Announcing our inaugural cohort for the 2024 Sustainability 360 program

Most leaders of independent news sites come from newsrooms and have never run a business before. Their superpower is knowing the basic structures, processes, and language to design editorial strategies and execute high-impact journalism. But they aren’t as familiar with the basic structures, processes, and language to run a financially healthy and operationally resilient news business. That’s where LION comes in.

Last year, we laid the foundation for how we will continue to support LION members to bridge that gap in our Strategic Plan, which includes the launch of the Sustainability 360 program.

This program, supported by the Google News Initiative, is dedicated to helping 100 LION members reach the growth stage of our independent news maturity model within the next five years. Throughout the program, participants will collaborate with expert coaches to strengthen financial health, expand their audiences, and bolster operational resilience. 

“This program combines the best lessons, insights, and best practices from LION’s work in recent years, and the outcomes for participants will inform how our team develops future benefits and programs for all LION members,” says Director of Membership Sarah Gustavus Lim.

We’re excited to introduce the first cohort of six organizations selected for this journey. These news organizations have shown a strong commitment to building a sustainable future for independent media. Over the next eight months, they will receive comprehensive support to set clear, actionable goals that drive long-term sustainability, emphasizing revenue growth, leadership development, and community impact.

What sets these organizations apart:

• Each is preparing for a key new hire, making our back-office support for financial planning and HR invaluable.
• That new hire will either free up publishers to focus on revenue growth or work directly on revenue generation, which will be supported by our strategic coaching.
• Every organization has at least one established revenue stream, with annual revenue over $100,000 and year-over-year growth.
• They’ve identified knowledge gaps around specific areas that our new Expert Network can help address.
• They see opportunities for audience development and growth.
• They serve underserved communities, filling critical information gaps left by other publications.

Please join us in congratulating the following organizations and their dedicated teams as they embark on this journey!

Ctrl+P Publishing

Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Ctrl+P Publishing is moving into a new chapter after two years of significant growth, having acquired or launched four small outlets. In 2025, they aim to integrate these outlets into a sustainable network by sharing backend services to allow their journalists to focus on news creation. Their key goals include standardizing digital content across publications supported by newsletter sponsorships and reader revenue, simplifying their shared tech stack, and diversifying their leadership by elevating journalists of color who match their community.

Mission Local

Based in San Francisco, California

Mission Local is focused on expanding their business operations, aiming to hire a business operations lead to bolster their advertising program. Additionally, they seek to secure major gifts and donations to replace a two-year grant that supports their development lead. By implementing a new audience development strategy, they hope to grow readership and further solidify their community impact.

LOOKOUT Publications

Based in Phoenix, Arizona

LOOKOUT Publications is setting ambitious goals for 2025, including growing their membership program by 300%, launching a robust sponsorship and advertising program, and defining a comprehensive audience funnel. They aim to better understand and steward their loyal audience, converting them into regular donors to support the publication’s mission.

RANGE Media

Based in Spokane, Washington

RANGE Media is committed to increasing their earned revenue from 33% to 66% of their budget through new sponsorship opportunities and growing memberships. Their goal is to develop a repeatable audience acquisition strategy and hire a part-time business employee, freeing up their leadership to focus on long-term strategy, mission alignment, and team growth.

Planet Detroit

Based in Detroit, Michigan

In the coming year, Planet Detroit aims to be fully staffed, financially stable, and deeply responsive to community needs. They are focused on building capacity and engaging with their audience in a way that strengthens their newsroom’s ability to report on critical environmental and public health issues in Detroit.

The Buckeye Flame

Based in Cleveland, Ohio

The Buckeye Flame has set their sights on hiring a development professional and making significant progress toward their goal of engaging 0.5% of Ohio’s LGBTQ+ adult population at the lowest level of giving. Additionally, they plan to hire a reporter dedicated to covering LGBTQ+ communities of color, further expanding their vital coverage and advocacy.

Meet the coaches

Participants in the program will receive guidance from a team of experienced coaches. 

Kimberly Spencer is a leadership consultant and executive coach who specializes in nonprofit governance, board development, and fundraising strategies. Kimberly is the founder of NP Solutions Collective, where she works with CEOs of nonprofits and local news organizations to enhance their leadership, fundraising, and compliance practices. With previous leadership roles at The Pivot Fund, Capital B, and Public News Service, Kimberly has developed strategic fundraising initiatives for a range of organizations. Her coaching expertise spans revenue growth, operational support, and ethical leadership, making her a vital asset to the cohort as they strive to build sustainable newsrooms.

Celeste LeCompte is a nonprofit leader dedicated to creating an informed, engaged public. Her work focuses on delivering the information and community resources people need to enact democracy, while ensuring the financial and operational sustainability of the organizations delivering it. Most recently, she was the chief audience officer at Chicago Public Media, where she led the launch of a voluntary membership program for the Chicago Sun-Times and oversaw a variety of product, marketing, and editorial initiatives aimed at helping Chicago-area residents better engage in their communities. Previously, as the vice president of strategy and operations at ProPublica, she helped establish regional offices focused on local investigative journalism, expanded earned revenue sources, and accelerated digital audience growth. As an award-winning journalist, she covered technology, innovation, climate change, and often their intersection for more than a decade.

Participants will also receive support on HR and finance from consultants at Dakin Ventures Consulting Group.

Amy Bennett is a mission-driven, client-focused nonprofit accountant with a legal background and 20 years of proven experience successfully managing accounting and finance functions. Amy has significant experience collaborating with chief financial officers (CFOs) in creating new internal controls and interdepartmental protocols to increase accounting department efficiencies. She also has a proven track record of client satisfaction, with progressively increasing responsibility with every single client. Her systems experience includes Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT certified, with advanced Excel skills.

Deborah Brown is a seasoned and well-versed senior HR leader, with a dynamic background in employee relations, leadership development, talent acquisition, management coaching, policy development, organizational design, and DEI. She’s a flexible and open-minded leader and strategic business partner who also enjoys writing fiction in her spare time.