As my six-month anniversary at the helm of ONA approaches, I’m excited to share that we’ve been hard at work putting together our new three-year strategic plan. Our new north star is to help journalism not just survive change, but thrive through it.
Journalism is rapidly changing. In many ways, our profession has never experienced a more precarious time, and democracy itself is under attack. From new technology to shifting business models, journalists and news organizations are navigating constant disruption.
With a stronger mission and vision, ONA can meet this moment and better serve our community. Over the next few years, our focus is to equip journalists and news leaders at every level with the skills, insights, and community they need to lead through change and drive innovation. We envision a strong, connected journalism ecosystem that’s ready for whatever comes next and able to serve democracy in new and lasting ways.
Vision
A journalism industry that doesn’t just survive change but thrives through it—where continuous learning, strategic collaboration, and adaptive leadership across all roles and functions create an ecosystem powerful enough to meet democracy’s evolving information needs.
Mission
We equip journalism professionals across all roles, functions and career stages with adaptive leadership capabilities, strategic foresight, and collaborative communities and networks, creating a connected ecosystem where shared learning, experimentation and innovation strengthen journalism’s capacity to serve democracy.
ONA is evolving. We’re shifting from being a general professional development organization to becoming a year-round hub for adaptive leadership in journalism. We help journalism changemakers across the industry understand what’s happening and what’s coming, build the skills to thrive through change, and connect with others navigating similar challenges. While other organizations excel at serving their specific audiences, we’re the only organization that connects across all functions, communities and career stages. These connections create network effects that become more valuable as the ONA ecosystem grows.
What we’re focused on
- Foresight & Intelligence: Helping journalism professionals understand what’s coming.
- Learning & Leadership: Building the skills to lead through industry transformation.
- Communities & Networks: Creating meaningful connections across roles and organizations.
- Organizational Strength: Growing ONA’s capacity to support journalism’s future.
By 2030, ONA will be known as the place journalism leaders turn to for guidance, growth, and impact. With this new strategic plan as our guide, we aim to orient our staff, programs, strategies and tactics to not only help our community flourish, but our organization too.
Our journey
ONA’s new strategic plan has been developed through many workshops with ONA staff, our board, our supporters and various consultants. And it reflects the ideas and feedback from many conversations with our community about ONA’s history and role in the industry and how we can meet this pivotal moment for journalism and the world.
Get involved
This plan is only as strong as the community we bring together—our members, partners, funders and supporters inside and outside journalism. There are many ways to get involved throughout the year. Sign up to receive the ONA Weekly newsletter for regular updates about our programs and upcoming events, connect with peers anytime through the ONA Community Slack and become an ONA member to help sustain our work and mission.
Sincerely and in solidarity,
Niketa Patel
Executive Director/CEO, Online News Association