BOSTON, Sept. 26, 2022—The GroundTruth Project, the home of Report for America and Report for the World, is pleased to announce that Ann Davis Vaughan has been appointed Transition Chair, taking on the duties of acting Chief Executive Officer during the nonprofit media organization’s national search for a CEO and president.
She is assuming the reins from GroundTruth’s founder, Charles Sennott, who stepped aside as CEO last week to lean into his role as Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of the GroundTruth Advisory Board.
Vaughan is a former Wall Street Journal investigative reporter who covered legal affairs, Wall Street, and the energy industry under the byline “Ann Davis.” She began her career as a local reporter for The Miami Herald. She now draws from her background in business reporting to evaluate public and private companies for a New York investment manager.
Vaughan is taking on the role as a volunteer. She began advising and fundraising for RFA in 2017 and joined the board in early 2019. She most recently served as Chair of the Development Committee. As both a Chartered Financial Analyst and journalist, she has studied a wide range of high-functioning businesses and enduring organizations. She is focused on helping GroundTruth deepen partnerships with its supporters, retain its talented staff, and ensure operational excellence during the CEO search.
“I am proud and excited to lead our teams through this critical new chapter of our growth. We can and must continue to strengthen our model for restoring local public accountability journalism. Democracy depends on what we do: shedding light on undercovered issues in the service of better outcomes,” Vaughan said.
“On behalf of the board, I’m grateful to Ann for volunteering to play an instrumental role in guiding the organization at an exciting moment in our history. Her unique blend of business and journalism savvy, commitment to our mission and vision, and longstanding support for the team offer us an opportunity to build a strong bridge from founder to successor CEO/President,” said Joanne Heyman, GroundTruth board chair, and the founder and CEO of Heyman Partners.
GroundTruth’s board has assembled a search committee, led by board member Karen Toulon, and looks to welcome its new leader by early 2023. GroundTruth has engaged Koya Partners, the executive search firm that specializes in partnering with mission-driven clients, to lead the CEO and President search. We are delighted to be partnering with Koya on this important leadership role. Any interest and inquiries can be sent to groundtruthceo@koyapartners.com.
About The GroundTruth Project
The GroundTruth Project is an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to rebuilding journalism from the ground up. GroundTruth serves under-covered communities by supporting the next generation of journalists to do on-the-ground reporting and to advance sustainability, innovation and equity in journalism worldwide. GroundTruth’s flagship programs — Report for America and Report for the World — place talented, diverse local reporters in the newsrooms that need them most.
