2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship: Training and Supporting the Next Generation of Journalist Safety Leaders

The 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship is an opportunity for journalists in the United States who are passionate about improving the safety and well-being of fellow journalists and strengthening safety practices within local newsrooms. The fellowship is organized by the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) with support from Press Forward as part of an expanded effort to strengthen safety infrastructure for local journalism across the United States.

Through the fellowship, selected Safety Ambassadors will receive specialized knowledge, practical tools, mentoring, and experience in journalist safety. The program is designed to prepare participants to become trusted resources within their journalism communities and help local journalists and newsrooms respond to the increasingly complex physical, digital, and psychosocial risks associated with journalism.

The initiative forms part of the IWMF’s broader Newsroom Safety Across America program, which aims to train approximately 3,000 local journalists across the United States while helping small newsrooms develop and implement effective safety policies.

About the 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship

Journalists today face a wide range of risks while performing their professional responsibilities. These risks can include physical threats, online harassment and digital security challenges, as well as psychosocial pressures associated with reporting, particularly in difficult or high-risk environments.

The 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship seeks to help address these challenges by developing a network of journalists who have the knowledge and skills to support their peers.

Safety Ambassadors will receive training that provides a holistic understanding of journalist safety, including:

• Physical safety risks
• Digital and online security threats
• Psychosocial safety concerns
• Risk assessment and management
• Safety planning for journalists and newsrooms
• Approaches for communicating safety information to peers
• Training and facilitation skills

The program is intended to create a sustainable network of safety-focused journalism professionals who can continue supporting their colleagues beyond the fellowship itself.

What Is the Newsroom Safety Across America Initiative?

The Safety Ambassador Fellowship is connected to the IWMF’s Newsroom Safety Across America initiative.

With support from Press Forward, the initiative is expanding its efforts to provide safety training to thousands of local journalists throughout the United States. It also seeks to assist small newsrooms in developing and implementing safety policies that can help protect their staff and strengthen their overall preparedness.

A central component of this work is the development of Safety Ambassadors.

Rather than limiting safety knowledge to a small number of specialists, the initiative aims to create journalists within local communities who can share safety expertise with colleagues and help establish stronger safety practices throughout the profession.

Role of a Safety Ambassador

Participants selected for the fellowship will be expected to develop into knowledgeable resources for journalists and newsrooms within their communities.

After successfully completing the program, Safety Ambassadors will be equipped to provide support and share their knowledge with other journalism professionals.

Their expected activities include:

1. Delivering Safety Workshops

Safety Ambassadors will be prepared to deliver both virtual and in-person workshops covering relevant areas of journalist safety expertise.

These workshops can help journalists better understand the risks associated with their work and learn practical approaches to managing those risks.

The ability to deliver training is therefore an important component of the fellowship.

2. Supporting Fellow Journalists

Ambassadors will serve as resources for their peers within the journalism profession.

By sharing knowledge gained through the program, they can contribute to stronger safety awareness among journalists and help colleagues navigate physical, digital, and psychosocial safety challenges.

3. Supporting Future Safety Ambassadors

The fellowship is designed to create a continuing network of safety professionals within journalism.

Successful participants will therefore have opportunities to contribute to future cohorts of Safety Ambassadors by sharing their experience and expertise.

4. Representing the IWMF at Industry Events

Safety Ambassadors may also be featured by the IWMF at journalism conferences, trainings, and other industry events.

This provides participants with opportunities to contribute to broader conversations about journalist safety and share their expertise with professional audiences.

Benefits of the 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship

The fellowship offers participants several forms of professional development and support.

Individualized Mentoring

Fellows will receive individualized mentoring and advice from leading experts in journalism safety.

This mentorship can provide participants with an opportunity to strengthen their understanding of safety issues while learning from professionals with experience in the field.

Stipend

Participants will receive a small stipend intended to support their participation in the fellowship program.

The stipend provides financial assistance during the six-month commitment period.

Potential Paid Opportunities

Following successful completion of the fellowship, participants may have access to potential paid opportunities with the IWMF and its partners.

These opportunities are subject to availability and successful completion of the program and therefore should not be interpreted as guaranteed employment.

Professional Development

The fellowship provides participants with specialized knowledge in journalist safety, risk assessment, training, and peer support.

For journalists interested in newsroom leadership, professional development, journalist wellbeing, digital security, physical safety, or journalism capacity building, these skills can complement their existing professional experience.

Opportunity to Build a Professional Network

Participants will become part of a cohort focused on improving journalist safety.

The experience can facilitate professional connections with other journalists, safety experts, trainers, and organizations working to strengthen journalism safety.

Fellowship Commitment

The 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship requires a meaningful time commitment from selected participants.

Fellows must be willing to commit 10 hours per month over a six-month period.

This means applicants should consider whether they can consistently dedicate time to training, mentoring, learning, and other fellowship-related activities before applying.

Participants must also commit to delivering four training sessions after successfully completing the program.

The training requirement is an important component of the fellowship because the program is designed not only to develop individual expertise but also to create journalists who can share safety knowledge with their wider professional communities.

Who Should Consider Applying?

The fellowship is intended for people already working in journalism who have a strong interest in helping make journalism safer.

Potential applicants may include journalists working in local newsrooms and other journalism professionals who are interested in developing their expertise in safety and becoming trainers or resources for their peers.

Applicants should particularly consider the opportunity if they:

• Work professionally in journalism.
• Have a strong interest in journalist safety.
• Want to help colleagues understand and manage safety risks.
• Are interested in teaching or training other journalists.
• Are willing to learn from safety experts.
• Can dedicate approximately 10 hours each month for six months.
• Are prepared to deliver four training sessions after completing the program.
• Want to contribute to stronger safety practices within local newsrooms.
• Are interested in physical, digital, and psychosocial safety issues affecting journalists.

Diversity and Geographic Representation

The IWMF states that it seeks diversity of lived experiences as well as geographic diversity within the Safety Ambassador program.

This means the fellowship is intended to build a cohort that reflects a variety of experiences and geographic communities within the United States.

The program is also open to journalists of all genders.

About the International Women’s Media Foundation

The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is an organization that works to support journalists and strengthen journalism safety.

The foundation describes itself as a leading provider of identity-informed and holistic safety training and resources for journalists and newsrooms, with a particular focus on women and nonbinary reporters in the United States and globally.

Through its safety work, the IWMF has trained thousands of journalists to strengthen their safety both online and offline.

The Safety Ambassador Fellowship builds on this broader body of work by developing journalists who can extend safety knowledge within their own professional communities.

Why Journalist Safety Training Matters

The risks faced by journalists are not limited to what happens while reporting in the field.

Modern journalism can expose professionals to multiple categories of risk simultaneously.

Physical Safety

Journalists may encounter physical risks while covering protests, conflicts, disasters, crime, political events, public demonstrations, or other potentially dangerous situations.

Understanding risk assessment and appropriate safety procedures can help journalists prepare more effectively for these assignments.

Digital Safety

Journalists increasingly depend on digital systems for communication, research, publishing, source management, and collaboration.

Digital threats can therefore affect both individual journalists and entire newsrooms.

Developing knowledge of digital safety can help journalists understand potential vulnerabilities and adopt stronger practices.

Psychosocial Safety

Journalism can also involve exposure to traumatic events, harassment, threats, intense workloads, and other pressures.

A holistic approach to safety therefore needs to consider psychosocial wellbeing alongside physical and digital security.

The Safety Ambassador Fellowship specifically emphasizes this broader understanding of journalist safety.

What Successful Participants Will Be Expected to Do

The fellowship is not simply a training opportunity. Participants are expected to use what they learn to benefit the wider journalism community.

Successful participants will therefore need to be prepared to:

1. Participate actively in the six-month fellowship.
2. Dedicate approximately 10 hours per month to the program.
3. Develop their understanding of journalist safety and risk assessment.
4. Learn from experienced journalism safety professionals.
5. Share relevant safety knowledge with colleagues.
6. Complete the fellowship successfully.
7. Deliver four training sessions after completing the program.
8. Contribute to the broader Safety Ambassador community where appropriate.

Applicants should therefore demonstrate not only an interest in learning but also a willingness to teach and support others.

Application Deadline

The application deadline for the 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship is Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 7:00 AM.

Applicants should ensure that they submit their applications before the stated deadline. It is advisable to begin preparing the required application information well in advance rather than waiting until the final hours.

APPLY HERE

How to Prepare for the Application

Applicants can strengthen their preparation by reflecting on their professional experience and interest in journalist safety.

Before applying, prospective candidates should consider the following:

Demonstrate Your Journalism Experience

Applicants should clearly communicate their current involvement in journalism and explain the nature of their professional work.

Explain Your Interest in Safety

A strong application should clearly communicate why journalist safety matters to the applicant and why they want to develop expertise in this area.

Highlight Teaching and Training Potential

Because Safety Ambassadors will ultimately deliver training sessions, applicants should be prepared to demonstrate an interest in teaching, mentoring, facilitating workshops, or sharing professional knowledge.

Previous experience conducting workshops, training colleagues, speaking at professional events, mentoring journalists, or leading learning activities may be relevant.

Consider Your Availability

Applicants must be able to commit approximately 10 hours each month for six months.

They should therefore make sure they can accommodate the fellowship alongside their existing professional responsibilities.

Think About Your Local Journalism Community

The fellowship is intended to strengthen safety within journalism communities, particularly local newsrooms.

Applicants should consider how the knowledge and skills gained through the fellowship could be shared with colleagues and other journalists in their communities.

Visit HERE for more information about the 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship.

Conclusion

The 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship provides an opportunity for U.S.-based journalists to develop specialized expertise in journalist safety and become resources for their professional communities.

Supported by Press Forward and implemented through the International Women’s Media Foundation’s broader Newsroom Safety Across America initiative, the fellowship focuses on developing a network of Safety Ambassadors capable of understanding and addressing physical, digital, and psychosocial risks facing journalists and newsrooms.

Participants will receive individualized mentoring from journalism safety experts, a small participation stipend, and potential access to paid opportunities with the IWMF and its partners following successful completion. They will also gain the knowledge and tools needed to conduct safety workshops and support fellow journalists.

The program requires a commitment of 10 hours per month for six months, followed by a commitment to deliver four training sessions after successful completion.

For journalists based in the United States who are passionate about improving safety within the profession and are interested in learning, teaching, and supporting their peers, the 2027 Safety Ambassador Fellowship offers a structured pathway to develop these capabilities and contribute to stronger safety practices across local journalism communities.

For more global Fellowship opportunities, visit OFY HERE.