Category Archives: News

In January, Davis Broadcasting, the largest Black-owned radio network in Georgia, hired Blue Bancer as its Digital Operations Director. Since mid-April, he’s helped to secure more than $75,000 in new digital advertising revenue. Bancer is transforming a legacy sales team into a digital one—and bringing Davis’ customers and clients with them.  “If you’re not in digitalContinue reading “Davis Broadcasting’s Digital Manager Boosts Sales by $75K”

Earlier this month, NotiVisión Georgia’s CEO and publisher, Monica Pirela, was named one of Georgia’s most influential Latinos by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It’s one of many accomplishments that Pirela and the digital platform have achieved since receiving Pivot Fund support last year. Now, she’s expanded her team with an exciting new hire. ColombianContinue reading “NotiVisión Georgia’s New Hire”

Ask Wane Hailes; he’ll tell you he can sell ice to Eskimos, but he’s needed an editor for years. That all changes this week for the former McClatchy-owned Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer advertising sales rep turned founder of The Courier/Eco Latino. That’s because his newly hired editor-in-chief, Janell Williams, starts work September 1. For Hailes, itContinue reading “How Pivot is creating transformational change in Columbus, GA”

I recently talked about risk with another nonprofit leader when I realized this is another term in which philanthropy and communities don’t share a definition. For the other nonprofit leader, risk is associated with an organization’s ability to execute. For me, risk means only taking chances one is comfortable with.  Objectively, The Pivot Fund isContinue reading “A Conversation On Risk, Trust And Equity In Philanthropy”

Recently in Washington, D.C. to attend the 2023 Asian American Journalists Association Conference, I told a packed room how The Pivot Fund does funding differently than other journalism donors. Unlike other funders, we center communities in our giving strategy and provide culturally competent leadership.  What do we mean by culturally competent? Three principles are core to how we operate andContinue reading “The Case For Culturally Competent Leadership In News Media”

More than a dozen domestic workers and day laborers took to the stage in March to educate fellow community members about their rights, particularly around sick leave. The performance was part of a reporting series produced by El Tecolote Newspaper, one of the oldest news organizations serving San Francisco’s heavily Latino Mission District. While nervous performers worriedContinue reading “El Tecolote reimagines journalism to deepen community connections”

LaGrange, Georgia, is a big sports town. “Whether it’s T-ball, high school football…that’s where you can see the unity in the community,” said BeeTV owner April Ross. So when The Pivot Fund decided to invest in BeeTV, Ross knew she wanted to use some of that funding to make sports a big part of theContinue reading “Youth Sports Coverage is Fueling Big Revenue and Audience Growth”

Monica Pirela knows how it feels to be on the outside. Pirela runs Notivision Georgia. Each week, she broadcasts a 12-minute Spanish-language newscast aimed at her area. Pirela reports and her husband, Jay Cruz, runs the camera. That’s all that keeps the Spanish-speaking community in Warner Robins, Georgia, from being on the outside in aContinue reading “Fighting News Deserts for Spanish Speakers in Georgia”

Earlier this summer, I delivered the keynote to nearly 70 journalism students and faculty at the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change in Austria. The speech focused on the role of the media in creating a just civil society and why we at The Pivot Fund believe disrupting journalism philanthropy is key to creatingContinue reading “What Happens When Communities Are The Grantmakers?”

The Pivot Fund’s first grantees are Georgia news organizations serving diverse communities. We started by asking community members where they find reliable information. That led us to the news organizations that have their trust.  The Pivot Fund has selected seven Georgia news organizations that reach Black, Hispanic, and Asian-American audiences to receive a combined $2Continue reading “Meet The Pivot Fund’s first grantees”