Beatrice Forman joins U.S. Democracy Day team as new project coordinator
We are excited to announce that Beatrice Forman has joined the U.S. Democracy Day reporting collaborative team as our new project coordinator.
Beatrice comes to us with a wealth of experience in data entry and collection, project management, and equitable journalism. Her passion for fostering collaborative and equitable newsrooms relationships is evident in her work, and we believe that she will be an asset to our team as we work to further our mission of promoting equitable and accessible pro-democracy journalism.
A recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied communications and international relations, Beatrice was the first person of color to lead the university’s award-winning arts and culture magazine, 34th Street. There, she co-developed a fellowship program that allowed students of color and low-income students to get paid for working in student media.
While in college, Beatrice accumulated bylines for several local and national publications: She created Philadelphia’s largest database of Black-owned businesses for Philadelphia Magazine, broke news of the #BlackTikTokStrike for Vox, chronicled police surveillance on a college campus for WHYY, and wrote a lot about memes for Billy Penn.
Post-grad, Beatrice began as a deputy editor at Billy Penn, where she oversaw a fleet of freelancers covering Philly food and sports culture. She currently works as breaking news reporter at the Inquirer, where she gets to write about her two passions: the internet and the city she calls home. She also spent time as an intern with the folks at Resolve Philly.
In her new role, Beatrice will be responsible for planning and executing the nationwide collaborative event in partnership with the organizing committee and advisory board. Her duties will include ensuring the project meets its milestones, reaching out to previous Democracy Day participants and recruiting new ones, finding new ways to communicate the Democracy Day mission, and serving as the main liasion between the advisory board and the collaborative. You’ll see her talking about our work at webinars, industry events, and in an impact report as needed.
Beatrice’s experience with source diversity tracking has given her insight into how to balance reporting with demographic information needs. And her passion for promoting equitable newsrooms relationships and government accountability aligns perfectly with Democracy Day’s mission.
Beatrice’s project management and data collection experience will also be an asset to the team as we work to streamline our processes and promote equitable and accessible pro-democracy journalism. Her ability to break down complex ideas into tangible steps and timelines will be invaluable as she works with newsroom partners to identify prescriptive pitches based on their audience’s information needs.
We are confident that Beatrice’s skills and experience will enable her to succeed in her role as project coordinator and that she will make significant contributions to U.S. Democracy Day 2023 and 2024. We look forward to working with her and seeing the impact that Democracy Day will make under her stewardship.
Please join us in welcoming Beatrice to the U.S. Democracy Day team!
Joe Amditis is associate director of products and events at the Center for Cooperative Media. Contact him at amditisj@montclair.edu or on Twitter at @jsamditis.
About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism, and in doing so serve New Jersey residents. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Local News Lab (a partnership of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, and Community Foundation of New Jersey), and the Abrams Foundation. For more information, visit centerforooperativemedia.org.
