Sulzberger 2023: Applications Now Open, including GNI Scholarships

Corey Ford -

Today I am excited to announce that Google News Initiative will again be sponsoring four scholarships, including tuition and travel, for leaders from groups typically underrepresented in journalism to attend the upcoming 2023 Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia Journalism School, which will start on January 2, 2023.  Applications are now open. They will be reviewed on a rolling basis and are due no later than October 21.

The Sulzberger program trains leaders of the world’s most respected news organizations and promising media start-ups to lead innovation and solve strategic business challenges in a time of rapid transformation, uncertainty, and opportunity. Fellows use the 21-week program to launch, accelerate, and implement a real-world project that is critical to the mission of their organizations and integrated into their day-to-day work.  The program will begin with a two-week residency on the campus of Columbia Journalism School in New York City January 02-13, 2023 and conclude with one final week of residency, May 22-26, 2023, with weekly virtual cohort sessions in between.  Sulzberger Fellows will also have regular one-on-one executive coaching sessions with me.

Here are the key 2023 Sulzberger program dates:

Application Deadline: Oct 21, 2022
Final Decisions: Nov 11, 2022
Residency #1: January 02-13, 2023
Virtual Cohort Meetings: Weekly on Tuesdays Noon-01:30PM ET
One-on-One Executive Coaching: Every 3 Weeks
Residency #2: May 22 - 26, 2023

Google News Initiative first sponsored these scholarships for the 2021 Sulzberger cohort, which both directly and indirectly resulted in 2021 and 2022 Sulzberger cohorts composed of leaders that better reflected the diversity of lived experiences that must be represented at the highest levels of leadership in journalism if we are to have an an equitable, well-functioning democracy.  The Sulzberger program has a responsibility to help news organizations deepen their bench of leaders from underrepresented backgrounds and I am thrilled that Google News Initiative is once again helping us further this mission by providing an open, direct path to access the program.  Any leader in journalism across the world who self-identifies as being from a group typically underrepresented in journalism is eligible to apply for a GNI scholarship. All tuition and travel costs for three weeks in New York City will be covered.

Applications are open until October 21.  The application is a simple Typeform you can fill out today (no letters of recommendation required) and you can apply for a GNI scholarship by checking a box and answering one additional question.  Selected applicants will then be invited to a Zoom interview with me.  While decisions about applicants who are sponsored by their organizations or plan to self-fund may be made on a rolling basis, decisions for the GNI scholarships will not be made until after the October 21 application deadline.

To learn more about the program, read about it on the official Columbia website and join me for one of the next Sulzberger program info sessions:

  • Sulzberger Info Session #1: Tuesday, August 23 Noon - 1PM ET - Register here.
  • Sulzberger Info Session #2: Tuesday, September 13 Noon - 1PM ET - Register here.
  • Sulzberger Info Session #3:Tuesday, October 11 Noon - 1PM ET - Register here.

See you then!