About Us
Our History
Founded in late 2024, the Washington News Fund emerged as Press Forward Washington—the state chapter of a national movement to strengthen local journalism. Five community foundations from across Washington came together to address the decline of local news and its impact on civic life, creating a coordinated philanthropic partnership dedicated to ensuring every Washingtonian has access to reliable, relevant news and information. In January 2025, a Founding Director was hired to lead the work.
Washington News Fund is fiscally sponsored by the Whatcom Community Foundation.
Our Mission and Vision
Vision: Every Washingtonian has access to reliable, relevant local news and information.
Mission: To strengthen and grow a local news and information ecosystem in Washington State that reflects the voices, experiences, and priorities of all Washingtonians.
An Affiliate of Press Forward
Washington News Fund serves as the Washington Chapter of Press Forward. Press Forward Locals are a network of chapters across the country where funders bring new donors and foundations together to strengthen local news. These chapters are an opportunity for funders to create place-based initiatives, driven by the specific information needs of their communities.
Our Strategic Priorities
Washington News Fund focuses its work across four areas, aligned with the national Press Forward strategy:
Sustainability — Strengthening local newsrooms that have the trust of their communities, and investing in the business models and organizational health that allow good journalism to keep happening.
Equity — Closing long-standing gaps in journalism coverage, ownership, and practice, and directing resources toward communities that have been historically underserved by local media.
Infrastructure — Building the shared technology, tools, training, and coordination that help the whole local news ecosystem produce and disseminate news more effectively.
Policy — Advancing public policies that expand access to reliable local news and information, and building the conditions for public investment to follow philanthropic dollars.
Our Funding Collaborative
This website uses cookies.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.