Our Vision

Seeing Ourselves Whole
When Bob Maynard began reporting for The Washington Post in 1967, the idea that newsrooms might someday reflect the diversity of their communities was revolutionary. As Maynard dedicated himself to transforming the news industry, he envisioned an integration far beyond correcting distortions and expanding the talent pool-he saw it as a way for all of us to "see ourselves whole."

The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education was founded by Bob Maynard and a group of equally passionate journalists in 1977 with this vision in mind. Through intensive training programs, direct services to media organizations and collaboration with committed industry leaders, the Institute has for more than 20 years raised the voices and profiles of diverse individuals and communities across the nation.

The Maynard Institute has worked to transform the industry because the news business is like no other. What we see and hear in the news shapes what we believe about each other. It can be a forum for division or understanding.

Seeing the world only through the narrow lens of one's own experiences commonly divides us along what Bob called the "fault lines" of race, class, gender, generation and geography. At the Maynard Institute, we've found that by deliberately widening that lens, we can bring the full landscape into sharper focus.

Approaching journalism with this complete picture in view can have profound effects. We see it in our work and in the Maynard Institute "family" of journalists, managers and industry leaders who share this inclusive vision. By carrying this vision back to their media organizations, they are leading a new generation to transform not only the news business but the whole of our diverse society.

A fierce crusader for freedom of the press, Robert C. Maynard became the first African American in the nation to publish a major metropolitan daily when he and his wife, journalist Nancy Hicks Maynard, purchased The Oakland Tribune in 1983. The Institute for Journalism Education, which Maynard co-founded in 1977, was renamed in honor of the pioneering publisher after his death in 1993.

INTRODUCTION

MAYNARD INSTITUTE @ 25
• Our Vision: Seeing Ourselves Whole
• Our History: The First 25 Years
• Profile: Dorothy Gilliam
• Profile: Carmen Rios
• Profile: Mei-Mei Chan
• Our Legacy: The Next 25 Years

ROBERT C. MAYNARD: LIFE & LEGACY
• Maynard: A Tribute (video)
• Maynard's Legacy of Inclusion
• Shining Light of a Poet and Pioneer
• Maynard Image Gallery (flash)