Federica Cherubini appointed Director of Leadership Development of the Institute

Federica Cherubini has been appointed as Director of Leadership Development of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. She will report to Director Rasmus Nielsen and will be taking up the role with immediate effect. 

Federica joined the Reuters Institute in April 2020 as Head of Leadership Development. In her new role she will continue to play a key role in pursuing our mission of exploring the future of journalism worldwide, connecting practice and research, and building and developing the Reuters Institute as a centre of excellence with a global reputation. 

Since Federica's appointment, the Institute’s leadership development activities have doubled in terms of number of participants and programmes, helping hundreds of newsroom leaders navigate the challenges and opportunities they face. Leadership development now runs a two-track model of on-site and online offerings, supporting participants from a growing number of organisations, from all over the world.

Under Federica’s leadership, the team now provides private bespoke programmes, and has introduced new programmes like the Climate Leadership Programme, run together with the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. The ‘Changing Newsrooms’ report has also become a staple feature of the Reuters Institute’s yearly publications, looking at how newsrooms are adapting in the face of changes to ways of working, talent and diversity challenges. 

As Director of Leadership Development, she will continue to host our open-admission programmes and invitation-only forums in Oxford, as well as keep expanding the private bespoke offerings and other leadership development activities, working closely with the rest of the team to ensure our offers are on mission, deliver value for the growing number of participants, and are financially sustainable for the institute.

Federica is an expert in newsroom operations and organisational change, with ten years experience spanning major publishers, research institutes and editorial networks around the world. Before joining the Reuters Institute, she worked for companies like Hearken and publishers like Condé Nast specialising in audience strategies and devising and implementing new and improved ways of working, bridging people, disciplines, departments, projects and cultures. 

In 2020 she returned to the Reuters Institute, where she previously worked as a researcher on the Digital News Project team, publishing reports on editorial analytics, online video strategies and fact checking in Europe. She participated in the Online News Association's 2018 Women’s Leadership Accelerator and is a mentor with the Digital Women Leaders initiative. 

Responding to the appointment, Federica said: “It’s a privilege to work with a smart, dedicated and caring team like the one of the Reuters Institute. I’m thrilled to continue working on expanding the activities we offer to the news industry to help leaders and managers face challenges and opportunities from a position of strength.”

Rasmus Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute, said: “Federica has taken on an essential part of our work at the institute and transformed and dramatically expanded it to help hundreds of editors and news media executives every year. She models leadership, drives conversations on leadership through her own work and by convening some of the most impressive leaders at every level of the industry, and helps news media develop the quality of leaders that they need to succeed. We are lucky to work with her.”