Ruby L. Bailey, a nonprofit and journalism leader with more than three decades of experience in public-service media, is joining Injustice Watch as its new executive director on Sept. 1.
Bailey joins the team after two and a half years as the editor in chief of the Illinois Answers Project at the Better Government Association, where she led newsroom strategy and operations while working across the organization on strategic planning, board engagement, newsroom collaborations, audience development, and philanthropic stewardship.
Her career includes leadership roles at USA TODAY, The Indianapolis Star, The Sacramento Bee, the Columbia Missourian, and the Detroit Free Press. Before moving into senior leadership, Bailey spent seven years as a Washington correspondent, embedded with the U.S. Navy during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and throughout her reporting career produced award-winning enterprise and accountability journalism, including work nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
“Ruby brings three decades of distinguished leadership in public-interest journalism with a proven record of building strong newsrooms and delivering impactful, accountability-driven journalism,” said Injustice Watch Board President Alex Ghiso. “Her deep commitment to rigorous, independent reporting and to the communities it serves makes her the perfect leader to guide our next chapter at Injustice Watch.”
Founded in 2015, Injustice Watch is an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization examining issues of equity and justice in the Cook County court system.
“For a decade, Injustice Watch has examined Cook County courts while staying deeply connected to the people most affected by them. I’m joining the organization at a time when protecting independent journalism and the conditions that allow it to serve the public is especially urgent,” Bailey said.
“My focus will be on strengthening Injustice Watch for the long term and expanding the reach and impact of its journalism so that more people throughout Chicago and Cook County can better understand and navigate the court system and hold it accountable,” she added.
Bailey serves on the board of Investigate Midwest and the advisory board of Religion News Service. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Wayne State University and a master’s degree in theology from Biola University.
The post Ruby Bailey joins Injustice Watch as executive director appeared first on Injustice Watch.
