Sulzberger 2025: Applications Now Open

Corey Ford -

Applications are now open for the upcoming 2025 Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia Journalism School, which will start on January 6, 2025. They will be reviewed on a rolling basis and are due no later than October 13.

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 20-week program to launch, accelerate, and implement a real-world strategic 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 06-17, 2025 and conclude with one final week of residency, May 19-23, 2025, with weekly virtual cohort sessions in between. Sulzberger Fellows will also have regular one-on-one executive coaching sessions with me.


The program begins with a five-day immersive project-based Venture Design Bootcamp at our New York City campus. Over the course of the week, fellows form small teams and build a new venture from scratch, learning both the process of building a business as well as the elements that need to come together to make a strategic project successful. This design thinking-based experiential learning also begins to turn a group of strangers into a cohort built on trust and authenticity that extends well beyond the course.


In the second week, the program moves from the bootcamp model into deeper dives into business concepts introduced in the first week, such as Strategy, Marketing, Negotiations, and Audience Research. These are led by faculty of Columbia Business School as well as top industry experts. Week Two ends with Design Review Zero, where Fellows are able to fail fast and get feedback on their strategic projects from the other members of the cohort.

After the two week intensive, fellows return to their organizations and begin to apply the lessons learned on their strategic projects. Fellows have a weekly virtual meeting that rotates between getting feedback on their project deliverables and diving deeper into topics such as Design Research, Leadership, Interpersonal Dynamics, Creating a Sub-Culture of Belonging, Media Entreprenuership with guest speakers from both industry and academia. Fellows also have one-on-one coaching sessions with the director every three weeks to advance this strategic projects and refine their leadership practices.

The final week is back in New York City for final project presentations that prepare the fellows to seek support and resources from key stakeholders at their organizations. Fellows also visit with senior leaders at The New York Times to see how the concepts they have learned throughout the course are applied in C-level roles.

Here are the key 2025 Sulzberger program dates:

Application Deadline: Oct 13, 2024
Final Decisions: Nov 1, 2024
Residency #1: January 06-17, 2025
Virtual Cohort Meetings: Weekly on Thursdays Noon-01:30PM ET
One-on-One Executive Coaching: ~Every 3 Weeks
Residency #2: May 19 - 23, 2025

Applications are open until October 13. The application is a simple form 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 13 application deadline. Sign up for the Sulzberger mailing list here to stay up-to-date.

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: Thursday, July 25 Noon - 1PM ET - Register here.
  • Sulzberger Info Session #2: Thursday, August 29 Noon - 1PM ET - Register here.
  • Sulzberger Info Session #3: Thursday, October 03 Noon - 1PM ET - Register here.

See you then!