ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
The Pulitzer Center has a bold vision: to be the venue for the world’s most innovative and consequential reporting, with journalism as the key element for mobilizing society through audience engagement strategies. Founded in 2006, the Center is an essential source of support for enterprise reporting in the United States and across the globe. The thousands of journalists and educators who are part of our networks span more than 80 countries. Our work reaches tens of millions of people each year through our news-media partners and an audience-centered strategy of global and regional engagement.
We believe that people and communities who actively engage with systemic challenges will find solutions together. By supporting journalists as they conduct in-depth investigations, produce compelling stories, and engage diverse audiences, we create a ripple effect of world-changing impact. The result? Policy reforms, public awareness, and community empowerment.
Journalism and Engagement for World-Changing Impact
The Pulitzer Center combines breakthrough journalism and audience engagement. Our global networks, collaborations, and expertise strengthen and deepen enterprise reporting while extending its reach and impact. We make innovative methods and tools available to journalists so they can have a lasting impact on societies worldwide—while connecting teachers, students, youth, influencers, artists, and other professionals with key underreported issues. Along the way, we sustain independent media in some of the world’s most vulnerable spots, nurturing a strong cross-border ecosystem of collaboration in the public interest.
Focus Areas
The Pulitzer Center focuses on some of the biggest challenges facing the world today, from the environment and global health to human rights and artificial intelligence. Financial transparency, governance, and gender, racial, and social justice are important cross-cutting themes in the issues we cover.
In the United States, we are addressing these issues via a strong network of regional news outlets, educational institutions, and community groups. We are building similar networks in the Congo Basin, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Where We Work
We are a global team based in 14 countries. We are pioneering a global and regional approach that combines journalism, education, and outreach to build awareness, foster public engagement, and create change. We collaborate with media outlets, civil society organizations, and academic institutions to build communities of learning that amplify the impact of our journalism.
Further Information
Based in Washington, DC, with a 58-person staff and a $12 million annual budget, the Pulitzer Center supports upwards of 300 reporting projects annually across the globe.
For more information on the Pulitzer Center’s activities and initiatives, please visit its website and review its Quarterly & Annual Reports.
POSITION SUMMARY
Reporting to the Board of Directors, the President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) is the executive leader of the Pulitzer Center, with overall responsibility for leading the Center’s operations—from editorial and engagement activities to fundraising and relationship-building with the board of directors and key external stakeholders. Specific responsibilities include the following:
- Team leadership: The CEO is responsible for the recruitment, retention, and development of the Pulitzer Center staff and the direct management of the senior leadership team, consisting of the Executive Editor, the Chief Financial and Operating Officer, and the Chief Engagement and Education Officer.
- Setting strategy: In partnership with the Board of Directors and the senior leadership team, the CEO plays a key role in setting, implementing, and revising the Center’s newly finalized strategic plan as needed.
- Fundraising: The CEO is responsible for leading the Center’s development activities across the board, from prospecting new donors and keeping abreast of philanthropic trends and opportunities to cultivating and maintaining strong relationships with key donors, both institutional and individual.
- Editorial operations and engagement activities: The CEO oversees all editorial and engagement work of the organization, in close partnership with the senior leadership team.
- Financial management: The CEO is responsible for the Center’s overall financial performance. The CEO works closely with the board, CFOO, and other stakeholders to set policies on investments, annual budgets, cash management, and accurate accounting of grants, contributions, and expenses.
- Internal operations: The CEO works closely with senior leadership to develop operating processes and structures that drive efficiency and support the Center’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Board of directors: The CEO manages preparations for quarterly board meetings and works closely with board committees on relevant governance issues (e.g., investment strategy, board member recruitment).
Desired Outcomes
- The Pulitzer Center continues to thrive and evolve, and it attracts, retains, and empowers highly motivated staff members while maintaining a culture characterized by inclusivity and purpose.
- The Center's financial resources continue to grow, enabling even greater investment for the future.
- Other journalism organizations turn to the Center as a go-to laboratory for innovative journalism models that create impact and break down echo chambers.
- The Center continues to support a pipeline of meaningful, ambitious journalism that may not otherwise be possible.
Compensation
- The estimated annual base salary range for this position is $300,000 - $350,000.
- Actual base salary will be dependent on the individuals’ skills, experience, and qualifications.
CANDIDATE PROFILE
Ideal Experience
- Media industry experience
Profound understanding of and appreciation for journalism and the challenges the field faces; ideally, hands-on experience in the media ecosystem. - Executive leadership and financial fluency
Experience managing talent and operations at the senior level within a complex, people-intensive organization; demonstrated financial and operational acumen. - Resource generation and relationship building
Track record of revenue generation, with particular interest in cultivating philanthropic support; at minimum, the ability to build and maintain authentic relationships and inspire others to engage with and invest in a broader mission. - External relations, advocacy, and engagement
Experience serving as the public face of an organization to a wide range of external audiences including media, policymakers and political figures, corporate executives, nonprofits and NGOs, funders, and the public writ large. - Global perspective
Experience living and working abroad or in international organizations; brings a world view to the role and a global sensibility. - Experience working with or serving on a nonprofit board
An understanding of nonprofit governance principles and best practices.
Critical Leadership Capabilities
Strategic Thinking
In a rapidly changing and dynamic field, the successful candidate will ensure the organization adapts, while overseeing the implementation of its recently completed strategic plan and vision. This leader will:
- Anticipate how the external landscape will change—emerging threats and challenges, other actors in the field, dynamics in the funding community, etc.—and make priority decisions about how and where Pulitzer Center will engage in the field.
- Identify and pursue strategic priorities for the Center, with a focus on expansion of current services, always with an eye on how the Center can make distinctive contributions and significant impact with limited resources.
Driving Results
The successful candidate will identify and pursue initiatives and activities that will enhance the Pulitzer Center's ability to deliver on its mission. This leader will:
- Build even greater awareness of the Pulitzer Center and increase its impact on the field of journalism.
- Expand the Center's network and build robust and successful partnerships and relationships that will amplify the Center's reach and influence.
- Increase and diversify financial support for the organization.
Leading People
The next CEO will lead the Pulitzer Center through its first-ever CEO transition and will have an outsized impact on the culture of the organization and the experience of its staff. This leader will:
- Engage, inspire, and empower a diverse and high-performing team, bringing out each team member’s capacity to perform at the top of their ability while modeling passion for the organization’s mission.
- Clearly and effectively articulate the organization’s s goals and long-term direction, collaborate with various teams on how best to achieve those aims, and hold the organization accountable for its commitments, providing clarity, fairness, and constructive feedback.
- Sustain the organization’s positive culture and workplace environment, with a clear emphasis on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Other Personal Characteristics
- Deep commitment to the Pulitzer Center's mission.
- Sophisticated global perspective; cultural sensitivity and agility.
- Excellent communication and listening skills.
- Executive maturity and high energy.
- Empathetic and high emotional intelligence, with unimpeachable integrity and lack of ego.
- Servant leader with distinct humility.
Applications and Nominations
The Pulitzer Center is being assisted in this important recruitment by Spencer Stuart. If you wish to confidentially submit application materials or nominate someone for this role, please email: [email protected].