Catchlight
CatchLight is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that funds and places visual journalists in local U.S. newsrooms, runs the $30,000 Global Fellowship, operates the Mental Health Visual Desk, and convenes the field through an annual Summit and the Night of Photojournalism exhibition.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Catchlight does
CatchLight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit visual-first media organization founded in 2018 and headquartered in San Francisco, California (1150 25th Street). The organization invests in the future of visual storytelling by funding and placing visual journalists, partnering with local newsrooms, and convening the field. It operates two flagship fellowship programs: the CatchLight Global Fellowship, which awards three $30,000 grants annually to visionary international visual storytellers, and CatchLight Local, which places full-time photojournalists into partner newsrooms with salary subsidies — a 2025 cohort of 14 photojournalists, recruited in partnership with Report for America, represents the largest class since the program began.
The organization runs a portfolio of interconnected programs. The Mental Health Visual Desk, launched in 2025 as a three-year, issue-specific editorial initiative, produces multimedia reporting on mental health themes (youth, climate displacement, criminal justice, maternal health) and was expanded nationally in June 2026 to six additional newsrooms with dedicated funding. Annual convenings include the Visual Storytelling Summit at KQED in San Francisco and the Night of Photojournalism, a traveling immersive exhibition co-produced with Dysturb and Fondation Carmignac featuring projected photo essays with live DJ accompaniment. The underlying technology is a digital publishing platform (catchlight.io) for content distribution, fellowship management, and donations, plus a video player (player.catchlight.io) for multimedia storytelling.
CatchLight's revenue model is philanthropic grant funding rather than commercial sales. Major disclosed commitments include a $2 million investment from the Knight Foundation (September 2023) and $1 million from MacArthur Foundation through the Press Forward coalition (December 2023), both directed at scaling the CatchLight Local Visual Desk nationwide. Additional support comes from Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (venture philanthropy), MPB, PhotoWings, Enlight Foundation, Hearst Foundations, Kresge Foundation, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Report for America, and individual donors through sustainer membership tiers of $15, $25, and $50. Since 2019, CatchLight has partnered with 38+ U.S. newsrooms ranging from CalMatters, KQED, and The Marshall Project to hyperlocal outlets such as El Tecolote, Mirror Indy, and Shasta Scout.
Catchlight firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Catchlight
- Legal name
- CatchLight
- Website
- https://catchlight.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- CatchLight is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that funds and places visual journalists in local U.S. newsrooms, runs the $30,000 Global Fellowship, operates the Mental Health Visual Desk, and convenes the field through an annual Summit and the Night of Photojournalism exhibition.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Catchlight industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Visual Journalism Programs
- NAICS
- Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)
- SIC
- Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits (BPAGAHAJ)
Keywords
Where Catchlight is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Catchlight business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Foundation and Philanthropic Funding: CatchLight operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID: 27-1912845) supported by foundation grants from organizations including Knight Foundation ($2M), MacArthur Foundation/Press Forward ($1M), Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, and others. Funding is used to support fellowship programs, operational expansion, and visual journalism initiatives.
- Donations: Individual donations through catchlight.fundjournalism.org/give and sustaining membership options ($15, $25, $50 tiers). The organization accepts tax-deductible contributions to support visual journalism programs.
- Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships: Corporate supporters and sponsors for events including the Visual Storytelling Summit, with partners like MPB (photography equipment platform), PhotoWings (education partner), and others providing in-kind and financial support.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Global Fellowship Grant: $30,000 per fellow annually |
| Other | Annual | Local Fellowship Salary Subsidies |
| Subscription | Monthly | Donation Tiers |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Catchlight product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CatchLight is a nonprofit visual-first media organization that funds and supports visual storytellers through two main fellowship programs: the CatchLight Global Fellowship, which awards $30,000 grants annually to three innovative visual journalists, and CatchLight Local, which places full-time Local Fellow photojournalists in partner newsrooms with salary subsidies. It also runs the Mental Health Visual Desk, an issue-specific three-year visual reporting initiative, and convenes the annual Visual Storytelling Summit and traveling Night of Photojournalism exhibition. The organization operates as a 501(c)(3) funded by foundation grants, individual donations, and corporate sponsorships.
Product overview
CatchLight is a visual-first media organization offering a portfolio of interconnected programs: the CatchLight Global Fellowship ($30,000 grants for international visual storytellers), CatchLight Local (placing Local Fellows in partner newsrooms), and the Mental Health Visual Desk (three-year initiative on mental health). Core offerings include annual summits, traveling exhibitions like Night of Photojournalism, and the CatchLight Local Visual Desk platform providing visual journalism services to newsrooms nationwide. The organization operates as a unified ecosystem supporting visual storytellers from emerging photographers to established leaders.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CatchLight Local: A collaborative model for visual journalism that advances trust and representation in local media through community-centered visual reporting.
- CatchLight Global Fellowship
- Mental Health Visual Desk
- Night of Photojournalism
Products and services
- CatchLight Global Fellowship Annual incubator program providing $30,000 grants to three innovative visual storytellers to develop long-form storytelling projects; fellows also receive mentorship, networking, and partnership opportunities, with alumni receiving recognition such as National Edward R. Murrow Awards and National Geographic Explorer designations.
- CatchLight Local (Local Visual Desk) Collaborative visual journalism model advancing trust and representation in local media, pairing partner newsrooms with community-based visual journalists (Local Fellows) to deliver inclusive, in-depth, accurate, and locally contextualized visual reporting; funded by Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation/Press Forward, and Report for America.
- Mental Health Visual Desk CatchLight's first issue-specific editorial desk, a three-year visual reporting initiative launched in 2025 producing multimedia reporting, resources, and community engagement illuminating human experiences behind mental health policy and solutions, with focus on youth, climate displacement, criminal justice, and maternal health.
- CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit Annual gathering of visual storytelling, technology, and media leaders featuring speakers, portfolio reviews, exhibitions, and discussions on pressing issues and how visual storytellers drive meaningful change; hosted at KQED in San Francisco.
- Night of Photojournalism Traveling immersive visual media experience produced with Dysturb and Fondation Carmignac, featuring projected photo essays accompanied by live music and DJ sets in major cities worldwide including appearances at the Paris Photo Fair and U.S. tour stops.
Quantifiable outcome
- 38 newsrooms partnered since 2019
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Catchlight
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Catchlight technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature4 records
Catchlight partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- Report for AmericacoreOngoing national partnership to place subsidized visual journalism Fellows in local newsrooms. In 2025, the partnership placed 14 photojournalists as full-time staff members in partner newsrooms across the U.S. The initiative aims to establish long-term sustainability of visual journalism through inclusive, accurate, locally contextualized reporting.
- Photo LondonmajorPartnership for CatchLight Live event at Photo London featuring Global Fellows' work, traveling exhibition 'A Portrait of America,' and panel discussions on visual journalism. CatchLight presented multiple events at Photo London including the exhibition at Stand G09, National Hall.
- The Ian Parry Photojournalism GrantcoreCollaboration for panel discussion 'When Seeing Might Not Be Believing: Truth, Trust, and the Future of Visual Journalism' at Photo London, examining the future of visual journalism and trust in images.
- Night of Photojournalism Partners (Dysturb and Fondation Carmignac)coreCatchLight co-produces the Night of Photojournalism traveling visual media experience with Dysturb and Fondation Carmignac. The event features large-scale photo projections with live DJ sets, showcasing work from photographers around the world.
- KQEDmajorKQED serves as the host venue for the annual CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit in San Francisco. The public media organization provides facilities and collaborates on event programming.
- PhotoWingsmajorEducation partner for the Visual Storytelling Summit, dedicated to utilizing photography for deep thinking, communication, and action. Provides educational applications and outreach programs for CatchLight events.
- Mental Health Media PartnerscoreNetwork of media partners for Mental Health Visual Desk including: CalMatters (featured stories on senior centers, mental health crisis response), KQED (teen mental health workshops), The Marshall Project (solitary confinement impacts), Shasta Scout (family mental health stories), Benito Link (queer youth mental health), California Health Report, El Tecolote (immigrant women mental health), El Timpano, Black Voice News, Borderless Magazine, Wisconsin Watch, Montana Free Press, The Gazetteer.
- Report for AmericacorePartnership newsrooms served by CatchLight Local Fellows include: Bay City News, Berkeleyside, Better Government Association, Block Club Chicago, Borderless Magazine, CalMatters, Down in the County, El Tecolote, El Timpano, India Currents, Black Voice News, The Oaklandside, ProPublica, Salinas Californian, San Francisco Public Press.
- National Geographic SocietycoreNational Geographic Explorer designation awarded to CatchLight Global Fellows including Anastasia Taylor-Lind and Gulshan Khan, providing support and recognition for their visual storytelling projects.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Catchlight competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF): Nonprofit that supports women journalists worldwide through grants, fellowships, and safety programs. Comparable as a journalism-supporting grantmaker whose funds have gone directly to CatchLight-affiliated fellows.
- Pulitzer Center: Nonprofit that funds independent journalism through grants and supports journalism education globally. Comparable in providing direct financial support to working journalists and producing educational programming tied to newsroom partnerships.
- Magnum Foundation: Nonprofit that supports innovative visual storytellers through fellowships, grants, and partnerships. Directly comparable mission and structure to CatchLight Global Fellowship, with a similar fellowship-plus-network model for visual journalists.
- Lenfest Institute for Journalism: Philanthropy-founded nonprofit that invests in the long-term sustainability of local journalism. Comparable in channeling major philanthropic capital into local newsroom capacity building and innovation.
- Report for America: National service program that places journalists (including CatchLight Local Fellows) into local newsrooms with salary subsidies. Directly comparable as a co-funding and placement partner with overlapping beneficiary base and mission to revive local journalism.
- World Press Photo: International foundation that runs the world's leading photojournalism awards and supports visual journalism through training and exhibitions. Comparable in promoting excellence in visual storytelling and convening the photojournalism community globally.
Others
- Online News Association: Nonprofit membership organization for digital journalists. Comparable as a journalism community and convening body whose board has included CatchLight-affiliated leaders; an adjacent infrastructure player in the same ecosystem.
- Knight Foundation: Major national journalism funder and a primary CatchLight supporter ($2M in 2023). Not a direct peer operationally but operates in the same journalism-revitalization space and shapes the funding landscape CatchLight depends on.
Emerging players
- Solutions Journalism Network: Nonprofit that trains and supports journalists in rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. Comparable in offering training, resources, and editorial support to local newsrooms and focusing on issue-specific storytelling approaches.
- Local Media Association: Nonprofit industry association serving local news and media organizations across the U.S. and Canada. Comparable in serving the same partner newsroom segment that CatchLight Local supports, though broader in scope.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Catchlight social profiles
Digital presenceCatchlight financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Catchlight leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Catchlight funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Catchlight M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Catchlight
What does Catchlight do?
CatchLight is a nonprofit visual-first media organization that funds and supports visual storytellers through two main fellowship programs: the CatchLight Global Fellowship, which awards $30,000 grants annually to three innovative visual journalists, and CatchLight Local, which places full-time Local Fellow photojournalists in partner newsrooms with salary subsidies. It also runs the Mental Health Visual Desk, an issue-specific three-year visual reporting initiative, and convenes the annual Visual Storytelling Summit and traveling Night of Photojournalism exhibition. The organization operates as a 501(c)(3) funded by foundation grants, individual donations, and corporate sponsorships.
Is Catchlight a public or private company?
Catchlight is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Catchlight founded?
Catchlight was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Catchlight based?
Catchlight is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Catchlight make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Foundation and Philanthropic Funding is the primary driver. The others are donations and corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships.
Who are Catchlight's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF), Pulitzer Center, Magnum Foundation, Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Report for America and World Press Photo. Others are Online News Association and Knight Foundation. Emerging players are Solutions Journalism Network and Local Media Association.
Does Catchlight have an API?
No public API is recorded for Catchlight.
What industry is Catchlight in?
Catchlight's product category is Visual Journalism Programs. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAHAJ, Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits. Its NAICS code is 813 and its SIC code is 7812.