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Lenfest Institute receives grant to support diversity at The Inquirer

In addition to staff training at The Inquirer, Lenfest’s portion of the money will go toward creating professional opportunities and developing entrepreneurial skills for people of color in the Philadelphia region.

Moderating is Michael Days (right), Inquirer Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, with the Lenfest Fellows - (from left) Jesenia De Moya Correa, DeArbea Walker, TyLisa Johnson, Kristen Balderas, Aneri Pattani and Heather Khalifa - at an Inquiring Minds event on Tuesday.
Moderating is Michael Days (right), Inquirer Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, with the Lenfest Fellows - (from left) Jesenia De Moya Correa, DeArbea Walker, TyLisa Johnson, Kristen Balderas, Aneri Pattani and Heather Khalifa - at an Inquiring Minds event on Tuesday.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer
    by Staff Reports
    Published 

A $1.3 million grant to the Lenfest Institute for Journalism will help provide two years of cultural-competency training, fellowships, and other diversity initiatives at The Inquirer and in the broader Philadelphia news marketplace. The funding is part of $5.3 million in inaugural grants to 11 organizations announced Tuesday by the Independence Public Media Foundation.

“This much-appreciated grant will allow us to provide ongoing cultural competency training for the entire company,” said Michael Days, The Inquirer’s vice president of diversity and inclusion. “And it will fuel our strategic efforts to make The Inquirer reflective of the demographics of our region in all that we do. No doubt the entire industry will benefit from our work.”

In addition to staff training at The Inquirer, Lenfest’s portion of the money will go toward creating professional opportunities and developing skills for journalists, entrepreneurs, and media executives of color; providing research and business assistance for multicultural media in the Philadelphia region; and extending the strategic planning for Resolve Philadelphia. The Lenfest Institute is the nonprofit owner of The Inquirer, which is a public-benefit corporation.

Other recipients of the Independence Public Media Foundation grants include:

Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication: $850,000 to support two of the school’s community-centered journalism projects — Germantown Info Hub and Kensington Voice.

WHYY: $250,000 to provide more work for freelancers and reporters from racially and ethnically diverse media outlets, plus cultural-competency training for staff and community-engagement events.

Digital Literacy Alliance: $500,000 for digital literacy training at organizations that help immigrants.

Scribe Video Center: $1.1 million to build staff, programming, and regranting capabilities.

Independence Public Media Foundation grew out of Independence Public Media of Philadelphia, which operated WYBE, Channel 35. Led by a nine-member board, the foundation seeks to strengthen and connect diverse voices throughout Philadelphia.

“We are delighted to announce these inspiring first grants, which support authentic, community-centered media and amplify underrepresented voices across the region,” said René Smith, the foundation’s board chairperson.