---

The Constellation News Leadership Initiative is a comprehensive management development program providing career coaching and executive leadership resources to Philadelphia-area media professionals of color pursuing senior roles in local news media enterprises.

The Lenfest Institute recognizes that Philadelphia benefits from a thriving media ecosystem, however it suffers from a lack of diversity in ownership and leadership of these institutions. The Constellation News Leadership Initiative focuses on the urgent need to support and advance more executive leaders of color into important management roles within local news media. This program is part of the Institute’s commitment to equity and increasing access to communities that have been historically marginalized in the news industry.

The Fellows receive world-class training from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, mentorship from a group of senior Executive Advisors who have advanced to positions of leadership in news enterprises, and career coaching from Crawford Leadership Strategies, a Black-owned leadership development firm. 

The Fellows take courses on how to identify and serve news audiences, build successful products, develop new business opportunities, manage teams, and lead an organizational transformation process. The program aims to help Fellows gain an understanding of product thinking and how to create and execute a product strategy, become more effective in driving change and transformation in their news organizations, obtain the skills to navigate and advance in their careers, and much more.

---