About Us

The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund is a pooled fund established in 2017. Our driving purpose is to build a resilient news and information network that serves all of North Carolina.

We believe that local news works best when we center community needs and community leadership. We invest in a diverse range of news and community organizations so that everyone in North Carolina can find, trust, and use the information they need to thrive.

To date, we have invested more than $5M in direct grants to 50+ organizations, while activating nearly as much in aligned funding. The Fund was founded by a group of local and national funders at the North Carolina Community Foundation and is now housed at NEO Philanthropy.

Our Mission

We support local news and community organizations to ensure that everyone in North Carolina can find, trust, and use the information they need to thrive.

Our Vision

Everyone in North Carolina has the news and information they need to make decisions about their lives, connect with their communities, and participate in our democracy.

 Our Values

Three people from Enlace Latino talking about local news

Equity and Diversity

We believe in the power of a more equitable news and information ecosystem to advance justice across race and class.

  • We apply a racial and class equity lens to understand the roots of inequities in local news and information, how these structures persist, and how to dismantle them.

  • We invest in a wide range of trusted messengers in North Carolina that reflect the full spectrum of people and organizations serving our state.

  • We amplify diverse perspectives and stories often excluded or misrepresented in mainstream media.

 
Man from Port City Daily looking through documents

Transparency and Accountability

We believe that building trust is as essential for organizations serving communities as it is for funders who back them.

  • We are open about our grantmaking process and what we learn from the field with our grant partners.

  • We facilitate opportunities for funders and partners to collaborate in an environment built on integrity and respect.

  • We deliver on what we say, because being a reliable partner is our first job.

 
Media Corps intern, Khaaliq Van Otoo conducting an interviewer

Accessibility and Inclusion

We believe that news and information, coalitions, and philanthropy all work best when we center community needs and leadership.

  • We invest in organizations that increase access to information across language, geography, and other systemic barriers.

  • We strive to make philanthropy and funding more accessible at each point in the grantmaking process.

  • We learn from and regularly engage diverse leaders from across the state in our strategy and funding decisions.