Behind the scenes we have been hard at work creating the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, which builds on the tradition of investigative reporting and mentorship that brought our most loyal supporters together. Stay tuned for some exciting new developments. In the meantime, here is a sneak peek at what we’ve been up to:
Finalizing Organizational Concept: Our Board and Advisory Council has been busy laying the foundation for our exciting new venture, where we will focus on training journalists in data-driven reporting and collaborating with news organizations to uncover systemic racism through compelling stories that inform public discourse.
Increasing Financial Support: We’ve attracted financial support from The Chicago Community Trust, The Field Foundation of Illinois and the Chicago Headline Club Foundation, along with fundraising technical support from the Crossroads Fund.
Hiring Staff: We’ve brought our first three apprentices on board to assist with data-crunching, analysis and shoe leather reporting for our first investigation with a major Chicago media outlet. And, most importantly, we hired our first Project Director who we will formally introduce next month.
Building Partnerships: We’re especially pleased to announce that the Investigative Project on Race and Equity is an inaugural partner of the Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications. Under the leadership of Deborah Douglas, the Midwest Hub is devoted to transforming local journalism to make deeper connections with audiences while generating revenue and impact for sustainability. Medill is one of four university hubs working in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network.
Developing Professional Alliances: We’ve also joined a number of professional organizations. The Investigative project is now a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News and the Solutions Journalism Network.
None of this foundational work would have been possible without your support.
We look forward in the coming months to continuing our partnership with you as we create and model data-driven storytelling with impact—shifting public policy on critical issues of our times.
Kevin B. Blackistone
Blackistone is a longtime national sports columnist now at The Washington Post, a panelist on ESPN’s “Around the Horn,” a contributor to National Public Radio and coauthor of “A Gift for Ron,” a memoir by former NFL star Everson Walls. Blackistone is also a professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
Rui Kaneya
Kaneya is a senior editor at ProPublica, where he helps oversee projects for the Local Reporting Network. He previously served as a senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity. Before joining Public Integrity, he was an investigative reporter for Honolulu Civil Beat, a correspondent for the Columbia Journalism Review and investigations editor at The Chicago Reporter.
Laura S. Washington
Washington is a Chicago Tribune contributing columnist and political analyst for ABC 7-Chicago. Washington brings decades of experience as a multimedia journalist and nonprofit professional. From 2003 to 2009 she served as the Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor at DePaul University and is a former editor and publisher of The Chicago Reporter.
Advisory Council Susy Schultz, Chair
Kevin B. Blackistone, Vice Chair and Governing Board Member
Johnathon Briggs
Tom Brune
Angela Caputo
Thom Clark
Kathleen Humphries
Rui Kaneya, Governing Board Member
Alden K. Loury
John McDermott Jr.
Josh McGhee
Sharon McGowan
John Schrag
Christine Wachter
Laura S. Washington, Governing Board Member
James Ylisela Jr.
Help us move this work forward
In this time of vast economic inequality and a national conversation on race, Chicago-area policymakers and residents need a data-driven journalism enterprise that looks at multiple issues through a race and equity lens, and trains journalists to do the same. While many newsrooms in Chicago do aspects of this work, our highly experienced network of veteran reporters, editors and educators is unrivaled. But we can’t do it without you! Help us continue the legacy. You can make a one-time or recurring tax-deductible donation of any amount to the Investigative Project on Race and Equity.
