Jennifer Mizgata Adjunct Professorial Lecturer SOC Faculty
- Degrees
- MBA with concentration in Entrepreneurship, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School; MA, Design Leadership, Maryland Institute College of Art; BA, International and Intercultural Studies, Goucher College
- Bio
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Jennifer Mizgata is an adjunct professor in the Journalism Division focused on media, innovation and business strategy.
As founder of Little Key, Jennifer helps leaders better understand audiences, launch products that respond to community needs, and build sustainable organizations. She advises newsrooms, media leaders, and entrepreneurs on business and career strategies.
As a program director, editor, and strategist, Jennifer has guided dozens of newsrooms on new initiatives and supported hundreds of news leaders as they have made change in their organizations. Previously, she wrote about work culture for Fortune, directed impactful training programs and invested in award-winning projects at the Online News Association (ONA), and led engagement strategies at the UN World Food Program (WFP).
Jennifer is a founding member of Zebras Unite Co-op. She is a frequent speaker at conferences, including SXSW and ONA, and has created workshops for top training organizations in the industry, including Poynter, Report for America, and Grupo Diarios America.
As an educator, Jennifer has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in journalism, business, and design programs. Her research interests include leadership, improving work culture, and how media organizations are building sustainable organizations. She has over a decade of experience designing and leading training programs for working professionals and executives. She teaches at Poynter in the Leading with Influence program. As the founding Director of ONA’s Women’s Leadership Accelerator, she launched and led an intensive program for women in digital journalism with widespread industry impacts that helped over 180 women significantly advance their careers and make meaningful change within their organizations.
In 2023, Jennifer was Reynolds Journalism Fellow at the University of Missouri, where she designed the course “Building News Culture” to help news organizations create more transparent, accountable and caring work cultures.
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Summer 2024
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COMM-625 Innovation & Media Industry