About the Power Shift Project

Power Shift Project Advisory Board 2019 Listening Session
Sharif Durhams, at-large director of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, and Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, executive director of the Asian American Journalists Association (Malek Naz Freidouni/Freedom Forum)
Power Shift Project Advisory Board 2019 Listening Session
Mark Trahant, editor-at-large, Indian Country Today, and Elisa Lees Muñoz, executive director, International Women’s Media Foundation (Malek Naz Freidouni/Freedom Forum)
Power Shift Project Advisory Board 2019 Listening Session
Brent W. Jones, editor of culture, training and outreach, The Wall Street Journal (Malek Naz Freidouni/Freedom Forum)
Power Shift Project Advisory Board 2019 Listening Session
Alberto Mendoza, former executive director, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and Kristin Gilger, director, National Center on Disability and Journalism (Malek Naz Freidouni/Freedom Forum)
Power Shift Project Advisory Board 2019 Listening Session
Sarah Glover, vice president of news and civic dialogue, WHYY (Malek Naz Freidouni/Freedom Forum)

The Power Shift Project is a training initiative designed to improve the quality and future of journalism by improving the diversity, equity and culture of news organizations. The project’s goal is workplace integrity, defined as environments free of harassment, discrimination and incivility, and filled with opportunity, especially for those who have traditionally been denied it.

The Power Shift Project offers training specifically for media organizations and journalism classrooms. Workplace Integrity: Train the Trainers is a two-part workshop that prepares people to deliver the training in their own organizations. The curriculum is built around four pillars: critical thinking, courageous conversations, qualifying as an ally and cultures of respect and trust.

The project also offers two hourlong webinars that are free and open to the public but designed specifically to make an impact in news organizations and in journalism education. In the Inclusive Leadership webinar, participants learn eight practical things that inclusive leaders know and do. The webinar Do You Qualify As An Ally? focuses on how to be a trusted force for good.

The curriculum is built around four pillars: critical thinking, courageous conversations, qualifying as an ally and cultures of respect and trust.

Jill Geisler, the Bill Plante Chair of Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago, designed a curriculum for this project in consultation with Cathy Trost, Chief Engagement Officer/Senior Vice President of the Freedom Forum. Geisler is a renowned expert in leadership and management and a former TV news director.

The Freedom Forum launched the Power Shift Project in January 2018. More than 130 newsroom leaders, editors, reporters, educators and advocates convened at a summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss solutions to end sexual misconduct and promote opportunity for all. The project now helps media leaders address issues about race, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Since its inception, more than 470 journalists and educators from nearly 250 media organizations, colleges and universities have been trained in the workplace integrity curriculum. Trainings have been held in the United States and Canada at organizations including ABC News, Canadian Broadcasting Corp., CBS News, CNN and Gray Television as well as the Gannett/USA TODAY Network, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and the Star-Tribune.

Workplace Integrity training has also been conducted by journalism affinity organizations, including the National Association of Science Writers, the Online News Association, the Public Media Journalists Association, the Pulitzer Center, the Society of Professional Journalists and other news industry groups.