Jeremy Clifford, the former Editorial Director of Yorkshire Post and Editor in Chief of JPI and Archant is helping fund a new journalism leadership course at the University of Central Lancashire.
15 scholarship places for the Journalism Innovation and Leadership (JIL) programme are already funded by the Google News Initiative, but now there will be 17.
That comes through donations from Clifford via his Chrysalis consultancy, and Lara Ayoub, who is based in Jordan and graduated from JIL early this summer.
“I am excited to support the Journalism Innovation and Leadership programme in this way,” said Clifford, who’s also the co-founder of The AI Collective.
“Having been associated with the programme for two years, I have seen what it can achieve in developing great leadership skills and, just as importantly, confidence in people to lead and innovate.
“I have had the privilege to work in leadership positions within the media industry for 20 years and when I launched my own leadership development and coaching business I was determined to support people starting out on their leadership journeys.
“This programme meets all the criteria I was looking for, which is why Chrysalis has decided to sponsor someone who may not otherwise have had the opportunity to benefit from the programme.”
Ayoub is a digital media strategist, trainer, gender and media consultant with more than 20 years of experience. She is the founder of community-interest organisation The Media Lab in Jordan, as well as co-founder of SADAQA, an organisation tackling gender inequality in the labour market.
“Instead of investing in marketing, I found value in paying it forward by sponsoring an emerging leader to take this exceptional programme and experience the same opportunity that once transformed my journey,” she explained.
“The Journalism Innovation and Leadership programme sparked my passion, leading to the creation of The Media Lab – a community-interest organisation bridging the gap between media and the public.”
Dr François Nel, Reader in Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UCLan and Director of the Programme, added:
“Lara’s and Jeremy’s generous donations are a huge show of support for work we’re doing to foster a diverse, global community of talented and committed journalists that have the competence, the confidence and the continued support and inspiration that are required to lead the innovation our industry needs now more than ever.
“Seeing their personal investment in both time and hard cash shows a commitment to our wider mission is both humbling and inspirational.”
