We are thrilled to announce that CatchLight has been selected to be included in the portfolio of Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (DRK Foundation), a global venture philanthropy firm supporting early stage, high-impact social enterprises.
“It’s an honor to be included among so many entrepreneurs tackling the world’s biggest issues,” says Elodie Mailliet Storm, CEO of CatchLight. “This is a testament to the results our Visual Desk and partners are demonstrating and the importance of visual journalism in our information ecosystem.”
DRK Foundation’s support will be instrumental to CatchLight’s ability to scale its new collaborative model for visual journalism – the CatchLight Local Visual Desk – to newsrooms across the United States. Through this partnership, CatchLight will enable regional and community-based news organizations to bring crucial news and information to their audiences in a more visual and engaging way.
As part of DRK Foundation’s support, CEO Jim Bildner will join the CatchLight board of directors. In addition to leading DRK Foundation, Bildner is also an adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, a trustee of The Kresge Foundation and chair of its investment committee, and serves on the boards of a number of other non-profit and for-profit organizations.
Also joining the CatchLight board during this exciting growth period is Shazna Nessa, an award-winning visual journalist, writer, and former global head of visuals at The Wall Street Journal. She has previously held senior roles at The Knight Foundation, The Associated Press, and Condé Nast, and served four years as board president at the Online News Association. Currently, Nessa is an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Brown Institute at Columbia Journalism School.
Together, we will continue to make meaningful strides towards informing, connecting, and transforming communities.
Banner Image:
CalFire crews stack sandbags to keep floodwater from reaching homes in a neighborhood in the Central Valley town of Orosi, California, on March 12, 2023.