Women’s Leadership Accelerator 2017

The Women’s Leadership Accelerator is an intensive program that supercharges the leadership and management skills of women who are pushing digital innovation. The tuition-free program kicks off with a week of tailored, immersive programming for 25 promising women leaders at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. ONA provides support and coaching to participants throughout the year; the program culminates with a workshop at ONA’s annual conference.

These 25 women leaders were selected from a pool of nearly 350 applicants to attend the 2017 Women’s Leadership Accelerator. Throughout the year, they worked with some of the top minds in digital media to tackle challenges specific to their careers.

The Accelerator was held Feb. 5-10, 2017 at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Executive Producer
AJ+ Español
Creative Director, Deputy Managing Editor
Los Angeles Times
Senior Programming Producer, Off-Platform
CNN
Special Projects Editor
VICE
Senior Editor, Science and Health
FiveThirtyEight
Community Editor
The Economist
Deputy Director, Product
News Catalyst
Senior Producer
LinkedIn
Co-Founder
AZ Luminaria
Editor-In-Chief
The 19th
Product Manager
The New York Times
Vice President of Product Strategy
Cal Matters
Managing Producer, On Demand
KCRW
Associate Director, Audience Development
The New Yorker
Senior Product Manager, Listener Journey
NPR
Founding Editor
The Incline / Spirited Media
Associate Editor
Guardian Mobile Innovation Lab
Operations Editor
The Washington Post
Journalist and media entrepreneur
Self-Employed
Senior Producer, Video Platforms
The Washington Post
Director of Strategy, Opinion
The New York Times
Editor and Content Strategist
Freelance
Executive Video Producer
#EmergingUS
Managing Editor
War on the Rocks
Editor-in-Chief
Teen Vogue

The Women’s Leadership Accelerator provided:

  • A week of hands-on personal and professional work; candid discussions about leadership, work-life balance and problem-solving in the newsroom; deep dives on developing leadership and management skills; inspiring visits to digital media organizations; and one-on-one mentoring from some of the top women leaders in digital journalism, Feb. 5-10, 2017 at USC Annenberg.
  • A year of check-ins and practical, targeted guidance and personal coaching on individual challenges.
  • Registration, travel and accommodations for the Online News Association Conference in Washington, D.C.
  • Workshops tailored to the needs of the cohort, including a half-day workshop for women in the program during ONA17.
  • The opportunity to be a part of a cohort of peers to serve as a strong career-long support system.

2017 Speakers and Mentors

The 2017 Accelerator connected the cohort to a range of prominent speakers and mentors, including:

Thanks to the generous support of lead funder, the Dow Jones Foundation, and supporting funders Knight Foundation, Google, Facebook, WordPress.com VIP, the Craig Newmark Philanthropic Fund, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau, the Women’s Leadership Accelerator training is tuition-free. ONA also is grateful to the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, our host for the Accelerator program.

If you’re interested in partnerships to support the program, please contact ONA Head of Strategic Partnerships Jessica Strelitz at jessica@journalists.org