The Mecklenburg Times and North Carolina Lawyers Weekly have named Ju-Don Marshall, WFAE’s president and CEO, as one of the “50 Most Influential Women of 2023.”
The award was created to “celebrate the accomplishments of extraordinary women in business, government, education, legal and not-for-profit entities in the Carolina region.” According to the awards sponsors, the honorees are chosen by a panel of judges because of their professional achievements, community involvement and record of leadership.
Marshall is the only news media executive included on the list.
Marshall joined WFAE in 2017 as chief content officer. She transformed WFAE from a public radio station into a multimedia news organization by:
- Establishing new digital and community engagement initiatives.
- Creating programs and partnerships to amplify voices from diverse communities in Charlotte.
- Launching newsroom and community podcasts and training.
- Starting fellowship/internship programs to bring more young, diverse journalists into the newsroom.
- Leading the newsroom and content team to multiple awards.
- And securing millions of dollars in grant and donor support to expand the newsroom and build a Race & Equity team.
In 2020, Marshall was promoted to executive vice president in addition to her duties as chief content officer. Earlier this year, she was named president and CEO.
Before joining WFAE, Marshall helped build LifePosts, a tech startup focused on collaborative storytelling. She served as director for the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University; general manager and senior vice president for EverydayHealth.com, at the time the second largest health news company in the country; and the executive editor and senior vice president for News Corporation's Beliefnet, then the leading site for faith and inspiration news.
Marshall also spent nearly two decades at The Washington Post company, where she led the award-winning washingtonpost.com and contributed to coverage that earned numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award.
In 2019, Marshall was recognized as one of "14 Local News Leaders Who Are Shining Examples to the Field" by the Knight Foundation. In 2022, Business North Carolina magazine named her as one of North Carolina's most influential leaders on its annual "Power List." And earlier this year, Q City Metro named her one of the "Great 28" Black leaders shaping Charlotte.
Marshall serves on various journalism industry boards or advisory councils, including those for the National Trust for Local News, Greater Public, Religion News Service, Report for America and the Center for Journalism and Liberty.
Marshall is a graduate of Howard University and studied at Harvard University as a Nieman Fellow.