The Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program

The Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program trains leaders of the world’s most respected news organizations and promising media start-ups to lead innovation and solve strategic business challenges in a time of rapid transformation, uncertainty, and opportunity. Fellows use the 21-week program to launch, accelerate, and implement a real-world project that is critical to the mission of their organizations and integrated into their day-to-day work. The program begins with a two-week intensive at Columbia Journalism School January 2-13, 2023. Fellows then return to their organizations to immediately implement what they learned and are supported through a weekly virtual cohort meeting and one-on-one coaching. The program culminates back at Columbia for a final week-long intensive, including final project presentations, May 22-26, 2023.

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Fellows in this five-month low-residency program spend three weeks at Columbia Journalism School in New York City, starting with a 10-day residency from January 02-13, 2023. Fellows then work on their projects and assignments back at their organizations and attend a weekly virtual cohort meeting. Fellows return for one final week of residency, May 22-26, 2023.

Note: In-person sessions will adhere to CDC Covid-19 safety guidelines as well as all Covid-19 regulations and protocols required by New York City and Columbia University. Should any of these public health measures prevent in-person instruction, programming will be held virtually.

We focus on:

1. Leadership and Building a Culture of Innovation
2. Venture Design Innovation Process
3. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
4. Audience and Trends
5. Marketing and Strategy
6. Negotiations and Pitching

Each fellow is required to bring to the program an individual project of strategic importance to their news organization and of critical importance to their own role.

Concentrated timeline
News executives no longer have the luxury of a full year to work on a project. The Sulzberger Program serves as an accelerator for mission-critical projects delivered at a pace that maximizes project success and real-world impact. Participants experience a year’s worth of executive education in a focused, concentrated 21-week timeframe.

Innovation-Focused For executives in journalism navigating an industry facing constant disruption, traditional management training won’t suffice. Media industry leaders need to build cultures and create processes within their media companies that don’t just help them come up with “the next big thing,” but enables the organization to understand and anticipate the changing needs of their audiences, experiment with emerging technologies, and seek sustainable business models as the world rapidly changes beneath their feet. They need to proactively recognize opportunities for innovation and persuade their stakeholders for the resources to pursue them. The Sulzberger Program specifically focuses on building leaders who will thrive under these conditions.

Experiential Learning with Immediate Organizational Impact Leaders learn by doing. The Sulzberger Program, redesigned in 2020, maximizes personal growth, retention, and real-world applicability through active, experiential learning. Our unique venture design boot camp is an immersive experience that has fundamentally transformed how executives approach building and leading their organizations. Our project focus means that participants create measurable outcomes throughout the term by working on regular assignments and checking in with faculty, ensuring that what they learn in the classroom translates to their newsroom.

Leverages Columbia, Industry, and Alumni Networks The Sulzberger Program leverages the assets of Columbia University, pulling instructors from the Columbia Journalism and Business Schools, drawing industry innovators working in one of the world’s great media capitals, and tapping into the powerful Columbia Journalism School and Sulzberger alumni networks. This community gives Sulzberger Fellows a broad perspective and powerful network as they take their place leading innovation in media and journalism.