Our Mission & Vision
City Bureau is an innovation lab reimagining local journalism, civic media, and participatory democracy. We equip people with civic skills, develop resources that directly meet people’s information needs, and create pathways for deliberative dialogue that strengthens communities.
We envision a world where all communities have the information, tools, and resources they need to actively shape their futures and cultivate a more responsive and just democracy.
To learn more about our programs and impact, check out our annual reports.
Our Core Values
City Bureau makes journalism more democratic from the ground up.
We don’t believe in heroes. We believe in holistic, structural change focused on equity and inclusivity.
We want to build this movement together. We value collaboration, responsiveness and exchange. We know we are standing on the shoulders of those who came before us, just as we will hoist others to stand on ours.
We value and respect the process as much as the product. We will always be open and honest about our successes, failures and the processes that led us there.
We believe in place. Though we may have an impact nationally and internationally, we are committed to Chicago.
Racial Equity Commitment
City Bureau is a part of the Just Action Racial Equity Collaborative. We are committed to the ongoing racial justice work necessary to abolish racist systems and structures and build equitable ones.
For further reading on City Bureau's philosophies, please see our Community Engagement Guidelines and Notebook blog.
City Bureau Co-founders
Bettina Chang stepped down from City Bureau in 2024 and currently holds a John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University. She is a City Bureau co-founder and previously served as Director of Chicago Programs. An editor by trade, her career has spanned roles and mediums, including trade magazines, traditional newspapers, digital audience strategy, product design, newsroom training, organizational development and non-profit executive leadership.
Harry Backlund is City Bureau’s Operations and Development Lead and the founding publisher of the South Side Weekly, a volunteer-run community newspaper in Chicago.
Andrea Hart stepped down from City Bureau in 2020 and is currently Membership Director at Tiny News Collective. She's a co-founder of City Bureau and previously served as Community Engagement Director. She is an award-winning media-based organizer and educator who most recently served as chief strategy officer for the Memphis-based MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. She also has a master’s of divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School and describes herself as a “proud queer Quaker.”
Darryl Holliday stepped down from City Bureau in 2023 and is currently the co-founder and partner of Commoner Company. He is a co-founder of City Bureau and previously served as the Executive Director of National Impact. He's a Studs Terkel Award-winning journalist, founder of the Illustrated Press and reporter formerly with DNAinfo Chicago.
Learn more about City Bureau's impact across collaborative community-centered journalism reporting and projects here!