Elbert Ventura named editor-in-chief of The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Elbert Ventura

Elbert Ventura, a journalist and editor with more than 15 years of experience covering the social sector and public policy and engaging diverse authors to share their ideas with wider audiences, has been named editor-in-chief of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Since 2018, Ventura has served as an editor and editorial director at Vox.com, where he has managed and edited writers and teams covering a wide range of topics in the world of policy and ideas. In 2018, he helped launch FuturePerfect, a vertical at Vox dedicated to the world’s most consequential and under-covered problems and solutions. Some of the other projects he had a hand in include The Future Perfect 50, a special feature highlighting the scientists, thinkers, scholars, writers and activists shaping a better future; Pandemic-Proof, a series on the upgrades the world needs now to fight the pandemics of tomorrow; and Everybody Covered, a cross-platform package on what the United States can learn from other countries’ health-care systems.

Before Vox, Ventura was associate editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education, commissioning and editing essays, features, and reviews and recruiting academics, critics, and journalists to write for the Chronicle Review. From 2010 to 2016, as managing editor at Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, he helped set the editorial vision, conceived and edited essays and book reviews, and researched and worked with authors in academia, think tanks, advocacy, and journalism.

“I am thrilled to join The Chronicle of Philanthropy, which I have long admired, at this critical time of growth and influence for both the organization and the social sector more broadly,” said Ventura. “I look forward to working with the exceptional CoP team to build on an already strong foundation and expand our coverage, surface new ideas, accelerate our digital evolution, and reach a wider and more diverse audience.”

CoP, which is quickly advancing its bold plan to innovate, grow, and expand coverage of the  social sector, became an independent nonprofit organization in April after receiving the necessary IRS determination. CoP, which has an influential print and online audience of more than 338,000 monthly, was founded in 1988 by the Chronicle of Higher Education Inc., a private, for-profit company. CoP originally announced its intention to spin off in May 2022.

“Elbert is the right person to help steer our journalism in this new era, balancing continuity and growth. He is an experienced and respected writer, editor, and leader who has covered the social sector for more than 15 years,” said longtime editor-in-chief Stacy Palmer, who is transitioning to the role of chief executive officer and will partner closely with Ventura. “We are so fortunate to gain his expertise, perspective, and creativity as The Chronicle of Philanthropy enters a new era of innovation and impact.”

CoP is reimagining its mission to provide more information and insight to nonprofit and philanthropy professionals. Specifically, CoP will:

• Expand its explanatory journalism to shed light on the results of philanthropy’s biggest bets.
• Build a public commons for debate on essential issues in philanthropy.
• Broaden the range of contributors and viewpoints shared in opinion essays and live briefings with the goal of advancing pluralism at a time of polarization.
• Organize more live events that connect its audience with experts and peers.
• Accelerate its digital evolution and offer storytelling in a range of formats tailored to individual preferences.
• Continue developing new partnerships with other news outlets and journalists to ensure that readers have greater access to information about nonprofits in their communities and across the nation.
• Increase tools for professional development and learning for nonprofit professionals, building on the success of its much-praised webinars.

CoP has already laid the groundwork for new partnerships and more coverage, including:

• Expanding efforts to educate the public about the work of the social sector. Through its partnership with AP and the Conversation, a nonprofit that makes scholarly work accessible to the public, CoP has brought together key players for live discussions about important issues such as climate change and humanitarian needs posed by the war in Ukraine.
• Selecting its second round of journalism organizations to participate in its Philanthropy & Nonprofit Accountability Fellowship, which mentors journalists at local, regional, and other outlets on meaningful ways to cover the social sector.
• Highlighting major trends in the nonprofit world, including growing efforts by nonprofit workers to form labor unions, commissioning an exclusive survey showing how fundraisers view their profession in the wake of the pandemic, and examining young wealthy donors remaking philanthropy.
• Collaborating with the Associated Press on a yearlong effort to showcase nonprofit and foundation efforts to tamp down gun violence.

To support its significant expansion of content and services, CoP has appointed Rodney Mahone as chief revenue officer, Amy Markham as chief operating officer, and Michael Brown as senior director of development. Sundra Hominik was named director of partnerships, and there have been two additional editorial hires and three on the business team as part of CoP’s expansion as a nonprofit

To finance its transition, CoP has already received philanthropic commitments totaling more than $6.3 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation ($3 million), Ford Foundation ($2 million), Charles Stewart Mott Foundation ($500,000), Open Society Foundations ($300,000), Walton Family Foundation ($200,000), Conrad N. Hilton Foundation ($175,000), John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation ($100,000), the Heinz Endowments ($50,000), and the Annie E. Casey Foundation ($25,000). CoP is also part of a $3.6 million collaboration with The Associated Press and the Conversation funded by the Lilly Endowment.

CoP is committed to the independence, integrity, and objectivity of its news and analysis. As stated in its gifts and ethics policy, it is open about its sources of funding and how it decides to accept grants. None of the grant makers that support CoP have any advance knowledge of stories the newsroom is developing or any say in the reporting, writing or editing.