Reparations Media & Change Agents Journalism Lab

What Reparations Media & Change Agents Journalism Lab does

Reparations Media & Change Agents Journalism Lab is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2020 that produces the Change Agents audio documentary podcast series. The organization pairs emerging journalists of color with grassroots community organizers and activists to produce solutions-focused audio journalism covering social justice issues in Chicago neighborhoods including Englewood, Austin, Brighton Park, and Auburn Gresham. Its core product is the Change Agents Podcast—six seasons of professionally produced audio documentaries distributed across Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio—accompanied by a 16-week Podcast Production Lab that trains emerging BIPOC journalists in audio documentary production. The methodology centers on an inside-out community journalism approach, featuring no-recorder initial trust-building meetings and collaborative story development with community-based organizations that serve as co-creators rather than subjects.

The organization's business model is grant-funded nonprofit media production. Revenue streams include tax-deductible individual donations and foundation grants from The Field Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund, Press Forward Chicago, and Wayfarer Foundation. Prior to 2024, Change Agents operated as a fiscally sponsored program of City Bureau, a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization; it subsequently became an independent program under Reparations Media NFP. Additional revenue-adjacent activities include community town hall events and ancillary resource products such as the Season 6 Resource Guide for Haitian and African Immigrants in Chicagoland. Distribution is primarily direct-to-consumer via major podcast platforms, supplemented by earned media coverage (e.g., Axios Chicago), social media engagement, newsletter outreach, and in-person community events.

Reparations Media is led by Founder, Board Chair, and Executive Director Judith McCray, a multiple Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist with 30+ years in media production, and Executive Producer Maurice Bisaillon of Juneteenth Productions, which provides editorial support. The production team includes Senior Producer Mary Hall (formerly WBEZ, NewsNation), Story Editor/Sound Designer Erisa Apantaku, and Sound Designer Will Jarvis (formerly NPR). The board comprises board secretary A.M. Triche, treasurer Greg McCray (former CEO of Google Fiber), Marianne Geula, Carl Williams, and Debra Gittler. The organization has produced six seasons since 2020, with topics spanning immigration, housing, criminal justice reform, refugee resettlement, voting rights, and racial equity, and was recognized with the 2023 Leaders for a New Chicago Award from the Field and MacArthur Foundation.

Name

Reparations Media & Change Agents Journalism Lab

Legal name

Reparations Media NFP

Website

https://changeagentsthepodcast.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Reparations Media & Change Agents Journalism Lab is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that produces the Change Agents audio documentary podcast, pairing emerging BIPOC journalists with grassroots activists to tell solutions-focused stories about social justice issues in Chicago communities of color.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting the organization's mission of solutions journalism in underserved communities.
2. Foundation Grants: Support from foundations including The Field Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund, Press Forward Chicago, and Wayfarer Foundation.
3. Fiscal Sponsorship: Prior to 2024, Change Agents was a fiscally sponsored program of City Bureau, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Reparations Media produces the Change Agents audio documentary podcast series, now in its sixth season, which pairs emerging BIPOC journalists with grassroots activists and community organizations in Chicago to tell solutions-focused stories about housing, immigration, criminal justice reform, and racial equity. The organization runs a 16-week podcast production lab that trains emerging journalists of color in audio documentary production, and supplements the podcast with free community resource guides and post-season town hall events used as organizing tools for social change.

Product overview

Reparations Media operates the Change Agents Podcast, an audio documentary series now in its sixth season. The core product is the Change Agents Podcast, which is produced through a journalism lab model that trains emerging journalists of color to create documentary-style episodes. The podcast is distributed across major streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeartRadio). Accompanying the podcast are a free resource guide for immigrant and refugee communities (launched with Season 6) and community town hall events that serve as organizing tools for social change. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was previously fiscally sponsored by City Bureau and is developed by Juneteenth Productions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Change Agents Podcast An audio documentary podcast series that pairs emerging journalists of color with grassroots activists and community organizers to tell solutions-focused stories of social justice and change in Chicago-area communities. Distributed across Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio, it has produced six seasons since 2020 covering topics including immigration, housing, criminal justice reform, and racial equity.
• Change Agents Journalism Lab A 16-week podcast production lab that trains emerging journalists, primarily people of color, in audio documentary production. The program includes orientation, production training, and partnerships with community-based organizations, and has trained cohorts each season since 2020.
• Resource Guide for Haitian & African Immigrants in Chicagoland A free resource guide created alongside Season 6 that provides practical information for Haitian and African immigrants and refugees in Chicago, covering legal services, health, housing, education, employment, and community resources.
• Community Town Hall Events Post-season community engagement events held in Chicago that bring together podcast participants, community organizations, and audiences to discuss topics covered in episodes and connect with resources for social change. Used by community-based organizations as organizing tools.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple seasons of podcast produced with thousands of listeners across platforms
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• City BureaucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrior to 2024, Change Agents was a fiscally sponsored program of City Bureau, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization. City Bureau served as the fiscal sponsor for the podcast.
• Heartland Human Care ServicesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner featured in Season 6, providing refugee resettlement services. Emma Yaaka works with this organization as featured in Season 6 Episode 1.
• Haitian Congress to Fortify HaitimajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured community partner in Season 6, supporting Haitian immigrants and refugees in Chicago. The organization has helped nearly 350 Haitian families.
• The Resurrection ProjectmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChicago nonprofit providing free immigration legal services; partnered with Haitian Congress to provide interpreters for Haitian immigrants.
• RefugeeOnemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChicago-based nonprofit supporting refugee resettlement and integration, featured in Season 6 coverage of refugee experiences.
• HIAS | JCFS ChicagominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerImmigration and citizenship services provider for refugees and newcomers, listed in resource guide for Haitian and African immigrants.
• Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition strengthening immigrant communities across Illinois, resources listed in immigrant guide.
• United Africans OrganizationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization supporting African immigrants and refugees in Illinois, resources listed in immigrant guide.
• World Relief ChicagolandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization building welcoming communities through advocacy for forced migrants, resources listed in immigrant guide.
• Haitian American Museum of ChicagominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural hub offering Know Your Rights workshops and immigration legal referrals, listed in resource guide.
• Juneteenth ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduction company founded by Judith McCray and Maurice Bisaillon that provides editorial support for the Change Agents podcast. Developed the Change Agents partnership model.
• Community-Based Organizations (Various)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with grassroots organizations including Residents Association of Greater Englewood, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, BUILD, Centro Sanar, People Matter, Revolution Workshop, Lyte Collective, and others who serve as story partners.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Solutions Journalism Network: National nonprofit that trains journalists in solutions-oriented reporting; Change Agents team members including Senior Producer Mary Hall have collaborated with this network. Relevant adjacent infrastructure peer.

Direct peers

• Block Club Chicago: Chicago nonprofit local news outlet covering neighborhoods including those featured on Change Agents; Lee Edwards previously reported at Block Club. Comparable in neighborhood-level Chicago journalism with community engagement.
• The Real Chi (North Lawndale newsroom): Experimental learning newsroom based in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood that Lee Edwards previously managed. Directly comparable as a small Chicago newsroom training emerging BIPOC journalists.
• City Bureau: Chicago-based civic journalism nonprofit that previously fiscally sponsored Change Agents. Operates a similar community-driven local news model with a training component for emerging journalists of color, making it the closest direct comparable.
• Invisible Institute: Chicago-based narrative journalism nonprofit producing investigative audio and community-centered storytelling, including the podcast 'You Didn't See Nothin.' Shares Change Agents' focus on accountability journalism from within communities of color.

Broad incumbents

• The Marshall Project: National nonprofit newsroom focused on criminal justice, including podcasts. Operates in a comparable nonprofit journalism model covering social issues, though at national rather than local scale.
• WBEZ Chicago (Chicago Public Media): Major Chicago public radio station where Change Agents producers previously worked; comparable regional public-media outlet producing solutions-oriented audio content for the same Chicago audience at significantly greater scale.
• WTTW (Chicago PBS station): Chicago's PBS affiliate where founder Judith McCray previously produced. Comparable as a Chicago public-media outlet producing documentary-style social-justice content, though at far broader scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ChangeAgentspod
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCHf2THnspuaxLEwy12SImhg
• Facebookfacebook.com/ChangeAgentsThePodcast
• Instagraminstagram.com/changeagentsthepodcast
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/change-agents-journalism-lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Reparations Media & Change Agents Journalism Lab