Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) is pleased to announce the 2023-2024 Board of Directors, following a September election and installation at last weekend’s Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP) in Chicago.

The Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) is honored to announce Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, as its inaugural Big Idea Speaker at its annual conference in October. Secretary Haaland is the first Native American to serve as a cabinet member.

If you’re interested in joining the JAWS board, or you know someone you think would make a great board member, please send names to the Elections Committee by completing this form. The deadline is Aug. 29. The committee will then send a brief questionnaire to nominees to gather more information.

Molly Schar started as executive director of JAWS in April with lots of experience, a full plate for now and ideas to carry JAWS forward.

As spring ends and summer begins, CAMP planning has reached full bloom. I couldn’t be more excited about CAMP in Chicago in October! It’s my last CAMP as president before I pass the baton to the brilliant Angela Greiling Keane and it’s happening in my new hometown.

We’re piloting a new model for CAMP 2023 – this will be the first planned urban CAMP and the first hosted at a journalism school, Columbia College, in an attempt to better serve emerging and early career journalists and bring multiple generations of women journalists together.

Four amazing and critically acclaimed nonfiction authors with new books earning rave reviews nationally will dazzle the audience as panelists at the annual Books & Browse event at CAMP this year on Saturday, October 14 5:30-7 p.m. at Columbia College, Chicago. JAWS Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP) is Oct. 13-15.

JAWS Health Journalism Fellows, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, are hard at work in the middle of their projects. With a deadline goal of Oct. 13-15, when Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) will have its Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP) in Chicago – the fellows will be part of a CAMP panel discussing their stories. The six fellows, announced in January, are freelance journalists and journalists employed at news agencies in the United States.

We are seeking two professionals - both part-time contract roles - to join the team as JAWS embarks on a new chapter of growth and influence. Roles include Membership Coordinator and Communications & Community Manager. Apply by June 15, 2023.

Designed by a new JAWS member and student journalist, the 2023 CAMP logo not only represents our host city, Chicago, it also offers a colorful nod to the many powerful intersections we’ll explore Oct. 13-15.

Logo designer and student journalist Madison Echlin is graduating this semester from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and two minors, one in leadership of organizations and the other in graphic design. 

Talking to Deborah Douglas in late April, the veteran journalist talked about one type of journalism. 

“For me, Solutions Journalism is the missing piece of the inclusion puzzle that I always longed for, as a journalist who's been practicing for three decades,” said Douglas, who just returned to Chicago to be director of the Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism as well as a senior lecturer. 

It’s spring, a time of renewal and fresh starts, and a fitting season to welcome Molly Schar, our new executive director, who started April 11. With nearly 30 years of experience – and more than 10 years in association executive director roles (plus a journalism degree!) – Molly’s experience, attitude and communication style impressed the board, which unanimously voted her in as the top choice among an accomplished pool of candidates for executive director. 

Molly Schar (she/her) has nearly 30 years of experience in the nonprofit and government sectors. She has spent more than a decade total in association executive director roles with the National States Geographic Information Council and Ophthalmic Women Leaders. Molly is also the founder of the Worthiest Project, where she channels her passion for helping changemakers prevent and recover from burnout. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina with a BA in journalism.

Award-winning journalist, author, academic and advocate for ethical public journalism, Alicia (Lisa) Shepard, 69, understood the need to secure the privacy and sanctity for her sources.

In the past four years under treatment for Stage 4 lung cancer, she extended that professional grace to herself, choosing to keep her illness private.

Ms. Shepard died April 1 from complications of lung cancer a few weeks shy of her 70th birthday.

JAWS board member Amanda J. Crawford is a journalist and professor who also sings and plays flute in a band, and welcomes counterpoints to her research on guns, mass shootings and misinformation. Amanda has written widely for such news organizations as The Arizona Republic, Bloomberg News, People magazine, CNN, The Boston Globe and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Many of her journalism milestones lead back to JAWS. That’s where she connected with Jane Isay, a New York book editor and author known in JAWS as “the book whisperer.”

As we continue our celebration of International Women’s Month, this week, JAWS honors Gwen Ifill, pioneering Black woman journalist. When Ifill died at 61 in 2016, she had had a long, productive, and celebrated career as a journalist. After beginning at the Boston Herald-American, she moved rapidly upward through the national news ecosystem, from the Baltimore Evening Sun to the Washington Post to the PBS News-Hour, according to NBC News. During her rich career, Ifill had also worked for NBC News and The New York Times, and in 2009 published her book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.

Building and Doing Equity in Journalism is the next webinar in the JAWS' Beverly Wettenstein Women's History Month Speaker Series. This Friday, March 24, at 1 p.m. ET. In this webinar, several women journalists will highlight their work to build a more equitable journalism. These journalists represent many different forms of journalism - hyperlocal, photography, dual-language, and even journalistic research - and they'll share their work, lessons learned, and where they think the work is going next.

It is International Women’s Month and this year JAWS was given a donation from the estate of the late Beverly Wettenstein. As part of our work, and with gratitude to that donation, this month we want to take a moment and honor women journalists who have come before us. We’re beginning with Beverly Wettenstein herself.

February is Black History Month, and while it is always a great time to honor the work of Black women journalists who have given so much to the field, we at JAWS want to recognize and honor Black women journalists all year. We’ll be profiling some of the great Black women journalists, those active in the field, and those who have gone before us. Our first profile is of Marvel Jackson Cooke (1903 – 2000).

Have you heard about Big Local News? Cheryl Phillips, the project director and Hearst professional in residence at Stanford University, will be here to share all about it. Big Local News allows journalists to share data and tools, and collaborate with on another on public records about public health, policing and more. Cheryl will take us on a tour and let us know how we can use this resource.

From JAWS President Jenn Kho: JAWS Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP) 2023 will be Oct. 13-15 in CHICAGO! I couldn’t be happier that JAWS is hosting my favorite event in my new town – with the support of the Chicago regional chapter! Because I’ve been asked about this committee the most, I want to give a special shoutout to the newly named 2023 CAMP co-chairs: Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez (director), who co-chaired last year’s CAMP; Tanya Gadzik (secretary), who co-chaired CAMP in 2020; and Elissa Yancey, who co-chaired the membership committee last year and also helped with some of the programming for CAMP.