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The Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange is a community-grounded accelerator program supporting BIPOC media entrepreneurs through training, one-on-one coaching, and grantmaking.

The Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange focuses on the urgent need and opportunity to support and advance more media entrepreneurs of color to ensure communities prosper and news businesses thrive and grow sustainably on their own terms.

The Founders Exchange launched in March 2022, and over the duration of the five-month program, the eleven Founders Exchange entrepreneurs received training on operations, revenue and monetization, and marketing and branding to help them build profitable and sustainable media businesses. They also each received a $10,000 grant, the opportunity to apply for follow-on grant support, and professional coaching to support their entrepreneurial efforts. In 2023, the Founders Exchange returned to support 12 new entrepreneurs.

The Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange is supported by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, The Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund, and the Independence Public Media Foundation. The 2023 project lead is Jos Duncan Asé, founder, executive producer, and publisher of Love Now Media. Black & Brown Founders, which supports entrepreneurs of color, will deliver the training curriculum.

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Meet the 2023 Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange Entrepreneurs

Lessons from the 2022 Founders Exchange