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Poynter, ONA Announce First Class of 25 Promising Female Media Leaders for the ONA-Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital MediaST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Online News Association (ONA) and The Poynter Institute are pleased to announce the premiere class of 25 women leaders selected for the tuition-free ONA-Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media.  The participants were chosen from a pool of just under 500 applicants, screened for potential, need and diversity across ethnicity, age, geography, technology platforms and skill sets. "This was an amazing and intense process," said Kelly McBride, Poynter's Vice President of Academic Programs. "Amazing because we discovered so many journalists doing incredible work. Intense, because there were so many well-qualified women craving leadership training. We knew there was demand for this, but now we see how significant that demand is." Members of the first Academy are:
"We congratulate the talented women who will make up and contribute to this incredible first cohort," said Jane McDonnell, ONA Executive Director. "Because of the quality of the applicants, we're already planning another session that will focus on promising emerging leaders and their specific needs." The groundbreaking, tuition-free seminar held April 12-17 at Poynter's campus in St. Petersburg, Florida, will help women gain and polish the skills and knowledge needed to rise to the highest levels of media leadership. The classes will be structured to encourage open, candid discussion and networking, and participants will walk away with not only strong skills, but a built-in support system for the future. Sessions will be led by prominent women leaders in the startup, tech, media and academic fields, and faculty will include S. Mitra Kalita, current Executive Editor (at large) for Quartz and Adjunct Faculty at Poynter; Liz Heron, Facebook's Manager of News Partnerships; LaToya Drake, Marketing Manager/Media Outreach for Google and Kelly McBride, Poynter's Vice President of Academic Programs. Recognizing the need to continue this training, The McClatchy Company Foundation will provide funding for up to three additional Leadership Academies for Women in Digital Journalism. Poynter and the Online News Association will jointly host the second academy in the spring of 2016. McClatchy's ongoing commitment to leadership training for women in journalism is being made in honor of Heather Fagundes, who was passionate about both digital journalism and the careers of women. As the vice president for human resources at The McClatchy Company, Fagundes was a champion for diversity throughout the news organization. A 22-year McClatchy employee, Fagundes died from cancer last December at the age 45. In her honor, Thursday night's closing gathering at the Leadership Academy for Women will be named the Heather Fagundes Memorial Dinner. "We're pleased to support this important initiative to further the careers and opportunities for women in digital journalism. We are especially proud to do so on behalf of our former colleague Heather Fagundes, who represented the very best of our company, and played such an important leadership role in building our company," said McClatchy President and CEO Pat Talamantes. About The Poynter Institute About the Online News Association Media contact: Kim Tobin, 1-727-553-4707, [email protected]. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110323/MM70721LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/poynter-ona-announce-first-class-of-25-promising-female-media-leaders-for-the-ona-poynter-leadership-academy-for-women-in-digital-media-300048366.html SOURCE The Poynter Institute 
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