Associate Director, Local Journalists Initiative

CFR Outreach works to raise the profile of CFR and develop relationships with communities across the United States. Current initiatives focus on college and university students, educators, and administrators; state and local officials; local journalists; and congregational leaders and representatives of faith-based organizations.

Working with the vice president, senior director of the National Program and Outreach department, and the director of Outreach, the associate director is the lead staffer for the Local Journalists Initiative, which helps print, broadcast, and digital-first journalists across the country draw connections between the local issues they cover and national and international dynamics. This position will manage the day-to-day workflow of the initiative and one support staffer, while also supporting programming across the National & Outreach department.

The associate director will also work closely with CFR’s Global Communications team on local media strategy, which will include how the Council’s scholarship can help drive local news coverage and commentary, and how such local engagement can bolster CFR’s reputation and standing proactively with key stakeholders more broadly.

The Local Journalists Initiative provides a forum for journalists at local outlets across the country to engage with CFR experts, other thought leaders, and a network of peers on a range of issues at the nexus of the global and the local, while also sharing best practices for grounding local reporting in global context. The initiative strives to disseminate CFR analysis to inform reporting and to foster dialogue among its constituent network of journalists.

Outreach is conducted through events and programming (including webinars, briefings, and workshops), public-facing digital content (such as email campaigns and newsletters), conference participation nationally, and more.

This position is based in CFR’s New York office at least four days per week. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are considered institutional anchor days where all staff are required to be onsite. CFR’s remote working schedule is subject to change.

• Lead the CFR Local Journalists Initiative and its virtual and in-person programmatic offerings, which include a webinar series, media briefings, CFR’s annual Local Journalists Workshop, the CFR Local Journalism Boot Camp for young journalists, and CFR representation at external conferences and professional gatherings across the country.
• Frame event agendas and generating speaker/topic ideas for virtual and in-person events.
• Take a lead role on the scheduling and implementation of events—including managing contracts and catering when applicable; drafting, editing, and managing correspondence; preparing meeting materials; and writing summary reports.
• Oversee day-to-day workflow for the initiative and one support staffer.
• Monitor, report, and advise on the Local Journalists Initiative budget.
• Collaborate with the vice president, senior director, and director of Outreach on Local Journalists Initiative programmatic and outreach strategy, efforts, and innovation.
• Work closely with CFR’s Global Communications team on local media strategy to include development of a nationwide map of media targets based on issues, engagement potential, government relations needs, and CFR Studies Program priorities.
• Research and identify partnership opportunities and external conferences to attend, schedule meetings, and write meeting recap notes.
• Grow CFR’s Outreach community and expand its impact through audience development by identifying and building relationships with new and diverse contacts in local journalism outlets across the country.
• Overseeing the…