Columbia Journalism School Announces 2024 Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program Fellows

Columbia Journalism School announced today the 24 Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program fellows for the 2024-25 academic year. The fellows represent emerging leaders at a wide range of organizations, from media start-ups and nonprofit news, to local newsrooms and large international publications.

Each of these fellows will use the 21 weeks of the program to accelerate a strategic project for their organization. The 2024 Sulzberger Fellows are:

• Abby Blachman, Product Engineer, The 19th
• Sewell Chan, Editor in Chief, The Texas Tribune (Google News Initiative Scholarship)
• Shanté Cosme, Chief Content Officer, Global Press
• Chase Davis, Vice President, Head of Strategy & Transformation, Star Tribune
• Sharif Durhams, Managing Editor - News & Programming, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Google News Initiative Scholarship)
• Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, Executive Director, Resolve Philly
• David Fucillo, Head of Sports Betting Content, SB Nation / Vox Media
• Kerstin Hasse, Member of The Editorial Board, Tages-Anzeiger / TX Group
• Basil Honegger, Head of Video & Member of the Editorial Board, 20 Minuten / TX Group
• John Keefe, Weather Data Editor, The New York Times
• Beat Krapf, Head of Strategic Projects & New Business, 20 Minuten / TX Group
• Jonathan Laurence, Supervising Executive Producer, AJ+
• Francesca Levy, Executive Director, Marketplace / American Public Media
• Nomzamo Majuqwana, Director, Inclusion Insights & Action, The New York Times
• Allison Markowitz, Senior Producer, TODAY & Senior Content Producer, TODAY 360, NBC News
• Alban Mazrekaj, Lead Product Manager, NZZ
• Ryan Nave, Executive Editor, Reckon / Advance Local
• Liz Kelly Nelson, Former Vice President, Vox / Vox Media
• Christabel Nsiah-Buadi, Community Development Lead, Creator Experience, Spotify (Google News Initiative Scholarship)
• Natalia Ramírez Jaramillo, Director of Strategic Communication & Futures Design, Radio Ambulante Studios (Google News Initiative Scholarship)
• Ian Sager, Vice President of Audience Development, Sharecare
• Otis R. Taylor Jr., Managing Editor of News & Enterprise, KQED
• Hiroshi Toyofuku, Head of Business, Nikkei Asia / Nikkei Inc.
• Tobias Wedermann, Head of Sport & Member of the Editorial Board, 20 Minuten / TX Group

Learn more about the fellows and their projects:

"They have been invited to be Sulzberger Fellows because we believe they have the ability to shape the future of journalism and, therefore, the future of democracy — plain and simple," said Corey Ford, Director of the program. "The journalism industry is under threat — politically, culturally, and economically. Now, more than ever, we need leaders who can guide journalism to a robust and sustainable future. We believe that these fellows will be those leaders."

The fellowship opens on January 2 with two intensive weeks at Columbia Journalism School. The projects will continue over 18 weeks of virtual acceleration, before the fellows return for a final week on May 20.

The Sulzberger Program will run again from January to May 2025. Learn more about the program and upcoming applications.