The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) this week announced three additions to its board of directors: Kathleen Lacey, an advisor with Teneo, the global management consulting firm; Patty Michalski, who oversees content strategy and innovation for Hearst Newspapers; and Maria Ressa, the CEO of Rappler in the Philippines and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
“I am thrilled to welcome our new directors, who share a deep commitment to ICFJ’s mission,” said Carrie Budoff Brown, the board chair. “Kathleen has been a stalwart supporter of journalists both in the U.S. and internationally for many years. Patty brings decades of experience steering digital innovation at premier U.S. news organizations. And Maria is a fearless media founder and globally recognized defender of press freedom. Our board and ICFJ as an organization will benefit greatly from their expertise and perspectives.”
Lacey is an advisor with Teneo, a global consulting firm. Prior to this, she was a partner at a private investment firm and in 1993 she co-founded Lacey and Heilbron, a CEO communications firm that served clients in various sectors, including financial, business and philanthropy. Earlier in her career, Lacey worked as a consultant in the public finance group for investment banks.
Lacey’s late husband, James Hoge, the venerated editor and publisher, served on ICFJ’s board for more than three decades, including as chair and vice-chair. Lacey is advancing Hoge’s legacy by joining the ICFJ board and through the Jim Hoge Reporting Fellowships, which she helped spearhead.
Michalski is the senior vice president of content strategy and innovation at Hearst Newspapers, which publishes 24 dailies and 52 weeklies across the U.S. She joined Hearst in 2022 after a 20-plus-year career with Gannett, where she served in a variety of senior roles, including as the executive editor of USA TODAY. She has steered numerous digital innovation initiatives over the course of her career, including leading USA TODAY’S mobile and social media strategies.
Ressa is an award-winning journalist whose career spans nearly four decades. She ran CNN’s bureaus in Manila and Jakarta before co-founding Rappler, a trailblazing independent news site in the Philippines. Ressa, who has battled legal and other attacks designed to silence her and her reporters, was one of two journalists to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 in recognition of “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Ressa is a member of the ICFJ network as well. She won the 2018 ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award. ICFJ’s research division, along with the University of Sheffield, also partnered with Rappler on a big data case study analyzing online violence targeting Ressa. In addition, ICFJ co-leads the Hold the Line Coalition, more than 80 organizations across the world supporting Ressa and independent media in the Philippines.