City Bureau, a Bronzeville-based journalism lab reimagining local media and cultivating national networks for civic engagement, is excited to announce the appointment of Morgan Malone as its new executive director. A nationally recognized executive and thought leader in social impact strategies and economic development, Malone brings over a decade of experience in administrative operations, city government, community-driven partnerships, organizing and social impact program design to City Bureau.
Throughout her career, Malone has demonstrated her ability to design and restructure complex systems and transform enterprises with deep community participation. Prior to joining City Bureau, Malone served as managing director, strategic initiatives and operations at Farpoint Development. There, she played a key role in the $8.2B Bronzeville Lakefront, a redevelopment of the old Michael Reese Hospital site focused on creating a mixed-use health innovation district. In this role, Malone centered inclusive placemaking strategies and community-based participation, to ensure the development planning process reflected the needs of people in Bronzeville. These processes resulted in landmark inclusion of co-designed community benefits in the redevelopment agreement for the site making Bronzeville Lakefront the template for the most equitable land use practices in a megadevelopment nationwide.
Prior to her time at Farpoint, Malone managed administrative operations for both Midway and O'Hare International Airports, oversaw the administrative processes for the $8.5B O'Hare terminal expansion program, and led, designed and implemented the enterprise transformation of the federally regulated credentialing offices for both airports. Her experience spans across labor, community development and government, and culminates with commercial real estate informing her holistic lens for economic and community development and civic participation.
She serves on the boards of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce Foundation, is a commissioner on the Cook County Commission for Social Innovation, and is a member of the Chicago Hub of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper Community. In 2020, Malone was named a Crain’s Chicago Business “20 in their 20s” honoree and in 2022, an Ariel Investments and WVON 40 Under 40 Gamechanger.
"We are excited to welcome Morgan Malone as our new executive director," said City Bureau Board of Directors Chair Sheila Solomon. “Her impressive accomplishments in community engagement and co-creating programs for social impact greatly complement City Bureau’s mission. In addition, Morgan has held roles in community organizing and city government, contributing to her extensive understanding of the inner workings of civic institutions.”
Malone expresses her excitement about joining City Bureau in her own words: "I am honored to help guide City Bureau in its mission to ensure that communities everywhere are equipped with skills and resources to take action. I’ve known City Bureau to have a reputation of innovative programming and we’re at such an exciting moment where we can enact major structural change together. At a pivotal moment for democracy, we’re ready to scale proven structures of civic participation through the National Documenters Network, and I am looking forward to building alongside our community partners. As we enter a year of continued transformation and growth, I’m committed to supporting the exceptional team and scaling our infrastructure so together we can have the greatest impact possible in Chicago and the national movement for participatory media.”
Reflecting on City Bureau’s values, Malone continues: “Throughout my career, I’ve been guided by considering who I want to be as a thoughtful and intentional neighbor. City Bureau’s values around collaboration resonate strongly with my own approach to co-designing with intention while affirming community priorities and building social infrastructure and social cohesion — and I’m so grateful to join an organization whose values reflect my own.”
Solomon states: “We set out to find a leader with a personal relationship to our mission, responsive and accountable leadership skills, experience developing and implementing strategy that achieves systemic change, and stellar communication and presentation skills. Morgan's strategic vision and commitment to equitable processes make her the ideal leader to guide City Bureau with intention and care into its next phase.”
With Malone leading the growing team and evolving organization, City Bureau is poised for continued success in innovative programs that reimagine journalism as an accessible civic act and a tool for building community power, generating transformative impact both in Chicago and in the national movement for participatory media.
About City Bureau:
City Bureau is a Chicago-based media lab reimagining journalism as a direct service to democracy. We equip people with skills and resources, facilitate critical public conversations and produce information that directly addresses people’s needs. We also make an impact nationally through the Documenters Network and by supporting and strengthening organizations to expand participatory media as a field. Our work is rooted in a belief that an equitable information system is the foundation for a just democracy, and our long-term vision is a world in which every community is equipped with the tools it needs to eliminate information inequity and further liberation, justice and self-determination. Read more at www.citybureau.org.
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