atlanta Voice, where she leads the organization’s fundraising, grant strategy, and revenue diversification efforts. Since joining the organization in 2023, she has built sustainable business opportunities through membership programs, sponsored content, corporate sponsorships, and community events, while cultivating relationships with individual donors, corporate partners, and philanthropic foundations that strengthen the Voice’s long-term financial footing. A collaborative leader, Brazier works cross-functionally with editorial and operations teams to align development strategy with newsroom priorities and audience growth goals, and partners with community organizations, civic groups, and local businesses to expand readership and deepen the Voice’s presence across Atlanta. Before The Atlanta Voice, Brazier spent nearly a decade at Healthy Babies Project, Inc. in Washington, DC, where she rose to Director of Youth Services, building agency-wide programs, managing funding compliance, and supervising cross-functional teams to deliver measurable outcomes for the community. Brazier serves on the board of Parent Lab and on the Advisory Council for Atlanta Public Schools’ Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) program. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Community Health (Health Education) from Howard University and a J+ Non-Profit News Business Certificate from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Jazmine is a Knight Foundation Fellow.
Bill Cannon
Current Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: USA TODAY Co.
Role: VP, Innovation
Bill Cannon is Vice President of Innovation at USA TODAY, where he helps turn ambitious ideas into sustainable products, businesses, and ways of working. Over a 25-year career with the company, he has led newsroom transformation efforts, launched new growth initiatives, and worked across editorial, audience, product, and business teams to help journalism adapt to changing consumer habits. Bill enjoys bringing people together around challenging problems, learning from different viewpoints, and helping teams turn good ideas into meaningful results. A longtime mentor to journalists and emerging leaders, he views leadership as an opportunity to help others grow while continuing to learn himself. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with family, investing in people, and seeking experiences and conversations that broaden his perspective.
Ariel Cheung
Current Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: City Bureau
Role: Civic Information Director
Ariel Cheung is an award-winning Chicago journalist and Civic Information Director at City Bureau, a nonprofit civic media lab reimagining who does journalism and how it reaches our communities. She was previously the Food & Travel Editor at the Chicago Tribune, a food critic, magazine editor and a reporter. Her work in Chicago has sent her everywhere from the Cubs World Series parade and the city’s finest restaurants to crime scenes and teacher picket lines. She is from Ohio and attended the University of Cincinnati. In Chicago, she is the former president of the local chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, an ardent White Sox fan, amateur gardener, and mother to 1-year-old Marlow. She got her first official bylines as a middle-school KidZone reporter for her hometown newspaper, The Toledo Blade.
Kevin Clancy
Current Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: Evident
Role: Executive Creative Director
Kevin Clancy is the Executive Creative Director and Co-Founder of Evident, a nonprofit newsroom producing investigative visual journalism, where he also serves as Board President. In its first year, Evident earned 5 Emmy nominations, built more than 15 newsroom partnerships spanning hyperlocal, statewide, national and international outlets, surpassed 10 million views, and had reporting cited in federal court rulings. At Evident, Clancy has helped lead collaborative investigations with Bellingcat, Lighthouse Reports, The 19th and CalMatters, including an Emmy-nominated investigation on immigration raids in California. Prior to co-founding Evident, he was Senior International Producer for Scripps News’ Longform team, supervising documentary programming and reporting from more than 25 countries on subjects ranging from conflict to climate change and migration. His work on Scripps’ In Real Life series included producing, DPing and editing “Plastic Time Bomb,” which won the network’s first National Emmy. Kevin is an Institute for Nonprofit News Fellow.
Kari Cobham
Current Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Country of Origin: Trinidad & Tobago
Organization: The 19th News
Role: Founding Director of Fellowships
Kari Cobham has over two decades of experience in journalism, digital media and nonprofit leadership. She’s the director of the Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Fellowship at The 19th, a multi-track program creating pathways into journalism and leadership for HBCU alumni. Previously, she led The Carter Center’s Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism across the United States, Latin America and the Middle East. She has also worked as a reporter and digital news executive. Kari was part of the inaugural Poynter and Online News Association Women’s Leadership Academy and served as faculty and coach. She’s also a member of NABJ’s 2026 Leadership Academy and trains news leaders on resilience, trauma-informed reporting and self-advocacy. A Bethune-Cookman University graduate, Kari holds a master’s from the University of Central Florida. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, Fortune, Ms. and Business Insider. She’s represented by Danielle Chiotti of Upstart Crow Literary and is working on her first book. Kari is an Institute for Nonprofit News Fellow.
Ivan Couronne
Current Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Country of Origin: France
Organization: AFP
Role: Global Editor, Future of the Planet
Since 2024, Ivan has served as AFP’s founding Future of the Planet Editor-in-Chief, leading a significant expansion of the agency’s climate and environmental reporting across text, photo, video and graphics. He established an internal training programme that strengthened climate reporting capacities for hundreds of AFP journalists worldwide. Before that, Ivan spent a decade reporting from the United States, covering Congress and presidential campaigns, science and the environment, and was deputy head of AFP’s Planet Hub when it was created in 2022 in the Paris newsroom. Ivan is active in the media industry outside of AFP, having served on the advisory boards of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network and the steering committee of Covering Climate Now.
Amira El-Ghobashy
Current Location: New York, New York, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: The New Humanitarian
Role: U.S. Partnerships Lead
Amira El-Ghobashy is the U.S. Partnerships Lead at The New Humanitarian, spearheading stateside fundraising, strategic partnerships, and community engagement for one of the world’s only independent nonprofit newsrooms specializing in humanitarian crisis coverage. Since joining TNH, she has built the organization’s voice at the intersection of journalism, humanitarianism and narrative change and launched TNH’s inaugural US convening series. With more than 20 years of leadership and development experience in the nonprofit sector, Amira has a track record of scaling organizations and building partnerships across philanthropy, media, and civic life. Amira holds a B.S. in Communications and a Master’s in Public Administration from New York University. She has been recognized for her leadership by the Aspen Institute and the American Express Leadership Academy.
Lydia Fiser
Current Location: Denver, Colorado, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: Free Speech TV
Role: Co-Executive Director
Lydia Fiser is Co-Executive Director of Free Speech TV, a viewer-supported national news network reaching 20 million households, built on the premise that journalism should not just inform, but also drive civic action. She stepped into the role in 2024 alongside Mark Winston Griffith. Within their first two years, they developed and set out on a strategic plan to make FSTV the country’s leading broadcast and streaming service for news and stories that advance a people-powered, multiracial democracy. Lydia oversees broadcast and streaming operations, finance, marketing, production, and partner relations. Trained in social work and restorative justice, she leads with a focus on staff culture, conflict repair, and building the conditions for people to do their best work. She co-founded a local news and culture magazine as an undergraduate at the University of Florida in 2008.
Braden Goyette
Current Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: Slate Magazine
Role: Special Projects Editor
Braden Goyette is Slate Magazine’s special projects editor, focused on coordinating the launches of new editorial products across teams. She’s worked in journalism since 2010 for a variety of outlets, including as an editor at the Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN. She is also a PMP-certified project manager.
Cameron Jones
Current Location: New York City, United States
Country of Origin: United States|
Organization: ABC News Live
Role: Producer
Cameron is a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer with a lifelong passion for storytelling. A native New Yorker, he is a producer for ABC News Live and previously managed inclusive content development for ABC News Studios, helping shape long-form narrative specials and docuseries for greenlight consideration. He also served as chief of staff to two ABC News presidents. A creative and curious journalist, Cameron has produced and coordinated operations for Good Morning America and conducted digital interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Carmelo Anthony, Keke Palmer, Raven-Symoné, Brandy, LeAnn Rimes and more. He earned a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Oswego, where he received the GOLD Award for alumni achievement, and an MBA from Syracuse University. Cameron brings energy, empathy, and innovation to every project while expanding his impact as an adjunct instructor, talent producer for CultureCon, and member of the National Association of Black Journalists and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
Michael Krechting
Current Location: Essen, Germany
Country of Origin: Germany
Organization: Funke Media Group
Role: Deputy Editor-in-Chief Digital & Development at WAZ & Westfalenpost
Michael Krechting is Deputy Editor-in-Chief Digital & Development at FUNKE Medien NRW (WAZ, Westfalenpost). As part of the editorial leadership team at FUNKE in North Rhine-Westphalia, he jointly develops the digital strategy for all editorial offices, which employ more than 300 colleagues, and holds a leading management position in the newsroom. Until the end of 2020, he headed the central digital editorial office of NOZ media group in Hamburg, which was responsible for national topics for the news websites noz.de, shz.de, and svz.de. He was also responsible for NOZ’s editorial digital strategy. Krechting has held management positions in online journalism for almost 20 years now and gained professional experience at highly regarded media organizations like Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger (Cologne, Germany). He studied political science, German philology and public law at the University of Muenster, Germany and is a graduate and former scholarship holder of the german journalism school “ifp”. In early 2026, he was honored to be part of the cohort of the AI Journalism Lab: Leaders at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Carlos J. Martínez-Rivera
Current Location: Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Country of Origin: Puerto Rico
Organization: GFR Media
Role: Senior Editor, Digital Strategy & Subscriptions
Carlos J. Martínez-Rivera is Senior Editor of Digital Strategy and Subscriptions at GFR Media, Puerto Rico’s leading news media company and publisher of El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora. With more than 15 years of journalism experience, he has evolved from leading breaking news coverage to helping drive the digital transformation of Puerto Rico’s largest news organizations. After serving nearly eight years as Breaking News Editor, he became the first editor within the organization to bridge editorial strategy with subscription growth and business objectives. Today, he leads initiatives that align audience development, content strategy, user experience, product innovation, and artificial intelligence to strengthen sustainable journalism across both news brands. Carlos is passionate about building sustainable news organizations that combine editorial excellence with audience-first strategies and responsible innovation. Through the Executive Program, he looks forward to collaborating with media leaders worldwide, exchanging ideas, and bringing new approaches back to Puerto Rico to help shape the future of local journalism.
Teresa Mondria Terol
Current Location: New York, New York, United States
Country of Origin: Spain
Organization: NPR
Role: Senior Product Manager, AI Labs
Teresa Mondría Terol leads AI products and platforms at NPR, where she was the first hire on the AI Labs team, leading how NPR uses generative AI to enrich its content metadata and power better search and personalization. Previously, she was an engineer on The New York Times’ A.I. Initiatives team, helping build Cheatsheet — the newsroom’s investigative LLM tool, recent winner of a WAN-IFRA Digital Media Award for Best AI-Driven News Product — used across dozens of stories. She was part of the engineering team of Times’ Epstein Files coverage, and she worked with reporters and bureau chiefs across desks worldwide. Before The Times, she worked on product operations and model behavior at The Browser Company, specializing in AI quality and LLM evaluations for Dia Browser. She has held roles in data science and A.I. at Chartbeat and the United Nations, and audience research with the Brown Institute for Media Innovation and Columbia Climate School. She graduated from Columbia University with a master’s in quantitative methods, supported by the “la Caixa” Fellowship, from Miguel Hernández University with a master’s in journalism innovation, and from University Carlos III with a dual bachelor’s in journalism and media studies. She has spoken at national and international conferences. Teresa is a Microsoft Fellow.
Dalila-Johari Paul
Current Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: Capital B
Role: National Editor
Dalila-Johari Paul is Capital B’s inaugural National Editor, overseeing politics, education, climate, criminal justice, and rural coverage. She also leads national editorial partnerships, including solutions and rural journalism initiatives, for the award-winning nonprofit newsroom. Her editorial career spans decades. Before Capital B, she spent nearly seven years at CNN, where her proudest role was senior editor of the Race & Equality team. There, she led digital coverage on major stories at the intersection of race, politics, gender, and justice — including the Buffalo supermarket massacre, the rise in reports of anti-Asian hate, and the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. She also helped launch the widely read Race Deconstructed newsletter. Her instinct that digital media was the future deepened while at The Guardian and CNBC Digital, following nearly a decade in newspapers at The Star-Ledger, the Hartford Courant, and Newsday. A Rutgers University graduate, she began her career behind the scenes in local TV news, after first finding her footing as a teenager committed to people-centered reporting on Black and Latino communities in her hometown of New York City. Dalilia-Johari is a Knight Foundation Fellow.
Allison Shirk San Miguel
Current Location: Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: WEHCO Media
Role: VP of Content and Newsroom Strategy
Allison Shirk is the Vice President of Content and Newsroom Strategy for WEHCO Media, guiding editorial vision and digital direction for the company’s ten daily newsrooms and weeklies across Arkansas and Tennessee. She works with newsroom teams to strengthen reporting, grow digital audiences and build audience-centric coverage that keeps readers informed and connected. Before stepping into this role, Allison was WEHCO’s Director of Digital Content and Engagement and previously worked as a reporter and editor in Tennessee and Florida. While she’s a newsroom journalist at heart, her work now sits at the intersection of content, audience strategy, product, technology, digital consumer revenue and data. Allison is a Knight Foundation Fellow.
Janne Soisalon-Soininen
Current Location: Helsinki, Finland
Country of Origin: Finland
Organization: Kauppalehti
Role: Head of Editorials and Opinions
Janne Soisalon-Soininen is Head of Editorials and Opinion at Kauppalehti, Finland’s leading business newspaper. He oversees the newspaper’s editorials and opinion journalism while developing new content formats, the use of AI and audience engagement. Janne began his journalism career in 2012 at the Finnish business newspaper Taloussanomat before joining Kauppalehti in 2017. He has written extensively on business, politics and global affairs, with a particular focus on analytical journalism. At Kauppalehti, he has served as News Editor, New York Correspondent and, most recently, Managing Editor for in-depth journalism. Janne holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Helsinki. At the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, he is exploring how artificial intelligence and new storytelling formats can strengthen opinion journalism and public trust in news. He is the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation Fellow.
Pedro Ugarte
Current Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Country of Origin: Chile
Organization: AFP
Role: Photo Director/Photo Editor in Chief
Pedro Ugarte is the North America Photo Director at Agence France-Presse (AFP), where he oversees photographic coverage across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. During more than three decades with AFP, he has photographed and led photo operations on five continents, with postings in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Throughout his career, he has documented and coordinated coverage of conflicts, natural disasters, political events, and major sporting events. Passionate about the intersection of journalism and technology, he has long advocated for innovations that strengthen visual reporting. He currently leads AFP’s exploration of Content Credentials within its photo service, helping develop workflows that authenticate news images and reinforce trust in an era of synthetic media and AI-generated deepfakes. He is also exploring how artificial intelligence can enhance newsroom operations, improve editorial workflows, and support the work of visual journalists. His photography has received international recognition and has been published by media outlets around the world.
Rafael Ulloa
Current Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Country of Origin: Ecuador
Organization: El Tiempo Latino / Tiempo Company
Role: Deputy Publisher
Rafael Ulloa is Deputy Publisher at Tiempo Company, the independent media organization behind El Tiempo Latino, El Planeta, and Tiempo News. He helps lead editorial strategy, audience growth, business development, and community engagement across the organization’s brands and digital platforms, which collectively reach more than 6 million people each month across the United States. With more than two decades in journalism and media leadership, Ulloa co-founded El Planeta in Boston before joining El Tiempo Latino following its acquisition in 2017. Since then, he has played a key role in advancing the organization’s digital-first transformation by expanding newsletters, strengthening its social media presence, and developing new audience engagement initiatives. He has also built strategic partnerships that expand access to trusted journalism for Latino communities and launched an invitation-only leadership breakfast series that brings together civic, business, nonprofit, and community leaders to explore insights and opportunities shaping Latino communities in the Washington, D.C., region. His work focuses on bridging editorial excellence with sustainable business strategy to help independent local journalism innovate, grow, and better serve diverse audiences. Rafael is a Knight Foundation Fellow.
Mia Warren
Current Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Country of Origin: United States
Organization: Feet in 2 Worlds
Role: Director
Mia (미아) Warren is an award-winning audio producer, journalist, and documentarian living in Brooklyn, NY. She is the Director of Feet in 2 Worlds (Fi2W), an organization that trains and supports immigrant journalists through fellowships, internships, and workshops. Prior to her role at Fi2W, Mia was a Senior Producer at Sony Podcasts, where she developed several original narrative shows. In 2020, Mia was the inaugural Editing Fellow at Fi2W, where she produced and edited the A Better Life? podcast, an exploration of how the U.S. COVID-19 response impacted immigrant communities. As a producer at StoryCorps from 2015-2019, she created segments for their weekly broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition, contributed to their 2019 Peabody-nominated podcast season, and collaborated on Un(re)solved, StoryCorps’ Emmy Award-winning civil rights series with Frontline. Mia is a graduate of the Online News Association’s 2025 Women’s Leadership Accelerator, Poynter’s 2025 Essential Skills for New Managers program, and the Asian American Journalist Association’s 2025 Executive Leadership Program (ELP). Mia is AAJA’s Simon and June Li Leadership Transformation Fellow.