Shirley Carswell at a Dow Jones News Fund board meeting in New York City.

PRINCETON, N.J. — Executive Director Shirley Carswell announced that she will retire from the Dow Jones News Fund effective Oct. 2. Carswell, a veteran journalist and former deputy managing editor of The Washington Post, brought decades of newsroom leadership to the nonprofit journalism organization.

She began her 44-year career as a copy editor at daily newspapers in Richmond, Virginia, and Detroit. She also taught journalism at Howard University for several years before joining the News Fund.

Eric Mandrackie, DJNF board president, said: “Since taking the helm in 2021, Carswell has been a transformative leader for the News Fund.”

  • In 2023, she created the Early Career Training Program for newly hired professional journalists, giving them a stronger foundation and an important network at the start of their careers.
  • She broadened the Fund’s summer internship programs to include emerging focus areas such as audience engagement and added new training sites at the University of Maryland and American University.
  • In a partnership with NYU’s journalism school, she created the Ed Bradley Journalism Fellowship in 2024 to address the underrepresentation of African American males in U.S. newsrooms.

With programs such as the Bradley Fellowship, Carswell upheld the News Fund’s legacy of championing diversity, ensuring that the organization’s talent pipeline more closely reflects the communities that journalists serve. During her tenure, the summer intern classes were more than 60% people of color but also included more students from colleges outside of the big journalism schools and from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds.

Carswell was selected as a News Fund copy editing intern at the Hartford Courant in 1982; nearly 40 years later, she became the first alumnus to lead the organization. “Being a part of the News Fund at the start of my journey and at the end of an amazing career has been a singular honor,” Carswell said. “What a privilege it has been to lead this organization that was such an important catalyst for me and thousands of others!”

Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and a News Fund board director, said, “Shirley’s passion for cultivating the next generation of journalists has left an indelible mark on the Dow Jones News Fund and the broader media landscape. Her leadership ensured that newsrooms across the country are equipped with sharp, diverse, and well-prepared young talent.”

Mandrackie said that a Board of Directors committee will conduct a comprehensive search for the next executive director.