Do you have the courage and confidence to harness the power of your own voice?
Poynter’s Power of Diverse Voices is a transformative program at the Poynter campus in St. Petersburg that welcomes journalists of color from all backgrounds and experience levels who are ready to share their perspectives and claim their space as opinion writers and thought leaders. This year’s program takes place from Nov. 10-13 and tuition is free for accepted applicants.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Power of Diverse Voices at Poynter, celebrating a decade of helping journalists of color strengthen their voices, build community and advance their careers.
Through dynamic instruction and dedicated small-group coaching, participants develop the skills and confidence necessary to identify, refine and share their unique voice in persuasive writing.
This workshop creates a supportive learning community where journalists of color support each other, develop their authentic voices, receive honest feedback and build confidence to share their perspectives, step by step.
Drawing from 20+ years as Poynter adjunct and 35+ years of newsroom experience, seminar leader Tom Huang has built a career around championing and developing diverse talent. He is joined by guest faculty Eric Deggans, Aisha Sultan and Fernanda Santos to reach and train the next generation of opinion writers.
Apply by Friday, Sept. 18, to take part in this in-person, immersive workshop that explores how opinion writing plays a vital role in explanatory, features and watchdog journalism and is important in a thriving democracy.
Join a community of accomplished voices
Accepted applicants will join an active and successful alumni group. Their work has appeared in online publications, like Esther Tseng’s column on Catapult about her white friend’s silence after the 2021 Atlanta shootings, and Martin Tsai’s essay on Into about loneliness; on podcasts such as This Land series by Rebecca Nagle; and in national outlets such as Iris Kuo’s column in The Atlantic on the ‘whitening’ of Asian Americans, Russell Contreras’s story for the Associated Press about his family surviving five generations of Houston storms, and María Inés Zamudio’s column in The Washington Post’s The Lily on suicide in the Mexican community.
Many award-winning works originated or developed during this workshop. Harry Mok, assistant opinion editor at the San Francisco Chronicle and a graduate of Poynter’s 2021 workshop, earned AAJA’s Excellence in Commentary for his piece about belonging as an “Asian kid in a California farm town.” Ismael Pérez, another 2021 alum and Chicago Sun-Times editorial board member, won first place in the Society of Features Journalism General Commentary Portfolio category for his column “Living with an addict during the pandemic.”
The history behind Power of Diverse Voices
The Power of Diverse Voices workshop grew out of a collaboration between the Association of Opinion Journalists and The Poynter Institute. The original writing workshop for journalists of color ran for nearly two decades at Vanderbilt University before coming to Poynter in 2015. The curriculum was revamped in 2016 under lead faculty Tom Huang.
Funding for Power of Diverse Voices comes from an endowment that was established by the Association of Opinion Journalists, an organization that eventually merged with the News Leaders Association. Since neither organization is not in operation any longer, Poynter manages the endowment to ensure the continuation of the program.
Apply as soon as you know you’re interested — the deadline is Sept. 18.
Questions?
If you need assistance, email us at info@poynter.org.
