2025 STEWARDSHIP
Stewardship is how we share leadership at News Futures. Stewards are those leading a Working Group or involved in our Gardening Club. To be a steward for 2025 you need to have attended at least one News Futures FLN Camp.
News Futures community members both propose and steer the selection of stewards, with support and final selection determined by News Futures Staff and Gardening Club, in alignment with budget and long term goals.
Want to lead a Working Group or join the Gardening Club? Below you will find more information on what these opportunities entail. We will also be holding online information sessions where you can drop in and ask questions:
Remember, as a general rule, we don’t allow News Futures community members to wear more than one hat (ie our “one hat rule”). Meaning all community members will have opportunities to play multiple roles within News Futures, including Gardening Club steward, working group leader and even staff—but not at the same time.
Have questions in the meantime? Find us at team@newsfutures.org.
Gardening Club
The Gardening Club (GC) is a standing working group tasked with helping to define and forward News Futures strategy, rooted in input from the News Futures community.
If elected, you can expect:
To begin your service as a Gardener in January 2025. The GC term is two years.
To meet approximately every month to define goals and execute on GC projects.
To spend 5-7 hours per month on Gardening Club work, including meeting time.
To be paid for your time. As a standing working group, the GC will receive up to $15,000 in financial support to deliver on GC projects.
To explore the following questions in 2025:
How do we preserve News Futures culture through our support, and onboarding, of new stewards?
As we share our News Futures Charter publicly, where do we focus our cross-sector comms and engagement efforts?
How does our annual FLN Camp convening evolve as News Futures grows?
Working Groups
A Working Group is any action-focused collaboration that advances the News Futures charter.
Working Groups are how we as a community support each other to progress our ideas, interests and work in this space. If you're passionate about something you are working on, want a brain trust of people to support you and/or want to explore new ideas or initiatives with others, we hope you register your interest for a working group! Want some inspiration? Check out our 2024 Working Groups!
To be clear, proposals don’t lock you in for the coming year. At this stage, they are discussion documents. If selected, we will work with you to ‘right-size’ your idea, engagement opportunities and budget.
If selected for working group stewardship, you will:
Set an ideal number of contributors for your group
Create at least three engagement opportunities (i.e. online or in-person meetings, asynchronous/online requests) and log participation (i.e. meeting attendance, feedback responses, etc.)
Document your group’s outcomes for publication on News Futures’ website
Manage a budget, as needed
Participate in a community-of-practice session and share outcomes/insights with News Futures staff
News Futures staff will provide:
Conceptual, financial and operational support
Up to $15,000 in financial support
2025 Timeline
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Propose 2025 Working Groups and nominate Gardening Club stewards
Working Groups are voted on by the News Futures community, final selections are made by staff and Gardening Club stewards, and Working Group stewards are notified
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2025 Gardening Club nominees are notified and confirmed
Working Groups launch with conceptual, financial and operational support from News Futures staff
Contributors sign on for Working Groups
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Working groups are in operation
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Working groups and Gardening Club are in operation
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Working Groups and Gardening Club wind down and debrief with the News Futures community
2025 documentation and learnings seed next year’s cycle, and are shared on the News Futures website and other relevant spaces