A practical, equity-focused leadership course for editorial decision-makers
What does it mean to be a leader in 2026? How can you take the lead in helping people to understand the world? Stories are more important than ever, but by whom, where, and how do they get told?
Leading for Transformation is a course for editors-in-chief, associate and managing editors, founders, product and communication leads, and mid-level managers who push change. If you want a clearer sense of your leadership and a safe space to discuss challenges and unlearning dominant frameworks, then this is for you!
Start: 23 April 2026 • 6 sessions• Weekly 2 PM CET • Early-bird price until 14 March • 2,5 hours per session• recordings available.
Guest speakers
Pei Ying Loh
Peiying, co-founder and Head of Kontinentalist, an award-winning data-driven editorial studio in Singapore.
Aphrodite Salas
Aphrodite is a journalist and professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, focusing on mobile journalism, collaborative journalism with Indigenous communities, and the decolonization of journalism education.
Darshini Kandasamy
Darshini is a Malaysian journalist, editor, media trainer, and entrepreneur with a background in investigative and environmental reporting. She is the founder of Trident Media.
TO Be announced
Kassy Cho
Kassy is the founder and editor-in-chief of Almost, an independent, social-first international media outlet telling underrepresented stories for young audiences across English and Chinese, and the founder of Almost Studio, the consulting arm that works with organisations like Amnesty International and Save the Children on social-first storytelling and audience strategy.
Sanne Breimer (facilitator)
Sanne Breimer is the Founder of Inclusive Journalism and a global media strategist, trainer, coach, and researcher.
She has over a decade of experience in management roles in Dutch national public broadcasting and as a remote working project manager for clients like SembraMedia and Thibi.
The program
The sessions focus on shaping public narratives for an increasingly complex world: wars, climate crises, and mass migration intersect with polarization, authoritarianism, fast-moving AI, and platform disruption. At the same time, new voices and new ways of telling stories are emerging, offline and online. How are you positioned in this landscape, and what is your role in navigating it?
Equitable leadership and a decolonial approach to storytelling shift the goal from dominating knowledge, people, and processes to redistributing power, repairing harm (reparations), and centring historically marginalized ways of knowing. You’ll practice leading in uncertain and unsettling times, from personal loss and collective grief to climate anxiety and political pressure, and you’ll work through ethical leadership questions.
Six (recorded) live sessions with guest speakers, practical and hands-on homework, and usable deliverables such as a decision map (who decides what), a team policy, and a simple pilot plan that you can test as a result of the course.
Sanne is the organizer of the course and knows the transformation process from the inside. For more than ten years, she held managerial roles in Dutch (semi-)public broadcasting. She learned how hard it is to balance institutional structures with the need for innovation and representation. This course is born from that experience, and from her conviction that guidance in narrative change can be based on decolonial and collaborative values, and be future-oriented. It’s not an easy ride, but it starts with you reimaging it.
SESSION 1 | 23 APRIL, 2026 | 2 PM CET
Positionality and leadership practice.
An introduction to the framework of decolonial thinking applied to narrative change. Explore and clarify who you are as a decision-maker, how your values and history shape your editorial choices and leadership style.
Guest speaker: Peiying Loh of Kontinentalist. As the leader at data storytelling platform Kontinentalist in Singapore, Peiying reworked the mission and editorial strategy to center equitable, data-driven stories and will discuss redesigning vision and editorial values for a small data newsroom.
Session outcome: a one-page positionality note (who you are as a leader), a (re)draft of your organization’s mission/vision, and a role-model presentation.
SeSSION 2 | 30 APRIL, 2026 | 2 PM CET
People and culture.
Translate a mission into concrete people policies around hiring, onboarding, pay, performance tracking and conflict handling.
Guest speaker: Aphrodite Salas of Concordia University. As a journalist and associate professor, Aphrodite blends solutions and Indigenous-led collaborative projects (“Arctic shift to clean energy”) and will speak on collaborative storytelling, public policy engagement, and durable partnerships.
Session outcome: a decision map, collaborative practice map, decolonizing practices.
SeSSION 3 | 7 MAY, 2o26 | 2 PM CET
Sustainability and well-being.
Financial and human sustainability include budgeting basics, trade-offs around funding, burnout, and leading through grief.
Guest speaker: Darshini Kandasy of Trident Media. As the co-founder of Trident Media and JSK fellow, Darshini speaks from lived experience on the ups and downs of media entrepreneurship. She’ll talk about the importance of budgeting, and share about leading through personal loss.
Session outcome: a simple budget plan for your team or project. A testable wellbeing practice or policy.
SESSION 4 | 14 MAY, 2026 | 2 PM CET
Systems, tech, and ethics
How systems, tools, and ethical choices shape editorial outcomes through rules for automation (AI), platform risk, and language choice around topics like the genocide in Gaza.
Guest speaker: Kassy Cho of Almost. Kassy shares how she built a remote, bilingual newsroom led mostly by young women of colour, and then designed the systems to make it work.
In this session, she shares how infrastructure, culture, and editorial values can be designed together rather than in isolation. From async documentation and virtual offices to human-reviewed AI translation and a team culture where honesty, accountability, and looking out for each other are built into how the work gets done, Almost is a case study in what it looks like when the way you work reflects the stories you want to tell. For leaders navigating how to build teams that are under-resourced, globally distributed, and deeply values-driven, this session offers both a model and a provocation.
Session outcome: A workflow audit (what’s automated vs human reviewed, what are ethical risks).
SESSION 5 | 21 MAY | 2026| 2 PM CET
Crisis, safety, and strategic governance.
Digital security and safety for newsrooms and editorial teams (in exile). Protocols for reporting in conflict, protecting staff and sources, legal risk, and secure workflows. The session pairs practical safety measures with editorial methods such as Solutions Journalism and Complicating the Narrative.
Guest speaker: To be announced
Session outcome: A safety protocol for a risky story. Board and advisory members, and community listing to protect autonomy. Solutions journalism implementation plan.
SeSSION 6 | 28 MAY, 2026 | 2 PM CET
Implementation, impact, and measurement.
From thinking to doing. Turn pilots into measurable organizational change with simple indicators, learning cycles, and stakeholder reporting.
Guest speaker: To be announced.
Session outcome: finalize the overall editorial plan: decisions, timelines, ownership, checklist. Present a pilot and choose an accountability partner.
WHO IS IT FOR?
This program is for people who want to change public storytelling: editors, content leads, and emerging leaders who want to replace crisis-driven, US – and Eurocentric narratives with contextual reporting and apply equitable, non-extractive storytelling.
If you’re asking questions like these, you’re in the right place:
- How do I lead through complexity (polarization, platform shifts, AI, funding pressures) without burning out my team or myself?
- How do I build care-centered, accountable cultures that still deliver rigorous work?
- How can I serve local communities while staying connected to global and geopolitical contexts like climate, wars, migration, and inequality?
- How do I respond to new technologies when the org is under-resourced or under-staffed?
You’ll join a community of like-minded leaders. No gurus, no special seats: everyone holds expertise and responsibility. The course applies adult learning techniques.
What do you get out of it?
- Practical and equitable leadership principles for editors and narrative-makers.
- Template examples: budgeting and funding frameworks, positionality practice, decision map, conflict map, and policies to test in your team.
- Methods from Solutions Journalism and Complicating the Narrative, adapted for leaders.
- A small, international peer cohort for accountability and peer feedback.
- Access to the alumni sessions.
TESTIMONIALS
“Sanne created a tailor-made mentoring trajectory on inclusive journalism for me. She is not only a very qualified and dedicated trainer, but she is also a great partner for discussion and reflection. With a hands-on approach and a wonderful sense of humor.”
Maria Punch 🇳🇱
BNR Nieuwsradio, Netherlands
Pricing and scholarships
This course uses a sliding scale to ensure accessibility across diverse economies and income levels. There is a limited number of scholarship seats available for applicants who cannot afford the full fee. To apply, answer the short scholarship question on the form. We select on the basis of need and fit, and will notify successful applicants within 7 days of the deadline.
Choose the rate that best fits your situation:
Supported rate
$275
For self-funded participants, freelancers, and independent consultants.
Standard
rate
$495
For small to mid-size organisations with limited training budgets.
Sustainer rate
$695
For larger organisations and institutions (invoice). 10% for more than two seats.
Additional mentoring
Alongside the course, you can choose to deepen your learning through one-on-one mentoring. These sessions are tailored to your leadership challenges, whether that’s navigating complexity in your newsroom or finding clarity in your role. Mentoring gives you space to (self-) reflect, get direct feedback, and translate course insights into practical steps for your context.
Options:
4 sessions → $499
2 sessions → $199
Inclusive Journalism 
You must be logged in to post a comment.