Erin Richards

About Erin Richards

I\'m a veteran reporter and editor in a new role as the first director of strategic partnerships and newsroom development at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I started at the Journal Sentinel as an intern, then covered suburban government and politics before developing chops as an education reporter. I climbed to USA TODAY as a national ed writer, then pivoted to nonprofits as editorial director for a research shop at Arizona State University. I boomeranged back to the JS to establish and grow our ability to incorporate philanthropic support via partnerships to bolster and expand the work Wisconsin\'s largest media outlet does best. This is new territory for us, but it\'s exciting to foster partnerships with people and groups similarly enthusiast about stories and efforts that spur community involvement and improvement, youth development, civic engagement and more residents’ ideas. I also love arts and culture and helped produce a documentary centered on the state of arts journalism.\"Out of the Picture,\" directed by journalist-director (and now nonprofit leader) Mary Louise Schumacher, debuted in 2024 and features the rise and fall and reinvention of American art critics amid the digital revolution. That concept has come full circle in 2025: Thanks to new philanthropic support and help from our fiscal sponsor, the JS will hire a full-time arts and culture writer in late 2025 — a position that was eliminated in 2019 because of budget cuts. I’m a proud member of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, and I mentor an HBCU scholar. I’m a member of the Milwaukee Press Club and sit on the board of its charitable giving arm, the MPC Endowment. I’m also a lifelong equestrian with a horse I’ve owned since college named Hobbes (in honor of the lovable foil to my favorite young comic weirdo, Calvin) and a mutt I’ve adopted named Elroy in honor of my favorite futuristic normie, Elroy Jetson. Words matter. Humor, too. Use them liberally — and well.

Experience

1. Director of Newsroom Development

   Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

   Jun 2024 — Present · Milwaukee, WI, US

   After growing up in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newsroom as a reporter and editor, I\'ve returned to take on a newly created position aimed at developing partnerships with local and national funders whose missions align with our work and who can help us amplify and sustain our public service journalism. I\'m involved in several initiatives, including one that will enhance our reporting in underserved neighborhoods, involve the community in that work, and experiment with different forms of content that can attract, inform and better serve residents.

Education

• Murray State University

  BA, Mass Communications

  2000 — 2004

• University of Missouri-Columbia

  MA, Journalism

  2004 — 2006

• University of the West of England

  Bachelor of Applied Science - BASc, Equestrian/Equine Studies

  2002 — 2003

Skills

• Teaching
• Media Relations
• Ap Style
• Blogging
• Storytelling
• Feature Articles
• Editing
• Copy Editing
• News Writing
• Newspapers
• Journalism
• Press Releases
• Digital Media