Lede New Orleans

A news initiative that brings together young adults, journalists and artists to produce equitable, community-driven media in New Orleans.

In 2022, Lede New Orleans grew from a successful pilot to a fully-fledged organization. The following are major programmatic, organizational and revenue accomplishments from 2022. Over the last 12 months, we:Secured 501(c)(3) status in March 2022.Hired two new employees, both fellowship alumni, to oversee programs, growing from two to four staff members.Recruited two new members to our Board of Directors, growing from three to four members.Launched the fifth cohort of the Community Reporting Fellowship, training 6 emerging storytellersall young women of color. The cohorts reporting looked into mental wellness and mental health care access in New Orleans.Engaged more than 200 community members through Feed The People, a live exhibit showcasing stories and media about local food access produced by the Fall 2021 Community Reporting Fellows.Worked to democratize basic media skills through free, public media workshops serving over 20 community members.Elevated local BIPOC voices in 28 original pieces of content produced by fellows and published on Lede platforms.Provided support and resources for 20 fellowship alumni breaking into a range of career pathways.Raised more than $400,000 to support our mission, growing a network of community and institutional supporters.Workshopped our mission statement with program alumni, board members and business consultants to refine its work, adopting the following statement in December 2022: Lede New Orleans is community journalism organization that equips creative professionals from underrepresented communities, age 18-25, with skills, tools and resources to transform local media.To learn more about Lede New Orleans and our work, visit www.ledenola.org.

Lede New Orleans launched its flagship programthe Community Reporting Fellowshipin March 2020, just days before the pandemic shutdowns. Co-founders Jen Larino, a journalist, and Ejaaz Mason, a filmmaker and educator, had a straightforward goal: to train older youth of color in New Orleans to do media work. The 10,000-foot vision was to model what an equitable future for local media might look like by equipping older youth with skills, tools and resources they could use to drive change in their communities. Our founding team and the 11 fellows in our first two fellowship cohorts persevered through pandemic uncertainty, job loss and racial unrest nationwide to lay the foundation for this work.