A Mentorship Program for Journalism and Civic Information Leaders
This pilot program was produced through the News Futures The Leaders Working Group.
1. Purpose, Intention and Philosophy
Several converging realities are major challenges for the future of civic information.
Diverse leadership is non-negotiable to sustain and grow our field, and mentorship is key to supporting emerging leaders—especially for those who come from communities or hold identities historically excluded from this type of work.
The rise of remote work has broadened who can join any given organization while significantly reducing the opportunities for informal and formal connection that used to exist in physical offices—which, when effective, encouraged experienced team members to mentor their less experienced colleagues.
Across the industry, informal mentorship and more structured programs lead to impactful relationship building and coaching, but privilege has influenced access. Amid shrinking budgets in newsrooms and elsewhere, alongside cuts to institutional DEI programming, the opportunities that do exist are becoming scarcer.
The Leaders Working Group at News Futures is focused on helping to nurture upcoming, existing and legacy civic media leaders and enable sustainable leadership within our field. This year, we developed a proposal for a structured mentorship program, aiming to address the issues above while also facilitating social and emotional support and practical skill-building among News Futures Signatories.
Our purpose is to provide a missing-but-necessary scaffolding for the news and information space’s future leaders: Feeling more confident and supported in their current roles will prepare and equip our mentees for added leadership responsibility as their careers unfold.
To create this program’s approach, we researched best practices for mentorship, and also surveyed and interviewed news leaders and participants in other mentorship programs focused on early career civic information practitioners. What rose to the surface in both: The importance of a structured and intentional environment for our mentor-mentee pairs.
Our initiative’s core values:
Empathy and psychological safety
Accountability with clarity
Diversity and representation
Real-world application
Cross-organizational connection
Building long-term community
This mentorship program will be open to anyone in News Futures, but is designed to serve specific types of Signatories.
Mentees:
“Early to mid- career,” self-defined. Those who still feel they are are still in the early parts of their journey in civic information, leadership or both
For people in civic information with little to no access to other formal or informal mentorship opportunities: e.g. people working in small organizations without internal mentorship programs, people who feel a mismatch between their values and those of their more experienced colleagues, independent journalists and/or others who don’t know where to find the career support they need.
Mentors:
“Mid- to late career,” self-defined. Those who believe they have gained enough experience and insight to be a source of helpful support and guidance to others.
People who are great at listening and guiding, and believe that the future of our industry is intrinsically tied to how prepared the next leaders are.
The program has been designed for the News Futures community, but it aims to prioritize correcting access gaps in our Signatories’ wider industries. We hope people from backgrounds and identities still underrepresented in civic information will benefit from the pilot.
2. Pilot Program Structure
Pilot Details
10 pairs
Four-month structured mentorship cycle
Building towards an ongoing alumni community
Optional longer-term check-ins
Anticipated Time Commitment:
2.5 hours per month dedicated to mentor/mentee relationship (Two sessions of 45–60 minutes, plus short check-ins with NF Mentor Program leadership team, see below)
Three Phases
Phase 1: Match-Making (3 weeks)
We will solicit interest from potential mentors and mentees in the News Futures community. A form for potential mentors, will ask about their professional path and the kind of mentees to whom they think they could be most useful. Another form for potential mentees will ask what they’re looking for from a mentor.
To bring more people into the News Futures fold, we can also intentionally target people in career paths represented in survey results as being important to the News Futures community.
The NF coordination team on this project (as of early 2026: Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, Erica Peterson, Kurt Sampsel and Max Resnik) will match mentees with mentors. In order to set the pairs up for success, both mentees and mentors will be required to check in monthly with an assigned NF team member. This will help us actively support everyone involved, and also gather real-time feedback on the pilot program structure.
Phase 2: Orientation and Goal-Setting (1 week)
The mentorship coordination team will review the NF Charter with every participant, as those values and principles will guide the collective work together.
Mentor-mentee pairs will agree to our shared values and expectations(see tab 2) as a baseline. They will also settle on further mutually-agreed-upon expectations for their work together, including meeting frequency, communication style and responsibilities.
Pairs will draft shared goals together (using the SMART system or others)to help ensure engagements are focused and meet expectations. Mentors and mentees will collaboratively determine how many goals to set, and the ambition of their scope.
Phase 3: Active Mentorship (3-6 months)
Two 1:1 sessions a month, either standing at dates (i.e. every other Tuesday) or in otherwise-pre-scheduled appointments.
We recommend that these sessions focus on learning and applying real-world leadership skills, including reviewing pitches or edits, running mock leadership scenarios or portfolio-building, as applicable.
Monthly check-ins for both mentors and mentees with the NF team, as described above.
Phase 4: Reflection and Continuation
The pilot will last for four months, but will include an option for pairs to continue their work together, if desired.
Pairs will fill out end-of-program reflection forms when the pilot concludes.
All will debrief with the NF team, to help identify what worked, what didn’t and what about the program might need to be changed going forward.
The goal would be to make this a long-term standing program within News Futures, with subsequent cohorts adapted based on feedback from the pilot. We also envision developing an “alumni network” of this program, to build on the collective knowledge of the group, but it is too early to determine what form that might take.
3. Program Features
A. Matching and Fit
Structured pairing based on goals, identities, skill areas, topics and communication preferences. Participants will be asked about the most important qualities they’re seeking in a mentor/mentee, and the team will try to find a successful counterpart.
If it’s not a good fit, participants will be able to request a rematch early in the cycle. However, by requiring monthly check-ins with the NF team, we will endeavor to find ways to fix whatever isn’t working about the relationship.
B. Structure and Accountability
Mentor–mentee compact
Regular check-ins
Clear expectations around role boundaries
Ability for participants to quickly and easily flag problems to the NF team and request a rematch
Avoids “programs that drift” or relationships that vanish without closure
C. Equity and Inclusion
Cultural competency emphasized upfront
Intentionally diverse mentor pool; specifically, this program seeks to address gaps in access to mentorship for women, people of color and those working in smaller civic media organizations and newsrooms
Support for participants who struggle to ask for help
D. Emotional & Career Support
Space for vulnerability, not performative professionalism
Help navigating rejection, burnout, layoffs and freelance instability
Guidance on funding, collaborations and launching independent projects
E. Multi-Tiered Pathways Welcome Several Skill Levels
Separate connection points designed for:
Early-career skill-building
Mid-career leadership and strategy
Freelancers seeking sustainability
5. Syllabus
Rather than offer a “one-size-fits-all” syllabus, we will create a menu of potential topics and professional challenges that might be worth focusing on. That way, mentor/mentee pairs can work together to identify the areas that will be most helpful.
6. Accountability
Equity and Inclusion: We plan to use the demographic data collected by News Futures to assess how our mentee and mentorship pool compares to the broader community. If we find that we are not serving women, people of color and/or those working in smaller organizations
, we plan to do targeted relationship-building and outreach to News Futures Signatories from these groups.
Participant Accountability: To ensure that both mentees and mentors are meeting the program’s expectations:
Program coordinators will conduct short, mid-pilot evaluation sessions.
We have plotted out accountability steps for the two most likely potential problems: a) one partner .
If a mentor or mentee is insufficiently communicating about rescheduling sessions—or not showing up—the coordination team will:
Allow for some human error and acknowledge that we all can, at times, miss a meeting or forget to respond to an email. One-time mistakes are considered just that.
If there is a clear pattern of non-responsiveness or not showing up, the coordination team will find the partner who raises the issue a new mentor or mentee within three weeks.
If a pairing does not feel like the right fit to one or both partners, the coordination team will:
Hold conversations with both participants to try to understand the root of the non-alignment.
Within three weeks, find new pairings for either or both people, depending on the circumstance.
If there is a more serious problem between or among mentorship pilot program participants (i.e. accusations of harm or anything else that would violate the News Futures charter or values), program coordinators will request support with the issue from News Futures staff.
Mentorship pairing norms and expectations
This is meant to be a starting point; pairs should feel free to add additional expectations they have for their time working together.
Vegas rules: We want all participants to feel comfortable sharing potentially sensitive information, so keep it confidential unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Punctuality: Mentors/mentees will show up on time for scheduled meetings. Everyone has busy schedules, so respect each other’s time.
Follow through: If mentors/mentees agree on a specific next step or task, both can expect the other will complete it by the agreed-upon date.
‘No judgment’ zone: We want mentors and mentees alike to be able to share their challenges and mistakes, without fear of judgment.
Housekeeping preferences: Mentors/mentees should discuss and agree upon communication preferences and accountability tools.
If a pairing isn’t working out, we want to hear about it. But we also expect you’ll give it a chance, and be open to cultivating a relationship with someone who maybe initially you were unsure about.
Goal-setting for mentees:
Please identify 2-3 goals you would like to work toward during this mentorship cycle. Each goal should be specific, realistic, and meaningful to you.
Goal 1
Description:
Why this matters to you right now:
What success would look like by the end of the program:
What support you hope your mentor can provide:
Goal 2
Description:
Why this matters to you right now:
What success would look like by the end of the program:
What support you hope your mentor can provide:
Goal 3 (optional)
Description:
Why this matters to you right now:
What success would look like by the end of the program:
What support you hope your mentor can provide:
What specific skills do you want to strengthen?
What obstacles might make it harder to reach your goals?
How can your mentor help you navigate these challenges?
By the midpoint of the program, I hope to have accomplished:
(List 1-2 concrete milestones.)
By the end of the program, I hope to have accomplished:
(List 2-3 clear outcomes.)