Jaisal Noor (he/him) is SJN’s Democracy Cohort Manager: He leads the Advancing Democracy Fellowship, helping newsrooms reinvent the way they cover politics, including deepening their election coverage beyond the horse race. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park. Over the past decade, Jaisal has reported for Democracy Now!, The Atlantic, Bolts Magazine, The Real News Network and Baltimore Beat.
Connect with Jaisal and Hugo on LinkedIn
Hugo Balta serves as the Director of Solutions Journalism & DEI Initiatives at The Fulcrum. He also serves as a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund. An accredited solutions journalism trainer, Balta nurtures a newsroom culture that focuses coverage on responses to social issues as well as the problems themselves. The goal is to present the public with a truer, more complete view of complex challenges and opportunities, helping to drive more effective citizenship. The award-winning journalist has led newsrooms in multiple markets and platforms, including The Chicago Reporter, WBBM News Radio, Telemundo, NBC, CBS, and ESPN. Balta is the Publisher of the Latino News Network (LNN), overseeing seven local independent and national digital news outlets in the U.S. Balta is the only person to serve twice as President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). He was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 2016. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches journalism courses focused on all aspects of newsroom collaboration in covering local news.
