“Engagement, Training, and Reporting in the Community”
Organizational Mission Statement:
“To empower and motivate communities in Cleveland, Ohio with a holistic approach. Providing critical information and resources in order to positively impact civic engagement for change.”
Founder Ronald Calhoun April 15, 2020
11459 Euclid Ave #302
Cleveland Ohio 44103
Voice: (216) 236-8081
Program Manager
Devon Jones
Advertisements
Ray Hom
EDITING TEAM
Daina Dortch
Patricia Johnson
Copyright 2021
NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION.
The Cleveland Observer is a community-based news digital and monthly print publication.
Organizational History:
The Cleveland Observer (TCO) is a community-based news outlet created to bring trusted newsworthy content to the community. TCO started in 2018 as the Ward 7 Observer serving the neighborhoods of AsiaTown, Fairfax, Hough, Midtown, and St.Clair-Superior. In August 2020, TCO was launched in the midst of a pandemic and racial unrest and expanded to serve more communities in Cleveland, Ohio. With this expansion, TCO began to serve the neighborhoods of Central, Downtown, East Cleveland, Lee-Harvard, Broadway Slavic Village, University Circle, and Glenville.
Steering Committee
Margaret Adams RN
Keith Benford
John Coptic Euclid/Collinwood Observer Publisher
Sheila Ferguson Ph.D., LPCC
Ron Harris Chief Financial Officer at UpAiQ, Inc.
Denise Holcomb Founder of Removing The Stigma (RTS)
Ray Hom
Meryl Johnson State Board of Education
Sharon Lewis
Helen Maynard Assignment Editor at WEWS-TV
Lisa-Rose-Rodriguez MPH Epidemiologist
Mark Silverberg
Policies:
We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:
Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services, or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN’s Membership Standards.
Donor & Financial Transparency
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization.
Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics and special projects. As a soon-to-be 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates as a public trust, we do not pay certain taxes. We may receive funds from standard government programs offered to nonprofits or similar businesses.
Our news judgments are made independently—not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. We do not give supporters the right to assign, review or edit content.
We make public all revenue sources and donors who give $5,000 or more per year. As a news nonprofit, we avoid accepting charitable donations from government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
