Women’s Leadership Accelerator

An intensive program aimed at advancing women and non-binary individuals in digital journalism

The Women’s Leadership Accelerator 2025 is a four-month intensive program
that supercharges the leadership and management skills of leaders who are pushing digital innovation.
Each year we welcome a cohort of women and non-binary individuals
representing a range of backgrounds, expertise and newsrooms around the globe.

Requirements Program FAQ News Sponsor

About the Program

The Women’s Leadership Accelerator offers an intensive program of mentoring, discussion and learning from some of the top minds in digital media. Participants work closely with mentors on challenges unique to their careers and also will receive support and coaching from ONA.

Tuition for the 2025 Women’s Leadership Accelerator is $1,000 and all selected participants will receive a full pass to ONA’s annual conference, ONA26. For more information, please refer to the Accelerator’s FAQs.

2025 Program Timeline

September 10-October 3, 2025: Application period
By November 5, 2025: Notifications of application status
Week of November 17, 2025: Announcement of cohort
December 3, 2025: Virtual welcome workshop (2-3 hours)
December 2025-March 2026: Virtual learning & connection sessions (60-90 minutes, about every two weeks), along with personal coaching and cohort discussions
March 28-29, 2026: In-person workshop, ahead of ONA’s annual conference (ONA26) in Chicago
April 2026: Virtual post-workshop reflection & closing session (2-3 hours) (Date to be determined for best possible match among cohort members)

Supporters

The 2025 Women’s Leadership Accelerator is supported by lead funder Dow Jones Foundation with additional funding from the Tiffany Shackelford Foundation and WordPressVIP.

We seek funders for each new program and have several opportunities to support this program as well as our other year-round programs for women in digital news leadership. To learn more about supporting the programs, contact Hanaa Rifaey, Head of Strategic Partnerships, at hanaa@journalists.org.

Past Participants

The Women's Leadership program began in 2015 and over 200 journalism leaders have participated

“The Women’s Leadership Accelerator came at a time when I craved more training and guidance on being a better leader. I had direct reports for the first time, and I wanted to learn how to better lead a team with empathy. This program was the best decision I’ve made for my professional career. I walked away with a supportive community and practical tools that will last me a lifetime.” — Donesha Aldridge, 2022 WLA

“The pace of change in media jobs is relentless. But thanks to my WLA learnings I am able to tackle any zigs or zags with focus, empathy and calmness. I use my learnings daily particularly when I need to adjust newsroom culture and expectations from staff. The program made me a more effective leader and a better colleague.” – Angela Pacienza, 2018 WLA