Our History - The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education

The history of the Maynard Institute

The Maynard Institute of Journalism Education was born out of the strife of the 1960s Civil Rights era by a diverse group of nine newspaper journalists.

The nation was not so different from the one that exists today: deeply fractured, divided, and hurting.

In 1968, the Kerner Commission castigated the news media for exacerbating racial divisions in America.

Regarding the U.S. news coverage of the urban rebellions throughout the nation the summer before, the Commission’s investigative report homed in on the mass media’s failure to “report adequately on the causes and consequences of civil disorders and on the underlying problem of race relations.”
A glaring lack of diversity within newsrooms was identified as a huge part of the problem.

And the Commission was clear: “These failings must be corrected, and the improvement must come from within the industry.”

Dismantling systemic racism in the news

Robert C. Maynard and the Institute of Journalism Education co-founders dedicated their lives to cultivating that very improvement. And that work has continued ever since.

Our work at the Maynard Institute addresses both sides of the equation: our professional development training programs ensure our graduates are candidates of diverse backgrounds who feel empowered to navigate today’s changing journalism industry.

On the other side, our transformative newsroom diversity training programs support news organizations with the context and actionable steps they need to improve their internal culture and become authentic spaces of belonging.

The “Maynard Family” of staff, board, industry leaders, and graduates is now in the thousands. We’ve realized incredible success—and there is still so much more to be done.

As we have since 1977, the Maynard Institute will continue transforming the news industry to truly reflect this nation.

In doing so, we preserve our democracy for generations to come.

Our decades of impact

1968

The Kerner Commission calls on the news industry to desegregate and diversify news following unrest in Newark and Detroit.

Over a dark blue background, a black and white photo of a group of people of various ages and races standing outdoors and posing for the camera in a group. The front row kneels. From their clothes, hair and glasses this looks to be the 1970s.

1976

The Summer Program for Minority Journalists (SPMJ) welcomes its first class at UC Berkeley.

A black and white photo of people in professional dress, late 1970s. The founders of the Maynard Institute. Top row, from left: Steve Montiel, Frank Sotomayor, Earl Caldwell, Nancy Hicks Maynard, John Dotson. Bottom Row, from left: Dorothy Butler Gilliam, Robert C. Maynard, an unknown person, and LeRoy

August 31, 1977

The Institute for Journalism Education (IJE) is founded as a nonprofit organization by Robert C. Maynard and 8 other SPMJ founders.

There, the Maynard Institute lobbied the American Society of News Editors to adopt the Year 2000 goal: representation in newsrooms on parity with the minority population of the U.S., a goal of 17% minority representation in newsrooms by the year 2000. At the time, only 4 percent of newsroom employees were journalists of color, and minorities made up only 0.4 percent of newsroom leadership.

1978

The Institute for Journalism Education hosts a landmark National Conference on Minorities and the News at Washington’s Capital Hilton, concurrent with the American Society of News Editors conference, attended by Rev. Jesse Jackson.

1979

Nancy Hicks Maynard, New York Times journalist, joins the IJE board and becomes the first president of IJE.

A black and white photo shows a group of men and women of different races in an office, sitting in chairs around tables that form a horseshoe. From their glasses, clothes, hairstyles, and the furniture and computers in the background, this photo appears to have been taken in the 1970s or early 1980s.

1980

Launches the Editing Program for Minority Journalists at the University of Arizona and the Maynard Institute.

Over a dark-blue background: in the foreground, Nancy Hicks Maynard, a Black woman with dark curly hair graying at the temples, wears professional attire and holds a newspaper, the front page of which reads

1983

Robert and Nancy Maynard purchase The Oakland Tribune the Tribune, becoming the first Black owners of a U.S. daily newspaper.

Cose had become a journalist at just 19-years-old in 1970, writing a weekly column for the Chicago Sun-Times. Later, Cose wrote editorials and columns for the Detroit Free Press.

After concluding his time as IJE president, Cose wrote several books including “Color-Blind: Seeing Beyond Race in a Race-Obsessed World,” “A Nation of Strangers: Prejudice, Politics and the Populating of America” and “Democracy, If We Can Keep It.”

1983

Ellis Cose takes over as IJE president, quickly becoming a diversity movement leader.

A black and white photo of two students, a young Black woman at left with large glasses and styled bangs, and a young Asian woman to the right wearing a black suit jacket and gold earrings. They collaborate on a document. Behind them old photos and trophy plaques line one wall and other computer desks are in view.

1985

Creates the Management Training Center (MTC) at Northwestern University and the Maynard Institute to train journalists of diverse backgrounds for senior-level newsroom careers.

a black and white photo of Steve Montiel, a smiling man with dark wavy hair combed back and a dark suit and patterned tie.

1988

Founding IJE board member Steve Montiel becomes IJE president and CEO.

1993

The IJE is officially renamed the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (MIJE) in honor of Robert C. Maynard, who passes away.

Steve Montiel, a man with wavy dark hair, addresses people seated at banquet tables. Their clothing and the setting denote the 1990s.

1993

Adopts Robert C. Maynard’s Fault Lines® framework as the foundational component for all Maynard Institute programs.

1999

Mark Trahant, former president of the Native American Journalists Association, becomes CEO of MIJE.

A citizen of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Idaho, author and longtime journalist Trahant had been a finalist for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting with Mike Masterson and Chuck Cook of the Arizona Republic for their story on mismanagement of Federal Indian programs nationwide. Trahant served as Editor-at-large for nearly a decade for ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, an independent nonprofit platform covering Indigenous news. In 2023, he was inducted into the National Native American Hall of Fame, and in April of 2025 Trahant was awarded the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence.

A photo of Dori J. Maynard, a Black woman, wearing glasses and a dark brown suit and speaking into a microphone. She has very short curly hair.

2002

Dori J. Maynard becomes president of the Maynard Institute.

2005

The Maynard Media Academy, at the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, takes the place of the MTC at Northwestern.

Designed to turn journalists into newsroom leaders, participants performed case studies with Harvard Business School professors.

“It’s very powerful to watch them go through that process,” then-president Dori J. Maynard said. “People give testimonials and say they were on the verge of leaving the industry but because of the training, they have decided to stay.”

A six-week immersive fellowship, the Editing Program at the University of Nevada at Reno began with editing basics: grammar, page design, story organization, news judgment. Developing editorial interpersonal skills to enable editors to work in a newsroom setting with other editors and reporters, the program also incorporated experiential learning drills led by faculty of the Reynolds School of Journalism at UNR.

2005

After a brief hiatus for reevaluation, the Editing Program is re-launched at the University of Nevada-Reno.

A photo of the intersection and street sign at Chauncey Bailey way and 14th street in Oakland.

2007

The Maynard Institute launches The Chauncey Bailey Project, formed to look into his murder and continue his reporting.

2010

With the Oakland Tribune, the Maynard Institute launches Oakland Voices, training residents to report on their own West and East Oakland communities.

2014

The Maynard Institute launches the POLITICO Journalism Institute in partnership with American University to advance newsroom diversity in Washington D.C.

The 10-day annual program, entering its second decade in 2025, offers hands-on training to high school and college student journalists to hone their skills while focusing on policy and politics in news. In addition to interactive workshops and mentorships, student participants tour the White House, Congress, and the National Press Club.

A dedicated journalist and leader, Dori J. Maynard had worked as a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, received the prestigious Nieman Fellowship, and then made a home in Oakland, California. After her father Robert C. Maynard’s death, she edited the book “Letters to My Children,” a compilation of his early work as a reporter, columnist, and then publisher of the Oakland Tribune. She was instrumental in the development of the Chauncey Bailey Project, and was at the time serving as the Institute’s Special Projects Director.

2015

Maynard President Dori Maynard passes away. Longtime Institute director Evelyn Hsu becomes interim executive director.

2016

The institute convenes the “Maynard Re-Imagined” committee. Members of the committee worked at the Arlington, VA offices of POLITICO.

Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation, the committee spent an intense period of time getting back to the roots of the Maynard Institute and its mission, still mourning the loss and remembering the leadership of former president Dori J. Maynard.

A photo of Martin G. Reynolds, a Black man, bald and wearing glasses and professional attire, standing before a dark blue banner with Maynard Institute branding. Next to him, Evelyn Hsu, an older Asian woman with a bob haircut and bangs wearing a black suit pearls. Beside her, part of the banner reads

2016

Evelyn Hsu and former Oakland Tribune editor-in-chief and Maynard grad Martin G. Reynolds become co-executive directors.

A photo of Odette Alcazaren-Keeley in evening/professional dress, wearing a black and white sleeveless dress and pearl bracelet and earrings. She is an Asian woman with dark shoulder-length wavy hair. Behind her is a dark blue standing banner with Maynard Institute branding. She speaks into a microphone and holds a stack of papers as though presenting a speech.

2018

The institute launches the inaugural cohort of the Maynard 200 Fellowship Program providing advanced training and mentorship to journalists and storytellers, media entrepreneurs and media managers.

Table Stakes, a local news leadership development program funded by the John S. and James L. Knight foundation, is designed to promote innovation and guide news leaders through managing change. Managed by the American Press Institute, Table Stakes coaches guide news organizations in creating unique ways to engage readers and attract new audiences on multiple platforms and build revenue streams to ensure long-term financial sustainability.

2019

Maynard Institute leaders collaborate with Table Stakes creators to infuse Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into the Table Stakes framework.

2020

Maynard joins forces with ONA and OpenNews to launch Vision25, pushing for belonging and equity in news.

The collaborative approach to social and cultural change in journalism is three-pronged: change in collaborations and partnerships, change in the workforce, and change in C-Suite and leadership. Vision25 seeks to change the way American journalism functions as an industry by mobilizing 25 percent of the journalism industry in total to take action and reach a “social tipping point,” an industry threshold at which journalism embraces racial equity in news.

A group of more than two dozen people of different races and ages gathers for a group photo. Behind them, a deep blue curtain and a dark blue standing banner with Maynard Institute branding. In front of them in the foreground, a banquet table where it appears they have just been eating dinner.

2022

The Maynard Institute launches the Equity and Belonging Newsroom Transformation Program.

A photo of a young Black person standing in front of a Maynard Institute branded banner holding a microphone, light colored locks piled into a coiled bun atop their head.

2024

The Maynard Institute surpasses goal of training 200 media professionals as part of Maynard 200 initiative.

A screenshot of a zoom meeting, five people smile and wave at one another while a fifth person is absent and their screen is blank and simply shows their name.

2025

Launches Communities of Practice program intended to support Maynard programming alumni, as well as graduates from other institute programs.