What Solutions Journalism Network does

Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) is an independent New York State nonprofit corporation founded in 2013 by award-winning journalists David Bornstein, Tina Rosenberg, and Courtney Martin. Its stated mission is to transform journalism practice by training journalists, educators, and students in reporting on responses to social problems, codified through a four-element methodology — Response, Insight, Evidence, and Limitations. SJN operates a community-led model reaching a network of 102,300 trained journalists/educators/students, 1,585 fellows, and 226 accredited trainers across 102 countries, supported by 150+ Learning Lab resources.

The organization's core technology and intellectual property is the Solutions Story Tracker®, a registered trademark and the largest curated collection of solutions journalism — 17,500 stories produced by 9,970 journalists at 2,200 news outlets across 102 countries, in 19 languages, covering responses in 199 countries. The broader platform portfolio includes SoJo Exchange (Creative Commons republication hub), SJ Factbox Generator (reporter widget tool), The Whole Story blog (on Medium), and the Solutions Insights Lab (research/analytics). These platforms sit alongside a programmatic portfolio of five University Hubs, Educators Academies, the Student Media Challenge, and four thematic verticals — Climate, Democracy, Youth Mental Health, and Addressing Health Disparities.

SJN is funded through donations and grants (a philanthropic nonprofit model with no disclosed fee-for-service pricing). It uses Mailchimp for newsletters, Salesforce, QuickBooks, TSYS, and Netsuite for operations, Zoom/Eventbrite for events, Click & Pledge for donations, and Google Looker Studio for program analytics. Strategic programmatic partners include Earth Journalism Network (biodiversity reporting grants in five countries) and CatchLight (visual journalism for mental health reporting); the Story Tracker taxonomy is licensed from Candid under Creative Commons.

Name

Solutions Journalism Network

Legal name

Solutions Journalism Network

Website

https://solutionsjournalism.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Solutions Journalism Network, founded in 2013 as a New York nonprofit, trains journalists and educators in rigorous solutions reporting. It operates the Solutions Story Tracker® database of 17,500 stories and supports 102,300 trained practitioners across 102 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Journalism Education Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621), Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Investigative & Nonprofit News Organizations (MPAJADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Online Learning Content & Course Publishing Platforms (BPAMAJAL), Syndication, Licensing & Content Partnerships (Columns, Features, Photos) (MPAJADAI)

Keywords

• Solutions journalism training
• Journalism education programs
• News content database
• Media training services
• Journalism fellowships

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: As a New York State nonprofit corporation, SJN is funded through donations, grants, and philanthropic support. The organization solicits contributions through its website and engages with funders for programmatic work.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Solutions Journalism Network trains journalists, educators, and students in solutions journalism methodology and operates digital platforms including the Solutions Story Tracker® (a database of 17,500 stories from 9,970 journalists and 2,200 news outlets in 102 countries), the SoJo Exchange (a Creative Commons republishing platform for newsrooms), and the SJ Factbox Generator widget tool. The organization delivers educational programs through 226 accredited trainers, 5 university hubs, a fellowship network of 1,585 fellows, and partnerships with foundations and academic institutions.

Product overview

Solutions Journalism Network operates as a platform-plus-programs organization centered on solutions journalism. The core product portfolio includes the Solutions Story Tracker (a database of 17,500+ solutions journalism stories), SoJo Exchange (a story republishing platform with Creative Commons licensing), and the SJ Factbox Generator (a widget creation tool). Supporting platforms include The Whole Story blog and the Solutions Insights Lab research platform. These are complemented by educational programs through the Learning Lab (with 150+ resources and 226 accredited trainers), five University Hubs, and various thematic programs (Beacons, Student Media Challenge, Educators Academies, Complicating the Narratives) focused on climate, democracy, youth mental health, and health disparities. The organization has trained 102,300 journalists, educators, and students, and supports 1,585 fellows.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Solutions Story Tracker: The largest collection of solutions journalism featuring 17,500 stories
• Solutions Insights Lab
• Learning Lab
• The Whole Story

Products and services

• Solutions Story Tracker The largest collection of solutions journalism, containing 17,500 stories produced by 9,970 journalists and 2,200 news outlets from 102 countries, covering responses in 199 countries in 19 languages. It serves as the central searchable repository for the solutions journalism movement.
• SoJo Exchange A platform hosting solutions journalism stories available for republishing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 license, allowing newsrooms to freely republish or re-air quality solutions stories.
• SJ Factbox Generator A tool that allows users to select articles and create widgets for displaying solutions journalism content as factboxes that can be embedded in news stories.
• Solutions Insights Lab A research and analytics platform exploring solutions journalism impact and effectiveness across various topic areas, providing data-driven insights for practitioners and funders.
• Learning Lab An educational platform offering webinars, toolkits, guides, and access to 226 accredited trainers worldwide for training journalists, educators, and students in solutions journalism, including 150+ learning resources.

Quantifiable outcome

• 102,300 journalists, educators and students trained using SJN tools
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Click & PledgeminorOthersThird-party vendor used for processing online donations. Credit card and payment information is provided directly to this vendor for processing and recording gifts.
• MailchimpminorOthersThird-party vendor used for email newsletter communications with the network. SJN uses Mailchimp to send newsletters and share funding opportunities.
• ZoomminorOthersVideo conferencing platform used for hosting virtual events and training sessions with the SJN community.
• Form AssemblyminorOthersPlatform used for grant applications and program forms, helping SJN review applications and determine deliverables.
• LeverminorOthersThird-party vendor used to collect and review job applications for SJN career openings.
• Google AnalyticsminorOthersThird-party analytics tool used to analyze website usage, pages viewed, location data, search terms, and technology used by visitors to improve SJN's website offerings.
• Heroku, Pantheon, and WordPressminorOthersWebsite hosting platforms for SJN Sites. Heroku, Pantheon, and WordPress provide the infrastructure for SJN's web properties.
• Salesforce, QuickBooks, TSYS, and NetsuiteminorOthersBusiness systems used for donor management, financial record-keeping, payment processing, and customer relationship management.
• Medium.comminorOthersThe Whole Story blog is hosted on Medium.com. Content on that site is governed by Medium's Terms of Service in addition to SJN's policies.
• Survey MonkeyminorOthersSurvey platform used for collecting feedback and data from network members.
• Google Looker StudiominorOthersAnalytics and visualization tool used to track program goals, analyze engagements, and monitor interest in SJN offerings.
• EventbriteminorOthersThird-party vendor used for event registrations alongside Zoom.
• DropboxminorOthersCloud storage platform used in conjunction with Salesforce for reviewing and storing grant application materials.
• YouTubeminorOthersVideo platform that tracks video plays, location and user preferences. SJN maintains a YouTube channel for multimedia content.
• Earth Journalism NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization offering Biodiversity and Nature-Based Solutions Story Grants in Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan and Madagascar. SJN shares information about these opportunities with its network.
• CatchLightminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization providing Visual Journalism Support for Mental Health Reporting. SJN promotes these opportunities to its network of journalists.
• Candid (formerly Foundation Center)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe issue area taxonomy used in the Solutions Story Tracker® was adapted from the Philanthropy Classification System Taxonomy with definitions by Candid, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International License.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• ProPublica: ProPublica is the largest U.S. investigative nonprofit newsroom. It is comparable to SJN as an established nonprofit journalism organization with national brand recognition, though it focuses on investigative reporting and original publishing rather than methodology training and content aggregation.

Direct peers

• Poynter Institute: Poynter is a nonprofit journalism education and training organization. It is highly comparable to SJN's Learning Lab, accredited trainer network, and educator academy programs, though Poynter's training scope is broader across all of journalism rather than focused on solutions methodology.
• News Literacy Project: The News Literacy Project is a nonprofit that educates students and the public about news literacy. Closely comparable to SJN's Educators Academies, University Hubs, and Student Media Challenge programs that train students and educators in journalism practice.
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: RCFP is a nonprofit that provides legal resources and support to journalists. Comparable to SJN as a nonprofit journalism infrastructure organization that supports newsroom practice, though focused on First Amendment legal support rather than methodology training.
• Center for Public Integrity: Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit investigative newsroom. Comparable to SJN as an established nonprofit journalism organization with similar funder base (foundations, individual donors) and similar mission-driven reporting focus, though centered on investigative rather than solutions work.
• The Conversation US: The Conversation is a nonprofit media outlet that publishes explanatory journalism written by academics. Comparable to SJN as a nonprofit that distributes journalism with a mission-driven framing and uses Creative Commons-style open licensing to syndicate content into newsrooms.
• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE): IRE is a nonprofit membership organization for investigative journalists offering training, resources, and conferences. Directly comparable to SJN's training and community-building model for journalists, though focused on investigative rather than solutions methodology.
• The Marshall Project: The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization focused on criminal justice. It is comparable to SJN as a nonprofit journalism entity, and its single-issue deep coverage model parallels SJN's issue-vertical programs (Climate, Democracy, Youth Mental Health, Health Disparities).
• Online News Association: ONA is a nonprofit membership organization for digital journalists. Comparable to SJN as a journalism professional community providing training, networking, and resources to practitioners across newsrooms — overlapping with SJN's community-led growth model.

Others

• Knight Foundation: Knight Foundation is a major journalism and media philanthropy funder. Comparable to SJN as an ecosystem participant — Knight is a likely funder and strategic partner for SJN-type organizations, and its funding priorities directly shape the demand environment for SJN's programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/soljourno
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC7hiFStYar5YKwQPsfSt6vQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/solutions-journalism-network
• Instagraminstagram.com/solutionsjournalism

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Solutions Journalism Network