September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026

A Note From Leadership

A Sector Under Pressure

I am thrilled to have joined The Globe and Mail Foundation as its inaugural executive director. It’s been an honour to help launch the Foundation and establish programming that serves the media sector at a time of immense disruption, and opportunity.

We are living through one of the most challenging times for news media. This year, global press freedom was ranked at an all-time low. More journalists are describing newer forms of censorship. Layoffs from newsrooms abound. And social media coupled with the rapid advent of AI has presented serious challenges to media literacy as well as the availability, and the consumption of, fact-based information.

Only by working together can we counter these forces which threaten to unravel democracy and civic engagement as we know it. Through values-based partnerships with philanthropists and industry stakeholders, The Globe and Mail Foundation has brought new offerings to media professionals and to the public, in pursuit of a healthier, more civically connected future.

In September, we will welcome a Senior Coordinator of Program and Operations, to enable us to grow and make more impact.  I am immensely grateful to Chris Donovan, Mike Hyttinen, Joshua Knelman, and Avi Sadiv, as well as the Foundation’s board of directors, for their expertise and dedication which has led to a very successful first year. We need more people who believe in the power of a strong, independent news media in this country, and globally. It’s one of the most important foundations of humanity, accountability, and progress, and we must fiercely protect it together.

Laura Lavie
Executive Director
The Globe and Mail Foundation

I have worked in media on four continents for more than 50 years but never have I seen a time when the need to support the survival of quality journalism matters as much as now. 

That’s why The Globe and Mail Foundation was launched last year.  

A healthy democracy depends on access to trustworthy reporting so that citizens can gain accurate insight into what is happening in their community and their country. 

As Publisher of The Globe and Mail for 25 years, I was privileged to have the support of a hard-working staff dedicated to the business of delivering that understanding for Canadians. 

Now the Globe Foundation aims to broaden that outreach by focussing on increasing media literacy, and providing training for journalists and photographers all over our country, and beyond. 

I want to thank everyone who has supported us over the last 12 months…our donors, our sponsors, our partners, our board members, and the journalists everywhere who help us all to distinguish between fact and fiction, truth and lies.  

We have big plans for the coming year. Please look out for news from The Globe Foundation and we hope you will support our efforts. 

Phillip Crawley
Chair
The Globe and Mail Foundation

Black-and-white portrait of a woman with long dark hair, smiling, wearing a white shirt and dark jacket, against a plain background.

Laura Lavie

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Black and white photo of a smiling older man in a suit with a patterned tie, standing in front of a dark wooden background.

Phillip Crawley

BOARD CHAIR