Ryan Blitstein
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Ryan Blitstein is Executive Director of SCE, a social investment organization that connects talent and innovation with market forces to drive social change. Ryan leads SCE’s overall strategy and grantmaking operations.

He serves as board treasurer of Global Press Institute, a nonprofit that uses journalism to foster community development, personal empowerment, and global awareness, and is a member of the Chicago Committee of Human Rights Watch, one the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. Ryan also advises a variety of Chicago community and global organizations on media, sustainability, and social impact strategies.

Before entering the social sector, he spent a decade as an award-winning investigative reporter, educator, and media consultant based in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. Ryan’s work has appeared in The New York Times, TIME, and BusinessWeek, among other publications.

He holds degrees from Stanford University and The Journalism School at Columbia University, and has lectured at Stanford and San Jose State University. Ryan also developed and taught a Stanford course on Bob Dylan.

Blog Entries by Ryan Blitstein

A Little Progress at the Chicago Media Future Conference

Posted June 15, 2009 | 19:28:05 (EST)

I spent most of Saturday at the Chicago Media Future Conference. Quick summary: I learned a few things, the conference had some shortcomings, and overall it was definitely worth my time.

Kudos to the organizers, who clearly learned a lot from the Chicago Journalism Town Hall in February. Big...

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Where Have All The Chicago Reporters Gone?

Posted January 27, 2009 | 13:38:56 (EST)

It's time to bid farewell to yet another national reporter covering Chicago and the Midwest. This week it's P.J. Huffstutter, the Chicago Bureau Chief for the L.A. Times (this according to Gorkana). She's now a roving national reporter covering "how the economy is impacting people across the country." While...

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Goodbye, Rahm. Now Which of These 20 Candidates Should I Vote For?

Posted January 5, 2009 | 10:29:50 (EST)

In November, I voted in Illinois for the first time, having lived in California for much of the past decade. As I pored over the list of candidates on the sample ballot, all I could think was: "Who the hell are all these people?" I barely knew most of these...

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Deloitte Sues Its Own Vice Chairman Over Trading Scandal

Posted November 6, 2008 | 14:20:10 (EST)

Here's an item from the "stories buried by the onslaught of election news" department: Big Four accounting firm Deloitte & Touche sued Thomas P. Flanagan, who'd been a firm partner for 30 years, in Delaware court last week.

In the complaint, first reported by Courthouse News Service, Deloitte...

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Obama, What's With the Spam?

Posted October 31, 2008 | 18:33:37 (EST)

Okay, Senator Obama, I get it. You need money. The GOP and McCain campaign have a lot of cash. This is the most important election of our lifetimes. It's crunchtime, and every last dollar counts. Blah blah blah.

But seriously, Senator, what is with the spam?

My liberal and independent...

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Yes, Tribune, College is Worth it

Posted October 14, 2008 | 16:52:58 (EST)

Another day, another bogus trend story in the Chicago Tribune, this time on the front page.

The headline "Is College Worth It?" says it all -- the sort of manufactured, fear-inducing question headline typical of the new Trib. The story is almost as disingenuous.

The writer found a...

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