Eligible journalists can apply for the 2025 cohort between October 10th – November 7th 2024.
The International Women’s Media Foundation is thrilled to launch the fifth year of the Gwen Ifill Mentorship Program. This initiative is designed to address the lack of diversity in leadership positions across newsrooms in the United States. The program is named after our dear friend Gwen Ifill, an incredible role model and mentor.
The benefits of mentorship have been well documented, leaders who look back and help lift others up the ladder of success are sorely needed. The IWMF has assembled a cadre of professionals from a wide range of backgrounds to guide the direction of the Gwen Ifill Mentorship Program. Fellows will have the opportunity to learn from the leadership team and will be paired with senior media professionals. This is a valuable professional development opportunity for women and nonbinary journalists from underrepresented backgrounds that will lay the groundwork for their success and future leadership in the news industry.
This year’s Gwen Ifill Mentorship Program is made possible by the Laura and Andrews Newby Family Fund – designated in Memory of Barbara Spector Yeninas – and the Annenberg Foundation.
The Lauren Brown Fellowship
The Lauren Brown Fellowship, created by her colleagues, family, friends and peers, carries on the legacy of Lauren Alix Brown, an influential editor at Quartz who died of cancer in 2019 at the age of 37. The fellowship supports the next generation of women journalists from underrepresented backgrounds – in 2020, it funded five of the IWMF’s 2019-2020 Gwen Ifill mentees in pursuing reporting projects and professional development opportunities to strengthen their careers. Learn more about the fellowship, and Lauren, here.