Maynard 200 Application Form
Media Contact
Odette Alcazaren-Keeley
Director, Maynard 200-MIJE
okeeley@mije.org / 650-455-3063
EMERYVILLE, CA — The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education [MIJE], a nonprofit dedicated to making newsrooms look like America, has announced it will hold its signature Maynard 200 fellowship program in 2021. The fellowship provides cutting-edge training and year-long mentorship for leaders, storytellers and media entrepreneurs of diverse backgrounds, to prime them as candidates for higher roles in the workplace.
Mentorship is provided by distinguished media professionals and experts of varying backgrounds. By emboldening the next generation of leaders in media, the Maynard 200 is facilitating equity and belonging in the newsroom and beyond.
The program is tuition-free thanks to funding by Google News Initiative, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Wunderkinder Foundation and the McClatchy Foundation.
Candidates can apply for one of three tracks — Storytelling, Advanced Leadership and Media Entrepreneurship. Applications are now open, and will be accepted through March 5th.
“Our program’s mission, built on the reinvigoration of the diversity pipeline in media, is now sharpened by the triple crises of our time: the public health and economic devastation of the global pandemic, America’s racial reckoning and deep societal fractures laid bare again by the 2020 vote,” said Odette Alcazaren-Keeley, Maynard 200 director. “Responding to these seismic shifts, Maynard 200 continues to bolster the authentic voice, leadership power and change agency of professionals of color.”
“We are fortunate to have top executives, well-known journalists and news leaders, outstanding business strategists and leading academics as members of our program faculty and as mentors,” said Evelyn Hsu, co-executive director of the institute and chief architect of Maynard 200. “They are a generous and dedicated group that has made Maynard 200 a top training program.”
MIJE co-executive director Martin G. Reynolds said, “The fellows represent the future of our industry. Given where we are now as a nation, their perspectives, influence, passion, skill and creativity are essential as they seek to ascend to top leadership roles, create nuanced journalism and start new media enterprises that will help shape the journalistic landscape in the years to come. This program is as much about building up the person as it is about supporting the work they do. It is an honor to see them flourish.”
Reynolds will once again lead the fellows in Fault Lines ®, a core training session of the institute’s foundational framework of diversity, equity and belonging. It’s one of several marquee sessions in the program including Finding Your Authentic Voice and Being Heard, a discussion between public media powerhouses Tonya Mosley and Aarti Shahani.
And this year’s Maynard 200 faculty will be another high-caliber roster as in past years, comprised of esteemed experts across various disciplines. This includes the AP’s Global Investigations Editor Ron Nixon, who also co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society; renowned executive coach and career expert Caroline Ceniza-Levine, also a senior contributor to Forbes.com; and speaker coach Tom Nixon, who has mentored business top brass including from Coca Cola and VISA.
The Maynard 200 Fellowship will begin with a virtual training week, April 12-16. The second training week is scheduled November 8-12 and may be in-person, depending on public health protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some travel support will be available for the second training week if it is in person.
Fellows are required to attend both training weeks and to participate in the year-long mentorship and supplementary courses.
Since 2018, Maynard 200 has trained 49 media professionals representing African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American and Middle Eastern communities; mainstream and ethnic media organizations, and entrepreneurial ventures from various regions of the United States. Included are fellows who are now being promoted at The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, CNN, theGrio, Associated Press, The Washington Informer, Mundo Hispano Digital Network, LinkedIn, Nieman Journalism Lab, ABS-CBN international — The Filipino Channel, Sing Tao Daily, the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance and many others.
Maynard 200 Application Form
The Maynard 200 journalism fellowship program cohorts gather with some of their mentors, faculty, track executives-in-residence and the MIJE executive team. Top: The 2019 class at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles. Bottom: The 2018 class at the Google campus in Boulder, CO.
MAYNARD 200 ON PR WEB.
For more information, contact Odette Alcazaren-Keeley - Director, Maynard 200: okeeley@mije.org / 650.455.3063.
ABOUT THE MAYNARD INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM EDUCATION
The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education is the nation’s oldest organization dedicated to helping the news media accurately portray all segments of society, particularly those often overlooked, such as communities of color. The media play a pivotal role in shaping our perceptions of each other. The distorted coverage of communities of color influences public policy and the decisions we make in our personal lives.