Boosting Journalism
Local media needs help. Shrinking local newsrooms and small news startups don’t have travel budgets to send journalists out to tell stories about solutions from other places. We fill that gap.
Stronger Cities
Metro areas are where our most complex problems, from health to climate change to racial inequity, are most deeply felt. They’re also where innovative solutions can help the most people.
Travel Grants
Our travel grants enable journalists to do on-the-ground reporting, which is so critical to telling stories about what’s working and why with texture, color, and deep understanding.
About Neal Peirce
The journalist Neal Peirce spent a career writing about the people, programs, and ideas making cities and metropolitan regions work better for all their people. And he was constantly on the road to get the story.
Stories by Our Grantees
3 Experiences with Reparations
In 2022, Evanston, Ill., created the first U.S. reparations program to atone for its history of racial discrimination. Michela Moscufo went there for NBC News to talk with residents about what they are doing with their $25,000 checks.
The Road to Zero-Emission Buses
Outside of big cities, options are limited for running public transit without fossil fuels. H. Jiahong Pan went to Grants Pass, Ore., to report for the Daily Yonder on how new electric buses are working.
One City’s Search for Homelessness Solutions
Visible homelessness has sparked an identity crisis in Missoula, Mont. Patrick Spauster went there for Bloomberg CityLab to report on the city’s efforts to balance supports for residents with restrictions on camping.
An Overlooked Climate Solution: Weatherizing Homes
Helping homeowners to replace air conditioners and patch walls cuts their utility bills and reduces greenhouse-gas emissions. Ashli Blow went to Memphis for Tennessee Lookout to report on how weatherization benefits residents and supports local contractors.
Meeting Patients Where They Are
Mobile health clinics are a growing option for hard-to-reach populations to get the care they need. Anika Nayak went to Boston to report on how the Mass General Brigham Community Care Van works. Her story ran in the health news site STAT.
Addressing the High Flood Risks of Manufactured Homes
Vermont is a national model for mitigating flood risks associated with mobile home communities. Colleen Hagerty went there to see how those policies held up after two-record breaking floods. Her story appeared in Heatmap.
Across the nation, cities are tackling problems like climate change, racial inequities, affordable housing, crime, and public health. Yet resources are shrinking for journalists to get out in the field to report on solutions and spread ideas that make communities stronger.
Our travel grants make stories happen.