ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Sept. 2, 2026) — The Poynter Institute today announced its full lineup of leadership training programs for 2027
, offering journalists and media professionals opportunities to develop their leadership skills at every stage of their careers. By opening all six programs at once, Poynter aims to make it easier for participants to see the full leadership track and find the training that best matches their experience and goals.
“We’ve really worked to develop a clear leadership path with our offerings,” said Tony Elkins, Poynter faculty and a longtime leadership instructor who has helped train around 500 journalists-turned-leaders at Poynter. “No path is exactly the same, and ultimately I want to place people in the right cohort of fellow leaders.”
Leadership is a skill that can be learned
Poynter’s approach starts with the belief that leadership skills can be developed. “Great leadership can be taught to everyone who comes to it with a desire to help people,” Elkins said. “Our leadership training is very people-focused, not just outcomes. At its core, it’s about learning to listen and empathize, then turning what you learned into strategy that works for your team and your company. Even though that sounds simple, very few people in our industry are given the basic investment in their skillset to put that to practical use and succeed.”
The 2027 programs build on that people-centered approach while addressing the different challenges leaders encounter as their responsibilities grow.
Poynter’s 2027 leadership programs:
Lead With Influence This virtual program will be offered twice in 2027: Feb. 2-March 9 and Sept. 1-Oct. 6.
A six-week program for project leaders and other professionals who need to influence decisions, collaborate across teams and move work forward without formal authority or direct reports. Participants will explore their leadership style, strengthen communication and learn practical strategies for building influence across an organization.
Application deadlines: Jan. 8 for the February course, and July 9 for the September course.
Essential Skills for New Managers In-person, St. Petersburg, Florida. Offered twice in 2027: March 1–5 , and Nov. 8-12 .
A five-day immersive program for managers with up to three years of experience and professionals preparing to manage direct reports. Participants develop the fundamentals of managing people, including communication, delegation, feedback and navigating the transition from colleague to manager. The program includes CliftonStrengths and Poynter’s 360-degree feedback experience, ViewPoynt.
Application deadlines: Aug. 16 for the March course, and Dec. 7 for the November course.
In-person, St. Petersburg, Florida, April 12–16, 2027
Poynter’s immersive five-day academy is designed for experienced and senior managers with more than three years of leadership experience. The program strengthens the skills leaders need as their responsibilities grow, from managing people and communicating effectively to navigating ethical challenges and leading strategically.
Application deadline: Jan. 18, 2027.
In-person, St. Petersburg, Florida,
May 3–7, 2027
An immersive five-day academy for experienced women and nonbinary managers who have been in leadership positions for more than three years. The program combines advanced leadership development with a learning environment for candid conversations about navigating leadership as women and nonbinary people.
Application deadline: Feb. 8, 2027.
Strong newsrooms need trained leaders
Leadership training is not only professional development for an individual employee. Elkins says it can help news organizations retain talented people and create stronger teams. “I often joke that journalism punishes some of its best and brightest by making them managers,” Elkins said. “We take people who become highly skilled in an area, and because we want to keep them in our organizations, give them a big raise and promotion, and with it the added responsibility of leadership. If you do not train them it leads to burnout, animosity and they might even leave.”
The impact of that investment, he said, extends throughout an organization. “By investing in training you’re setting them up for success. And it’s not just for them. It cascades down to everyone they manage and even other teams they collaborate with.”
More than 50 years of leadership training experience
Poynter’s leadership training draws on more than 50 years of experience strengthening leaders in media. Our faculty bring deep expertise in management, leadership, individual coaching, self-assessment frameworks, conflict management and more. Every program emphasizes practical, hands-on learning you can put to work immediately, along with intentional cohort building that creates space for meaningful connection and shared experience.
Media Contact
Jennifer Orsi
Vice President, Publishing and Local News Initiatives
About the Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is the gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.
The Newmark Ethics Center, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter organization.
Support for Poynter and our entities upholds the integrity of the free press and the U.S. First Amendment and builds public confidence in journalism and media — an essential for healthy democracies. Learn more at poynter.org
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