Joshua Stearns

Josh Stearns is the Senior Director of the Public Square Program at Democracy Fund, part of The Omidyar Group. Josh leads the foundation’s efforts to support transformative leaders who are rebuilding local news, advancing more equitable journalism, defending civil rights online, and holding social media platforms accountable for their impact on our democracy and society. Josh joined the Democracy Fund from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, where he served as the Director of Journalism and Sustainability and worked to support and expand community engagement in local news and develop new business models for journalism. Josh is a co-founder of the Local News Lab, First Draft News and the Freedom of the Press Foundation and currently on the board of the Democratizing Philanthropy Project. He has served as a visiting scholar in the Journalism and Communication Departments at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and has taught at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He has a bachelor’s degree in writing from St. Lawrence University and a master’s degree in American Studies from the University of Massachusetts.