Black and Asian Platform BlindianProject Named to Community Media Cohort

BlindianProject, a Black and Asian Storytelling Platform, Named in Inaugural Fundraising for Community Media Cohort

BlindianProject — the global Black and Asian storytelling platform — has been named to the inaugural Fundraising for Community Media cohort. This groundbreaking program is the first of its kind in the U.S., dedicated to building fundraising strategies for AAPI, Black, and Latine-led newsrooms.

Led by the Center for Community Media at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in collaboration with The Lenfest Institute for Journalism’s News Philanthropy Network, the three-month, tuition-free program will help historically underrepresented media outlets strengthen financial sustainability through grant writing, donor prospecting, and campaign planning.

Supporting Black and Asian Communities Nationwide

BlindianProject joins 14 other newsrooms from across the U.S., including organizations serving Black American, Cuban American, Indian American, wider Asian American, Latine, Multiracial, and Pan-African communities. These outlets address stories often overlooked by mainstream media — from women’s and immigrant issues to multiracial families and diaspora experiences.

The selected publishers represent both nonprofit and for-profit models, with most operating small newsrooms of five or fewer full-time employees. Many have little to no prior experience in philanthropy, despite serving audiences deeply impacted by systemic inequities.

Building Capacity for the Future

More than 80 newsrooms applied for the inaugural cohort, reflecting a growing need for equitable funding access. The training will equip participants — including BlindianProject — with tools to diversify revenue and ensure their stories of Black and Asian solidarity and community resilience continue to be told.

Jonah Batambuze is a, Ugandan-American interdisciplinary artist and founder of the BlindianProject, a global platform remixing Black x Brown identity through art, history, and storytelling. His work moves across installation, film, writing, and education—challenging systems of erasure while building new cultural blueprints.

Batambuze speaks and facilitates internationally on topics including Black South Asian solidarity, caste and colonial legacies, diasporic memory, and cultural resistance.

For speaking engagements, workshops, or media inquiries, contact: jonah@blindian-project.com or visit jonahbatambuze.com/speaking