NBCU Academy 2024 Playbook

How the free, award-winning education program will continue cultivating the next generation of leaders in the year ahead.

A Message from our Leader

We launched NBCU Academy three years ago to help fulfill our mission of cultivating the next generation of talent in journalism, media and tech. This year, we're excited to introduce two new initiatives alongside our signature events and ongoing programs that promote our goals of fostering access to underserved communities, building trust with our audiences, and providing opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds.

Created by Cesar Conde, NBCUniversal News Group Chairman, NBCU Academy has made significant progress, partnering with over 45 academic institutions, and other notable organizations nationwide. Through our multi-platform approach, including video tutorials, summits, and training tools, we equip aspiring journalists and content creators with the resources they need to succeed at no cost.

If you're interested to see how you can contribute to the next generation, I invite you to read more about the opportunities we have planned for 2024. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yvette Miley

EVP, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, NBCU News Group

Yvette Miley

Award-winning journalist Yvette M. Miley serves as EVP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the NBCU News Group. A 33-year veteran of NBCUniversal, her responsibilities include recruiting and retention, training and development, employee engagement, strategic partnerships, and editorial initiatives across NBC News, NBC News NOW, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo and NBCU Local.

About NBCU​ Academy

NBCU Academy is a free, award-winning education program for developing new skills and advancing careers in journalism, media and tech. The vision of NBCUniversal News Group Chairman, Cesar Conde, NBCU Academy reflects Comcast NBCUniversal and NBCU News Group’s commitment to creating a sustainable pipeline of access and opportunity to people across all genders, races, geographic and socio-economic backgrounds and perspectives.

A multi-platform initiative including video tutorials, best practices articles, virtual summits and in-person panels, NBCU Academy provides tools and resources for journalists, content creators, media innovators, filmmakers and students. This includes partnerships with 45 academic institutions across the country, a presence at major journalism conferences and conventions throughout the year, and ground-breaking partnerships aimed at building trust and unlocking access and opportunity across the media landscape.

NBCU Academy is part of Project UP, Comcast NBCUniversal’s comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity and help build a future of unlimited possibilities.

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Key Programs

Next Level Summit

A transformative all-day learning experience offered at no cost bi-annually, the Next Level Summit provides an opportunity for students to engage with key Comcast NBCUniversal and NBCU News Group leadership and anchors. Participants can attend keynote presentations, breakout panels, and career exposition sessions. The event aims to break through financial and geographical barriers by offering free online training and digital content.

NBCU Academy’s most recent Next Level Summit took place on April 11, 2024, and focused on unlocking leadership potential from the classroom to the board room. You can stream all panels now on the NBCU Academy website — and be the first to know when the next Summit date is announced!

Watch on demand

NBCU Academy Embed Program

The NBCU Academy Embed Program is a 24-month assignment where participants are embedded full time in a business unit to learn, build their skills, and gain hands-on professional experience.

At the start of 2024, a majority of the six members of the 2021 cohort have transitioned into full time roles with NBCU News Group and across the industry. The five members of the 2022 cohort are working across the News Group and NBCUniversal, matched to roles that align with their strengths and future goals. These placements include marketing, communications, broadcast and production assignments.

Key Programs

The Original Voices Documentary Films initiative, an artist development and inclusion program presented by NBCU Academy, offers three core programs: the Original Voices Fellowship and Shorts Pitch, conducted in collaboration with NBC News Studios, along with the Accelerator program. In January 2024, the Original Voices Accelerator launched with grants to ten promising student filmmakers and film critics from across the United States and its territories. Throughout the year, participants in the Accelerator program will cultivate both peer and executive mentorship relationships resulting in skill-sharing, and creative feedback.

Since 2020, Original Voices Documentary Films has allocated over $1.25 million to support groundbreaking nonfiction and hybrid films. Notable works such as "I DIDN’T SEE YOU THERE," "MIJA," "HUMMINGBIRDS," "BAD PRESS," "UNSEEN," and "UNION" have received support from our programs. These films have garnered recognition at prestigious national and international film festivals, including Sundance Film Festival, True/False Film Fest, Camden International Film Festival, Hot Docs, Full Frame, and Berlinale.

Learn more here

New in 2024

Launching in 2024, the Storytellers Program features an inaugural cohort of three associate reporters who will cover people of impact across the U.S. throughout the year, bringing fresh perspectives and untold stories to the forefront. This program, specifically for early-career journalists with 2-3 years of post-graduate experience, serves as an opportunity for young professionals to enter the media industry.

Watch the stories unfold here

2024 Storytellers

Iris (Yi Youn) Kim is a 2022 PEN Emerging Voices Fellow, a 2022 USC Center for Public Diplomacy U.S.South Korea Creative NextGen Fellow, and a 2023 Gold House Journalism Futures Accelerator participant. Her work was anthologized in Woodhall Press' "Nonwhite and Woman" in September 2022. She is currently working on a collection of essays about the reverberations of immigration and assimilation within Korean American communities. She is a graduate of USC.

Maya Brown is an Emmy-winning journalist who previously worked on NBC News’ social newsgathering team. She recently received her master’s in Journalism from New York University and has her bachelor’s in journalism and political science from Stony Brook University. She has previously interned for NBC News, CNN, the Council on Foreign Relations, WSHU Public Radio, the Long Island Herald and Long Island Weekly Community Newspapers.

Jay Valle is a New York-based journalist and digital content producer who was previously an NBCU Academy embed at NBC OUT. His investigative reporting on a series of robberies and tragic incidents that affected the LGBTQ community in New York earned him GLAAD Media Award nominations in 2023 and 2024. He is a graduate of Florida International University.

NBCU Academy Local Associate Reporters Development Program

New this year, NBCU Academy, together with NBCUniversal Local, launched the NBCU Academy Local Associates Reporters Development program. This initiative aims to foster the growth of talented journalists and is designed to appeal to early-career television journalists such as producers, reporters, multimedia journalists (MMJs), and weather presenters, as well as experienced print journalists looking to transition to television.

Participants in the program will benefit from a substantial investment in training with access to resources from NBCU Academy. They will also receive coaching to build the necessary skills for roles at local stations and NBC News. The inaugural cohort for the program are located at six NBC and Telemundo owned stations in Philadelphia, Miami, Houston, Sacramento, Orlando, and Hartford. Individuals selected for the program will undergo training in various capacities, including producing, reporting, and weather forecasting.

Learn more about pipeline programs

Always-On Programming Equity Lab

NBCU Academy’s Equity Lab, which sits at the intersection of media and DEI, offers original reporting, perspectives, best practices, and analysis in an article format.

Read our latest articles

Online Courses

From the fundamentals and beyond, NBCU Academy’s free online courses teach journalism skills alongside the NBCU News Group and other experts.

Watch and learn more

Conferences and Conventions

Engage in person with NBCU Academy at the following conferences and conventions this summer:

NAHJ Hollywood, CA | July 9 – 13

NAJA Oklahoma City, OK | July 25 – 27

AAJA Austin, TX | August 7 – 11

NLGJA Los Angeles, CA | September 5 – 8

Stay updated on conferences and conventions where NBCU Academy will have a presence.

NBCU Academy’s industry-leading partnerships

The NBCU Academy X NFL Experienceship launched fall 2023. Through this partnership, NBCU Academy and NBC Sports join forces with the National Football League’s Football Operations team to integrate programming and initiatives for underrepresented young professionals and academic institutions with limited resources. “Experienceships” focus on providing access and opportunity to game day television, communications and team operations. Students build their professional network by spending time with executives, on-air talent, current and former players and production teams. Off to an incredible start in 2024, the NFL credentialed eight NBCU Academy students for the Pro Bowl (Orlando, FL) and Super Bowl (Las Vegas, NV.) In each city, students worked with our Telemundo Sports teams to learn new skills and create content.

Throughout the rest of this year, NBCU Academy and NBC Sports will partner with the NFL to provide students and young professionals in their pipeline with opportunities to grow careers in sports. This will come to life via signature NFL programs including the HBCU Careers in Football Forum, NBCU Academy X NFL Experienceship and Game Day Reporter.

Deepening NBC’s broadcast relationship with the Big Ten Conference, NBCU Academy and NBC Sports are partnering with the Big Ten Conference with the ultimate goal of establishing professional development opportunities on Big Ten campuses both in the classroom and on gameday.

In 2024, this goal is coming to life with NBCU Academy student content creators providing B1G coverage through their reporting and social media content throughout the year. Building upon seven B1G coverage engagements from 2023, efforts will expand to include Men’s and Women’s Basketball and non-revenue sports in 2024. Students will engage with executive leaders and gameday production teams to develop professional leadership and technical production skills.

NBCU Academy is proud to partner with the News Literacy Project, sharing the goal of teaching news literacy, building trust and fighting misinformation and disinformation. In 2024, activities in this ongoing effort will include supporting News Literacy Week, hosting students in our newsrooms and content creation focused on building news literacy competencies.

Partner schools

In keeping with Comcast NBCUniversal and NBCU News Group’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, the multi-year partnership involves 45 academic partners including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions and colleges with significant Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Black, Indigenous and tribal populations – reaching students from underrepresented groups including those from diverse racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, economic, and geographic backgrounds.

Learn more about our academic partners