Paula Ellis

About Me

Paula Ellis is a national leader in journalism innovation, transformative change and employee and community engagement. A former foundation executive, senior media executive and journalist, Paula’s work focuses on civic entrepreneurship with a twin emphasis on reimagining journalism to better serve democracy and fostering more inclusive communities and work places.

In her first book, News for US, Paula introduces to the journalism field a new way of thinking and operating in a connected world, offering a practical guide for news executives to bring citizens together to foster collaboration around solving some of society’s most challenging problems.

Paula began her career as a journalist at several metropolitan newspapers, and in 1980, joined Knight Ridder Inc., where she rose through the ranks as an editor, publisher and vice president/operations of the Fortune 500 firm she helped to sell in 2006. She remains a sought-after consultant, an in-demand public speaker and respected journalist and change maker, who employs strategic and tactical insights to attack complex, systemic challenges at for-profit and non-profit enterprises.

A former Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Knight Foundation, Paula is a senior associate with the Kettering Foundation; a trustee of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and a director of the National Conference on Citizenship. She also is president of Paula Ellis and Associates, a consulting firm headquartered in Charleston, S.C.

Available Now!

In the midst of the disruptions and distrust that have plagued traditional media in recent years, and a degree of polarization rarely seen in American history, a new style of journalism is emerging. Dozens of news organizations, from corporate powerhouses to home-office startups, are reviving a classic role of American journalism: inspiring and enabling Americans to do the difficult, authentic and ultimately rewarding work of citizenship in a democratic society.

This book is a first-ever guide to this new approach—one that enriches the skill set of the 21st-century journalism with the mindset of civic engagement. Readers will meet leading innovators and experimenters in these new forms who will describe their challenges and offer their guidance.

The potential is here to revitalize American journalism—and revitalize American democracy in the process.

"Journalism is the connective tissue between citizens and democracy, and nobody understands that better than Paula Ellis. As an accomplished editor and publisher, Paula championed quality news and information as essential to relevance and revenue in the news marketplace. Long before the tensions that stress our democracy today, Paula advocated a break from old conventions -- a professional realignment that would enable journalism to help citizens come together, rather than default to differences. In News for US, Paula's passion and unabashedly high standards are a call to action. For those of us who care about journalism and democracy, we must follow her lead."

Neil Brown, President

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies

Projects

Paula is a senior associate with the Kettering Foundation, a non-profit operating foundation that seeks to identify and address the challenges to making democracy work as it should through interrelated program areas that focus on citizens, communities, and institutions. The foundation collaborates with an extensive network of community groups, professional associations, researchers, scholars, and citizens around the world. Paula also is a trustee of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and a Director of the National Conference on Citizenship.

For the past two decades, Paula has been a popular speaker on the vital intersection of citizenship and journalism, and the role of the press in a changing world—and how, increasingly, our nation’s push for equality demands the active participation of ordinary Americans as never before in our public discourse. To book Paula as a speaker on the changing role of journalism in a democracy, please contact All American Speakers Bureau or Paula directly.

For nearly two decades, Paula’s work as a senior news media executive, journalist and foundation executive inspired her thought leadership on the topic of civic engagement, and her work with community groups and institutions to foster community vitality. This work shaped ideas that would evolve into the ground-breaking Soul of the Community initiative she led at the Knight Foundation during her tenure there as Vice President for Strategic Initiatives. Today, Paula continues her focus on civic engagement, with a twin emphasis on reimagining journalism to better serve democracy, and on fostering more inclusive communities and work places through her work as President of Paula Ellis and Associates, a consulting firm headquartered in Charleston, S.C.

Two Women and a Republic is a correspondence between Paula and Wendy Willis, a poet and essayist also working to expand civic engagement.
“We are both dedicated to improving democracy in our professions and in our lives,” Paula says. In this blog, Paula and Wendy “write to each other, and to democracy” and invite readers to listen in, and to join the conversation — & to explore, together, how our Republic might come to fruit and flower in more generous and joyful ways.”

Impact

Ben Hecht

CEO, Living Cities

“Paula’s guidance shaped what has become our award-winning knowledge strategy. Her simple words clarified what we needed to do and how we needed to do it: ‘A knowledge strategy is turning information into knowledge and knowledge into influence,’ Paula said. ‘Decide who you want to influence and why and go from there.’ We’ve never deviated from that path.”

Michelle Holmes

Former VP/Content
Alabama Media

“Paula’s gifts are a rare and precious blend of insight, foresight and compassion. Her ability to recognize and nurture talent has helped a generation of leaders find their greatness.
Paula’s work with women executives, in particular, has made a significant impact on changing many of the outdated practices in newsrooms across the country.”

David Mathews

President and CEO
Kettering Foundation

“In the soul-searching that is going on about what is happening to our democracy, there is no obvious, agreed upon, way forward. But there are a few who recognize that their profession and their institution need to play fundamentally different roles in democracy.
They are explorers. Paula Ellis and her colleagues are leading one of the most promising expeditions.”

Ken Cooper

Senior Editor
WGBH News, Boston

“Paula is one of the finest thinkers and news editors in the business. As young reporter working at Knight-Ridder’s Washington Bureau, I highly valued her insight and tenacity to get to the insides of every story. She trusts her reporters, listens to them and then applies her sharp eye to turn the ‘goods’ they deliver into even better stories.”

Yvette B. Walker

Associate Dean, Gaylord College
University of Oklahoma

“From her work in community journalism to Foundation work and consulting, Paula understands the evolution of news and information – and how to communicate to a changing population. Her work on the board of the National Conference on Citizenship and her writing at Two Women and a Republic shows her experience as a leader in transformative change.”

Bill Drayton

Founder and CEO, Ashoka

“Paula’s deeply ingrained modesty is a reflection of an extraordinary and freeing confidence. She dreams, she imagines and designs and engineers — and others accompany her comfortably. That’s how she has brought one innovation after another, enriching and helping great journalism grow and flourish in a time of accelerating change and challenge.”

Stephanie Davis

VP, Google Southeast Asia

“I had the privilege of working with Paula when she was an officer at Knight Ridder. Her strong leadership and her passion for and belief in the positive impact that good journalism could have led her to innovate in the newsroom early on. Her strong intuition gave her an early understanding of the transformational changes that the digital age would bring.”

Garrett M. Graff

Chairman
National Conference on Citizenship

“Paula has dedicated her distinguished career to thinking deeply about the role of the press in an open democracy and how our nation’s ongoing push for equality demands the active participation of ordinary Americans. I’ve long admired Paula’s dedication to these complex issues and trusted her wise counsel on how to navigate the most challenging issues our country faces as we strive for a more just society.”