The Institute for Independent Journalists is an education, professional development, and mutual support organization for independent journalists, focusing on Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Our mission is financial and emotional sustainability for independent journalists of color, through community learning, innovation and advocacy.
The IIJ ensures financial and emotional sustainability for independent journalists of color, by:
- Connecting freelancers for learning, collaboration, and mutual support in spaces that centers marginalized voices and facilitates authenticity and vulnerability.
- Creating tools, services, and shared wisdom for economic self-sufficiency and mental health, regardless of churn in journalism or who controls newsrooms.
- Advocating for fair and equitable treatment of freelancers and best practices for ethical use of independent labor, throughout the media.
The Institute for Independent Journalists was founded by Katherine Reynolds Lewis, a journalist and author based in the Washington, D.C. area who writes about education, equity, mental health, parenting, and social justice for publications including The Atlantic, The New York Times, Parents, and The Washington Post.