Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) members have elected Jake Hylton, executive director of LOOKOUT Publications, and Yukari Kane, CEO and editor-in-chief of Prison Journalism Project (PJP), to the board of directors, where they will each serve a three-year term.
While voting turnout was down from last year’s record number of ballots submitted, the election between 10 candidates remained close with only two votes separating second and third place.
Hylton and Kane both bring experience as founders of newsroom startups and a deep understanding of the importance of serving unique communities through journalism.
As an entrepreneur and the founding executive director of LOOKOUT, a queer Arizona-based newsroom, Hylton brings a non-traditional perspective to the journalism industry. His background as a small business owner and a justice-focused advocate gives him a different kind of blueprint for running a newsroom – one that has succeeded so far.
“I believe that our industry can and should do more than just reflect communities, but it should serve them – fiercely and without apology,” Hylton said in his candidate statement.
Hylton was endorsed by Allison Taylor Levine of Spotlight Delaware and Next City’s Lucas Grindley, who is stepping down from the board at the end of this year and wrote that, “[Hylton] prioritizes cultivating community as much as holding the powerful accountable, and I know his combination of vision and persistence will now serve INN members.”
Yukari Kane joins that board of directors as a strong leader in the nonprofit journalism field with deep journalism roots. Under Kane’s leadership, Prison Journalism Project (PJP), a newsroom that equips incarcerated writers to tell stories, has grown from a grassroots publication into a national organization with more than 800 writers and 2,500 stories published across 44 states.
In her candidate statement, Kane described the work PJP does as “deeply local in spirit.”
“Our writers are incarcerated in facilities across the country, and the stories they tell are rooted in the cities and states where they live,” she wrote. “What happens inside prisons often affects the communities around them — people work inside them, local service organizations interact with them, and the health of those institutions reflects the health of the broader community. Prisons are part of every community’s fabric.”
Kane was endorsed by Hylton, her new co-board member, and Monika Bauerlein of The Center for Investigative Reporting, who wrote that, “ Yukari is a smart, generous colleague and thoughtful leader who is deeply committed to INN’s mission of helping all member organizations thrive in this challenging and urgent environment.”
Valeria Fernández, formerly of palabra., is stepping down from the board alongside Grindley. INN thanks them both for their wisdom and participation while they served on the board.
Hylton and Kane’s terms will begin Jan. 1, 2026 and run until Dec. 31, 2028.
