ONA Weekly #588: 26 leaders selected for the next cohort of ONA’s Women’s Leadership Accelerator

By on November 19, 2025

Collage of the 2025 Women's Leadership Accelerator cohort , with the ONA logo at center. From left to right, top row: Lena Han, Madeline Schwartz, Shreen Khan, Madeline Chosich, Gabriela Fernandez, Averi Sanders, Lina Batarags. Second row from left to right: Pamela de la Fuente, Amory Sivertson, Liz Brazile, Ellery Jones, Ade Kidwell. Third row, from left to right: Meghan Snider, Lyneka Little, Sophia Rosenbaum, Natalie Daher, Lacy Atalick, Joanie Tobin, Majdolin Hasan. Fourth row, from left to right: Mia Warren, Carol Motsinger, Gabriella Nuñez-Garcia, Nelly Kalu, Liz Worthington, Kheira Tami, Monique Madan

Meet the 2025 Women’s Leadership Accelerator cohort. From left to right, top row: Lena Han, Madeleine Schwartz, Shreen Khan, Madeline Chosich, Gabriela Fernandez, Averi Sanders, Lina Batarags. Second row from left to right: Pamela de la Fuente, Amory Sivertson, Liz Brazile, Ellery Jones, Ade Kidwell. Third row, from left to right: Meghan Snider, Lyneka Little, Sophia Rosenbaum, Natalie Daher, Lacy Atalick, Joanie Tobin, Majdolin Hasan. Fourth row, from left to right: Mia Warren, Carol Motsinger, Gabriella Nuñez-Garcia, Nelly Kalu, Liz Worthington, Kheira Tami, Monique Madan

Congratulations to the next cohort of ONA’s Women’s Leadership Accelerator

Please join us in congratulating the 26 journalism leaders participating in the 2025 Women’s Leadership Accelerator! We are thrilled to welcome a class of changemakers who have a variety of expertise in product, audience, AI, television, operations/planning, strategy, data and who represent the industry in audio, local public radio, local and national newspapers, local independent news organizations, and journalism-adjacent organizations. The 26 women chosen for the 2025 cohort represent six places outside the United States and 16 states within the U.S. They serve audiences from Seattle, Washington, to Amman, Jordan. Nearly 50 percent of this inspiring group identify as women of color. Read more about the inspiring group. The cohort will kickoff with virtual learning sessions in December and conclude with a two-day in-person workshop leading into ONA26 in Chicago. The 2025 Women’s Leadership Accelerator is made possible by lead funder Dow Jones Foundation, with additional support from the Tiffany Shackelford Foundation and WordPress VIP.
A decorative green banner with art-deco–style borders announcing “ONA26.” The large pink text “ONA26” is centered. Above it, smaller beige text reads “Chicago • March 30–April 1.” Below, the URL “ONA26.JOURNALISTS.ORG” appears in beige.

What’s coming for ONA26 programming!

We’ve heard your excitement about ONA26 and your eagerness to start pitching ideas. With the annual conference moving to the spring and a condensed planning timeline for ONA26, here’s a quick look at how this year’s program process will work. To kickstart the schedule, our volunteer program team revisited the strong session ideas many of you pitched for ONA25 and selected a group of standouts to help form the foundation of the ONA26 program. We’ll share this initial slate with you in early December, ahead of the Early Bird Registration deadline on Dec. 18. At that same time, we’ll open a simplified Suggestion Box so you can pitch fresh ideas, especially if you see themes or topics missing from the early program. We’ll also invite proposals for unconference sessions, Table Talk discussions and informal community meetups. We’re excited for you to help shape the conversations in Chicago this spring!
A promotional graphic for the ONA safety and security webinar series. The top portion highlights “Staying Safe on Assignment: Navigating Law Enforcement and Digital Risks,” taking place Thursday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. ET, featuring Jeff Belzil and Tat Bellamy-Walker from the International Women’s Media Foundation. Below it, a second panel announces “Legal Rights and Risks for Journalists Covering Immigration Enforcement,” scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. ET, led by Jen Nelson from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Logos for ONA, IWMF, and the Ford Foundation appear at the bottom, indicating partnership and support for the series.

Join safety and security experts for two upcoming virtual sessions

Journalists in the field face increasingly complex safety, legal and digital challenges — from covering ICE operations and protests to navigating surveillance and law enforcement encounters. We’re partnering with the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to bring you a virtual safety and security learning series, generously supported by the Ford Foundation. You can now register for two upcoming sessions: First, join us TOMORROW, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. ET (convert to your time zone) for a practical, hands-on session where we’ll cover strategies to:
  • Distinguish between different law enforcement agencies
  • Mitigate digital and on-the-ground threats
  • Cover protests and ICE actions safely
Register now for TOMORROW’s webinar Next, we’ll host Jen Nelson of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. ET (convert to your time zone) for Legal Rights and Risks for Journalists Covering Immigration Enforcement. This session will focus on concrete, legally grounded strategies for journalists gathering the news — especially when interacting with law enforcement. Join us to learn how to plan ahead, make informed decisions in real time and protect yourself legally in unpredictable situations. Register for the Dec. 4 session Can’t attend one or both sessions live? All registrants will be among the first to know when the recordings are published in the ONA Resource Library.

ONA is looking for community organizers and communicators!

Join the ONA team! We’re looking for a Community Engagement Coordinator who’s passionate about connecting people, spotlighting great work and building a stronger journalism community. This new role will help shape how ONA engages with its members and alumni across programs, online spaces and in-person events. If you love bringing people and ideas together, and you’re excited about helping strengthen ONA’s community of journalists and changemakers, we’d love to hear from you. Learn more and apply on the ONA website.

Mark your calendar

Elsewhere on our radar

Career opportunities

ONA’s Career Center is an excellent resource for jobs, fellowships and internships in digital journalism. Recent postings include:

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