public narrative
annual report
impact 2025 | 2026
Dear Friend of PN! Thank you for your interest in and support for Public Narrative and our efforts to unify community and media in a way that is meaningful to all involved! Our work has informed and inspired scores of media makers and consumers to find their rightful place in American democracy. During 2025, it was a special honor to connect media and community. It is an honor to be a positive part of civic journalism, piloting projects and ideas that promise to elevate the curiosity and understanding of those impacted by our reach. This annual report reflects our approach to harnessing media engagement, and with great appreciation, we celebrate the power of partnership within our robust network.
Here’s a glimpse of what has been an eventful year for Public Narrative, including:
• The successful completion of the Alliance Matters: Temperature Check editorial campaign • The Connecting Media and Community: Reframing Purpose, Partnership and Possibility conference • The Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) Scorecard results • The launch of the Institute for Journalism and Racial Justice at DePaul University • The launch of our Health Reporting Fellowship in partnership with the Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine • The celebration of civic organizations, media makers and other storytellers at the 31st Annual Studs Terkel Community Media Awards Many thanks to the supporters of community storytelling and media resource organizations like PN! We exist to serve and have done so by stimulating a host of conversations through discovery sessions and focus groups that have invited your brilliance to connect with people and institutions. Thank you for your enduring confidence in our ability to leverage our mission on behalf of collaborators and community members of all kinds. The staff and board of PN take our mission seriously and don’t take lightly your willingness to explore opportunities and navigate challenges alongside us. I invite you to read this report with the understanding that there is a role for you in our future. From there, let’s build upon the impact, gratitude, and significance of this work. Yours in partnership and progress,
Jhmira Alexander President and CEO 2
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Public Narrative: What We Do, Why and How For nearly 40 years since its founding as Community Media Workshop, Public Narrative has lifted up community voices by offering programming and training that enable organizations to build useful working relationships with community and ethnic media outlets throughout Chicago, Illinois and elsewhere. Our fiscal year spanning 2025-2026 saw new milestones and growth for the organization, including new staff, board, events, and partnerships that made a positive impact on the sectors we serve in the media and our community.
Our fiscal year spanning 2025-2026 These interlocking values are reflected in our distinctive Narrative Change Model, which builds cross-sector collaboration through saw new facilitated conversations and workshops, bringing together journalists, policymakers, researchers, community leaders and other key milestones and stakeholders to examine data, exchange perspectives and create more growth for the accurate, inclusive storytelling. We have built our legacy on a team of people who are purpose-driven to promote inclusive pathways to news organization. and information. Our touchstones include elevating diverse media voices, making mediacommunity connections, forging deeper reporting on key issues, building narratives that matter, creating trust and value, and supplying media literacy training and resources that empower community organizations.
Since 2019, Public Narrative has intentionally centered its work on this Narrative Change Model, partnering with communities and the organizations that serve them to address complex challenges and develop sustainable, bottom-up solutions in areas like safety, public health and media education. In the safety focus area, we provide skills and resources for those engaged in both violence prevention and justice advocacy to communicate persuasively with journalists and other storytellers, as well as policy makers. In the public health arena, we connect journalists with patients, medical staff and academics to disseminate the latest in research along with stories about caregiving. When it comes to media education, we both advocate and provide insights on how to recognize mis- and disinformation and turn to more trustworthy, accountable sources.
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1989–2020
Public Narrative Goes National: Spreading Our Message
MEET PUBLIC NARRATIVE SUPPORTING MEDIA AND COMMUNITIES Public Narrative has been elevating community voices in journalism for more than 35 years. Our programs and training support community and ethnic media outlets and for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, building meaningful relationships across Chicago, and beyond.
While Public Narrative’s efforts are primarily focused on the Chicagoland region and the state of Illinois, our organization has been invited to the national stage to make presentations demonstrating the power of narrative change for a variety of audiences. We’ve also had the opportunity to spread the message that the Chicago ecosystem is a model for the country, with innovations and collaboration in practice that are still aspirational theories in other spaces.
2019-2024 COVID STRAINS AND GROWING PAINS
For example:
At ComNet25, the national conference of The Communications Network, which serves more than 3,000 professionals in foundations, nonprofits and the social service sector, we made a poster presentation about how we, in Chicago, have been building the sorts of collaborations that are still theoretical in other parts of the country, in the hopes of inspiring them. The poster displayed, to an audience of communicators and academics, a timeline of our key developments, the array of our media and civic partners, and the details of our charter. At the Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit in May 2026, our President and CEO, Jhmira Alexander, spoke to journalists and development professionals on “Cultivating Meaningful Media Collaboration for Growth and Impact.” Her appearance at the Summit, created by The Lenfest Institute and Press Forward to bolster independent news fundraising, happened alongside representatives of Press Forward Chicago, Reparations Media, the Institute for Journalism and Racial Equity, and two sister publications, the Maine Monitor and Bangor Daily News. At the Harambee Conference in April 2026, presented by ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities, our Vice President of Journalism and Media Engagement, Sylvia Ewing, co-presented on, “Newsroom as Sanctuary.” Given the emotional toll that reporting can take on journalists, the presentation covered a “duty-of-care framework” for newsrooms centered around healing, mental health and communal accountability, through techniques like breathwork and reflective circles.
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CIMA
In 2024, following a successful fundraising campaign during the pandemic, the stewardship of CIMA by another nonprofit media organization proved unsustainable. Public Narrative was asked to become the administrator.
2025
PARTNERSHIP AND PROMISE
RETREAT AND RENEWAL A host of changes affecting the delivery of news and media throughout the country deepened our commitment to increasing trust between the public and the media beginning with the creation of a CIMA scorescard underscored by transparency and truth-telling.
CHICAGO INDEPENDENT MEDIA ALLIANCE (CIMA) AND ALLIANCE MATTERS As stewards of CIMA, Public Narrative has a shared vision for CIMA activities co-created with news and media makers and consumers and philanthropists.
HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF OUR COLLEAGUES AND SUPPORTERS:
• Press Forward Chicago at the Chicago Community Trust • Northwestern University Medill School for Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications • Northwestern University Center for Community Health and the Alliance for Research In Chicago Communities • The Bridge at NORC at The University of Chicago • Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) • DePaul University College of Communication • The Field Foundation 0f Illinois
OUR CHARTER
1. Strengthen Local Media 2. Promote Fair and Just Reporting 3. Enhance Collaboration among Media Organizations 4. Foster Sustainability
WE LOOKED FOR MORE WAYS TO CONNECT LOCAL MEDIA WITH THE BROADER COMMUNITY. ALLIANCE MATTERS IS THE BRIDGE. Alliance Matters is an editorial collaboration between Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) members focused on their audiences and funded in part by The Field Foundation.
CIMA
Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA): Joining to Meet Audience Needs Public Narrative became the administrator of the Chicago Independent Media Alliance in February 2024 at the request of the Reader Institute for Community Journalism. Since that time, Public Narrative has held two reinvigorating retreats, has grown to nearly 30 member news and media organizations, and provided micro-grants to an array of storytelling organizations through a program called Alliance Matters. As a coalition of community-based organizations focused on transforming the Chicago-area media ecosystem to become more inclusive and reflective, CIMA’s priorities include fundraising, financial and operational capacity building, effective governance structures, deeper engagement and partnership building. CIMA has created a unique space for a variety of storytelling vehicles, including nonprofit and for-profit print publications, digital platforms, newsletters, podcasts, filmmakers and others.
CIMA has created a unique space for a variety of storytelling vehicles.
CIMA members combine to reach over 4 million people in Chicago and a plethora of suburban areas, publishing in six languages and reaching a wide diversity of audiences: Black, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Polish, immigrant and LGBTQIA-plus. CIMA members are represented by a member on the Public Narrative board. In addition to the retreats and editorial collaborations, members have attended professional development, freelance-oriented, issue-focused, and selfgovernance convenings. Together, they have worked on issues like growing the pool of local freelancers and the impact of changes in how advertising works today. And together, our members help shape Chicago’s role as an innovative national leader in local media.
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CIMA Scorecard: Measuring Performance, Seeking Improvement After acquiring the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) from the Reader Institute for Community Journalism in 2024, Public Narrative developed the CIMA scorecard to measure its performance based on several themes that emerged from a vision planning process among news consumers, funders and community members. The scorecard evaluates how effectively CIMA carries out its mission, broken into three key lenses: how well Public Narrative administers CIMA, how well the CIMA community serves its purpose as a collaborative partnership, and how well philanthropic contributions from funders buttress its ongoing work. In each of the areas identified, CIMA members score Public Narrative, CIMA outlets and funders on their performance, providing a snapshot of the pros and cons along with ideas on how they might better serve their respective, interrelated constituencies. The scorecard placed nine themes under the collective microscope, with responses aggregated based on a one to five scale. A score of one meant Critical, or severely underperforming; two equaled Developing, falling short of expectations; three translated as Progressing, with upward momentum but still significant growth potential; four rated as Effective, with only minor improvements still needed; and five reaching Exceptional status, meeting or exceeding all expectations.
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For the most recent rankings in 2025, on a scale of 1 to 5, Public Narrative scored:
4.4
Identity
3.8
Transparency
4.2
Facilitated Engagement
4.4 on Identity, defined as a clear and concise understanding of relationships, aspirations and vision, up from 2.8 in the previous baseline evaluation
3.8 on Transparency, clarity and openness in decision-making, up from 2.4
4.2 on Facilitated Engagement, efforts to inspire a collaborative and cooperative spirit, up from 2.7
3.7 3.7 4.0
Capacity Building
3.7 on Capacity Building, initiatives to deliver tools and resources such as fundraising support, up from 2.3
Advocacy
3.7 on Advocacy, strategies to advance the CIMA community’s interests, up from 3.1
Governance
4.0 on Governance, meaning administrative effectiveness, up from 2.5
In addition, CIMA outlets received a 3.4 out of 5 on Partner Cultivation, defined as how effectively newsrooms and other media organizations in the Alliance are building their collective power through collaboration, unchanged from the previous evaluation; and funders received a 3.6 on Funder Support, not only dollars given, but coordination of efforts and transparency around funding priorities and commitments, up from 2.4 the previous year. Public Narrative, CIMA outlets and funders will be evaluated again in 2027, hoping for continued improvement and keeping a close eye on where they need to ramp up their efforts in order to meet and exceed their objectives–and surpass their previous scores.
Alliance Matters: ‘Temperature Checks’ Across Diverse Communities Alliance Matters, held between June and November 2025 as a pilot initiative for CIMA members, provided micro-grants along with inspiration and skill development to 14 independent media organizations and content creators. Collectively, they produced “Temperature Checks” throughout Chicago’s multicultural neighborhoods while publishing across a wide range of formats.
The programming spanned print stories, podcasts, video and photography.
Alliance Matters grantees chose the activities, events and content they wanted to produce as part of their respective projects and fleshed out how their project fit with the “Temperature Check” theme. Each of the 14 grantees received a micro-grant of $3,400 to support marketing, engagement and other functions, plus $600 to hire and train a freelancer, along with creative, technical and marketing support.
The programming, published and distributed between July and October 2025, spanned print stories, podcasts, video and photography that covered breaking news, research, arts projects and more. The media outlets were responsible for the reporting and views expressed, and in return kept all rights to the content, as laid out in the memorandum of understanding they signed with Public Narrative. Details of the project and the work remain on Public Narrative’s website. Among the projects completed were a print interview in North Lawndale Community News with Lawndale Christian Health Center CEO Dr. James Brooks that “checked the temperature” of the West Side, a “podcast salon” produced by E3 Radio that contained stories about Black newspapers of the pre-Civil Rights era and present-day community-driven activist journalism in BIPOC and other marginalized communities, and a piece in Borderless Magazine about women who help immigrants on the Southwest Side access healthcare. Other organizations that received grants included Respair Production & Media, Enchúfate LLC, Reparations Media, Chicago News Weekly, Pigment International, Inside Publications (Skyline, Inside-Booster, News-Star), Dziennik Zwiazkowy - Polish Daily News, Cicero Independiente, Third Coast Review LLC, Lumpen Radio (an initiative of Public Media Institute), and South Side Weekly NFP. Initial funding was provided by the Field Foundation, and additional funding came from a Leaders for a New Chicago award.
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Health Science Reporting Fellowship Public Narrative also supported local reporting through a fellowship with Northwestern University, helping expand newsroom capacity and strengthen coverage of underreported stories and communities. The Health Science Reporting Fellowship (HSRF) for community media journalists is co-led by Public Narrative and the Alliance for Research with Chicagoland Communities (ARCC)/Center for Community Health (CCH) at Northwestern University.
We look forward to seeing their stories. They are: Kelly Glass, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The VP Chicago Nicole Jeanine Johnson, Freelancer, Harvey World Herald Ashley Quincin, Reporter, La Raza Katherine Schulder-Battis, Freelancer, The Chicago Reporter Todd Thomas, Freelancer, North Lawndale News
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CONNECTING MEDIA COMMUNITY
CONFERENCE Public Narrative held a free, one-day conference in December 2025 titled “Connecting Media & Community: Reframing Purpose, Possibility & Partnerships.” People from media organizations and from community, civic and nonprofit groups came together building mutual support and sparking purposeful partnerships.
A Chance to Cross-Cultivate Conference attendees who responded to our survey shared the following:
97%
92
99
The conference’s opening session incorporated remarks from Public Narrative President and CEO Jhmira Alexander, a performance by Chicago poet Rocio Franco, and the presentation of the Champion of Courage Awards, given to Timothy M. Russell, Nicole R. Robinson and Gabrielle Lyon. These awards celebrate organizations that have stood up for people under threat, as well as values like humanity and inclusiveness. Attendees also heard an authoritative, dynamic plenary session by Trymaine Lee, author of the national bestseller “A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America.” A Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award-winning journalist, Lee is also a contributor to MS.NOW. A subsequent panel discussion explored Lee’s work through the lenses of community development, social justice and media representation. The panel included Victoria Lakes-Battle, Illinois Facilities Fund; Tiffany Walden, The TRiBE; and Sequane Lawrence, Revolution Institute.
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the conference would help % agreed advance their organization’s mission
91%
agreed they learned about new resources to help develop narratives that will resonate with their community
agreed that even with the heightened polarization and backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion, they are prepared to better communicate their organization’s mission, vision and values
the session content was % agreed relevant to their work
89%
agreed they are better equipped to engage in authentic, constructive dialogue with people who hold different perspectives from them
Survey respondents also reported that they gained:
Access to free, actionable information
An opportunity to foster community
A chance to build trusting relationships
and connect across sectors
to build collective strategies for sustainability and growth through media literacy, education and inclusive dialogue
among journalists and content creators and their audiences through storytelling
Institute for Journalism and Racial Justice: Backing Inclusive Storytelling The Institute for Journalism and Racial Justice, a partnership with (and housed at) DePaul University’s College of Communication, creates space for freelancers, students and other independent journalists to tell the kinds of stories that feel increasingly at risk in the current, contentious media environment.
The mission of the Institute, founded in 2025 and led by DePaul faculty member, multiple Emmy Award-winning broadcast, documentarian and CIMA member Judith McCray, is three-fold: • To champion early-career and freelance journalists through guidance and coaching, building their skills and abilities; • To provide journalism students from DePaul and other universities, as well as other community members, with seminars, networking meetings and other substantive activities that enhance their storytelling, drawing from the expertise of members of the Public Narrative-powered Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA); and, • To cultivate media coverage of racial justice issues by discouraging harmful and inequitable narratives, while promoting innovative principles like solutions journalism and community asset-framing that result in more comprehensive coverage. The Institute hosted five events reaching nearly 300 attendees during its first year, bringing together DePaul students, Chicago-area journalism and media professionals, and members of the community for roundtable discussions, workshops, networking opportunities and film screenings. These have included a discovery session and a bootcamp for freelancers, as well as a launch event that featured former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s ICE accountability project. One attendee of the bootcamp held in May 2026 pronounced it as an “excellent experience” overall. “As someone interested in learning more about the field of journalism, I was very excited to learn about this event, and I found the variety of workshops and presentations that were offered to be very enriching,” the attendee said. A DePaul alumna who attended another Institute event found it “very valuable” that the resources and information shared were free and open to the public. “I am glad to learn about the Institute and look forward to the events and opportunities that can be developed here in the future,” she said.
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Community Media Awards: Honoring Those Making a Difference The 31st annual Studs Terkel Award and five other awards from Public Narrative were presented to two organizations and nine individuals at the Community Media Awards ceremony in May 2026 at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The ceremony honored impressive, The 2026 Terkel Award winners selected by a panel of past honorees are: Ben Austen, freelance journalist, author and podcaster; Gregory Royal differencePratt, a Chicago Tribune reporter and author; Alma Campos, reporter at Chicago Public Media; Laura Rodriguez Presa, another Chicago Tribune making winners. reporter; and Jennifer Smith Richards, reporter at ProPublica Illinois.
The ceremony also honored the impressive, difference-making winners of: • The Dr. Timuel D. Black Jr. Award for Civic Engagement: Charles Preston of Injustice Watch and the Coalition for Spiritual Leadership • The People’s Choice Award went to one honoree this year: Jorge Mújica Murias, campaign organizer at Arise Chicago • The Ripple Effect Award: Block Club Chicago newsroom, writ large • The Uplifting Voices Award for 2026: Francia Garcia Hernandez, reporter at Block Club Chicago • Lifetime Achievement Award: Denise Zaccardi, founder of Community TV Network 11 PUBLIC NARRATIVE 2025 | 2026 ANNUAL REPORT PUBLICNARRATIVE.ORG
Resources: Media Calendar, Immigration Guide, Government Ad Buys Public Narrative has provided a handful of other resources for the use of—or on behalf of— media professionals, such as a new local media calendar, a journalists’ guide to immigration advocacy groups, the Chicago Media Guide, and the Chi Media Exchange, an initiative to assist government agencies in advertising more easily with members of our Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA). The Chicago Local Media Events Calendar is a new platform for journalists, media organizations, institutions, investors and other supporters of Chicago-area media to post their upcoming happenings, to boost participation in civic journalism throughout the area. The Journalist’s Guide to Illinois Immigrants’ Rights Groups provides basic information about each organization’s mission, a description of what they do day-to-day and month-to-month, and contact information to find out more. The 39 groups listed are mostly local, although some are Chicago or Illinois outposts of national organizations; and they’re mostly broadly focused, although some serve specific ethnic groups.
Public Narrative has provided a handful of other resources The Chi Media Exchange is a pilot platform that provides government agencies an easier path for the use of—or on behalf of— to advertising with CIMA members, building sustainable, recurring business with city, county, media professionals. and state governments for local publishers. This creates not only a reliable revenue stream that supports the long-term health of independent, community-serving journalism but also ensures that public dollars earmarked for community outreach and public information campaigns are efficiently connected to their intended audiences, including the opportunity to reach those who speak languages other than English. Built around the members of CIMA to start with, the Exchange will be expanded over time to include other media outlets and community partners. In addition to these newer initiatives, we also continue to maintain and expand the Chicago Media Guide, our definitive database of Chicago media contacts, with free, monthly and annual pricing tiers; and we offer a flexible, diverse array of customized trainings and workshops for individuals, media groups and nonprofit organizations, training them to do evocative, equitable storytelling.
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86
%
86 percent of all organizational expenses directly supported program services.
Annual Financial Overview 2025-2026 FY2025 was a transformational year for Public Narrative, marked by expanded partnerships, increased community engagement, and growing investment in ethical, community-centered journalism.
The organization’s growth reflects the increasing demand for trusted journalism and community-driven storytelling. During FY2025, Public Narrative more than doubled its organizational revenue through expanded support from foundations, corporate partners, government agencies, and individual donors. This investment allowed the organization to strengthen journalism training, convene community listening sessions, expand educational programming, and create opportunities for journalists and communities to learn from one another and build lasting relationships. Public Narrative remained committed to responsible stewardship of every dollar entrusted to its mission: 86 percent of all organizational expenses directly supported program services, while the remaining resources strengthened fundraising and organizational infrastructure necessary to sustain long-term impact. The organization also received a clean independent audit, reflecting its continued commitment to transparency, accountability and sound financial management. As Public Narrative looks ahead, the organization remains focused on expanding opportunities for journalists and community leaders to collaborate, strengthening partnerships across Chicago and beyond, and creating spaces where every community’s story is told (and read or heard) with accuracy, dignity and purpose. The momentum built during FY2025-2026 provides a strong foundation for continued innovation and lasting impact in the years ahead.
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Staff and Board Staff
Board of Directors
Jhmira Alexander, President and Chief Executive Officer
Jesús Del Toro (LaRaza), Interim Board Chair
Sylvia Ewing, Vice President of Journalism and Media Engagement
Derrick M. Fleming, Jr., (TGEL Partners & Associates), Board Member
Andrea Darling, Director of Operations
Jeremi Bryant (Elevate), Board Member
Erica Bell, Executive Affairs Manager
Sonya Ross (Boss Ross Media, LLC.), Board Member
Maleia Tbileh, Digital Engagement Manager
Jhmira Alexander (Public Narrative), Board Member
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