Coaching for
Local News Leaders

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Holistic support for local news innovation,
from leadership and management skills to strategy and operations.

Lela Savic, Founding Editor, La Converse

“Our coach was a really good fit. She truly understood our work and was very generous with her time. She provided honest feedback on what was effective and what wasn't. I appreciated that the training didn't feel generic, unlike previous experiences.”

Supporting Local News Leaders

  • A.X. provided crucial guidance to Project Optimist and its founder (me!) in our first two years as a startup. I really appreciate the care and groundedness that A.X. manages to bring along with technical expertise. A.X. helped us find and clarify our organizational values, draft very practical hiring documents and policies, and support me through some growing pains on my founder journey. I'm so grateful.

    Nora Hertel
    Founder
    Project Optimist

  • As I've shared with AX, they have a unique superpower: the ability to empower people calmly, rooted in a foundation of respect, genuine understanding, active listening and pointed guidance. Throughout these eight weeks, with AX's support, I've taken significant, concrete steps towards setting clear goals for 2024 and developing a plan to achieve them. AX's coaching style is quietly powerful, influencing you in ways you might not even realize.

    Stacy Feldman
    Founder and Publisher
    Boulder Reporting Lab

My Experience

I’m proud to support local news organizations in people operations and talent management, product innovation, and revenue and sustainability. My method is simple: you know your audience best, and my goal is to help you build the infrastructure and scaffolding to keep doing the great work of serving your local community.

I’m particularly effective in startup situations and with new products and initiatives, helping you sort through priorities and resource constraints to identify the best way to have an impact and ensure a robust sustainability plan.

I’ve coached and developed trainings for programs with LION Publishers, the American Press Institute, the News Product Alliance and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, with clients across rural and urban United States and Canada.

Services

Coaching

I provide ongoing and one-off support for local news leaders. There’s a lot we can do with just two sessions, and even more with a monthly or biweekly check-in. I’m most impactful with the following needs:

  • Talent management and people operations

  • Product innovation and strategy

  • Organizational strategy and sustainability

  • Leadership and management skills

Training

I’m available for custom trainings around product innovation and team leadership. Trainings I’ve developed include:

  • Understanding your Market and Audience (News Entrepreneur Academy)

  • 1-10-1, and Then Some — Product Branding for Local News (News Product Alliance and American Press Institute)

  • News Product Career Paths (News Product Alliance and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY)

Consulting

Ready to build a new project or workstream at your publication? I specialize in zero to one consulting: helping build up and scale a special project. We’ll start with a few discovery sessions, craft a detailed project brief to guide your project, outline a timeline and general scope of work, and I’ll be available for ongoing support and accompaniment.