GRWM To: Leverage Creator Relationships to Extend the Impact of Your Brand

Jul 23, 2026

Join us for a webinar on Zoom on Thursday, July 23, at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.

Join us for a webinar on Zoom on Thursday, July 23, at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. 

Content creators are not the competition, they're collaborators. As audience behavior shifts toward personality-driven platforms and influencer-led discovery, local publications have a real opportunity to extend their editorial reach, event visibility, and brand relevance through strategic creator partnerships.

This Lenfest-curated panel brings together three leaders working at the intersection of journalism, creators, and community-driven distribution. Together they will share practical frameworks for identifying the right creators, structuring collaborations that protect your brand, and connecting creator-led experiments to measurable audience and revenue growth.

Register: https://nna.formstack.com/forms/grwm_leverage_creator_relationships (FREE TO NNA MEMBERS) 

SPEAKER BIOS

  • Will Toms is Co-founder and Visionary of REC Philly, a Philadelphia-based organization that cultivates creator ecosystems and builds authentic partnerships between brands and the next generation of digital storytellers. He also co-leads the Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange news creators program, an initiative that pairs local newsrooms with creators to test how those collaborations affect audience growth, trust, and community impact. Will brings a practitioner's perspective on what it actually takes to build creator relationships that grow both brand and community.
  • Liz Kelly Nelson is the founder of Project C, an organization dedicated to building the future of independent creator journalism. She brings deep expertise in helping journalists and media organizations develop sustainable creator-led businesses, rethink audience ownership, and navigate the evolving landscape of digital distribution. Her national-level work includes the trust and credibility toolkit developed in partnership with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, which helps media organizations build credible creator strategies without sacrificing editorial integrity.
  • Dion Rabouin is a media consultant and former Wall Street Journal journalist who has made the journey from traditional reporter to content creator — and now helps legacy newsrooms navigate that same transition. She consults with news organizations on digital transformation, creator strategy, and how to build authentic social-native storytelling without losing the credibility that makes journalism matter. Her work sits at the intersection of editorial standards and the realities of modern audience behavior.
  • Cheryl Thompson-Morton (Moderator) is a program director at the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, where she leads the Lenfest Expert Network, a program that connects local newsrooms with vetted consultants to build strategic capacity in audience development, revenue, editorial leadership, and technology. She has worked closely with news organizations across Philadelphia and nationally on the intersection of innovation, sustainability, and community impact.