Nicholas Peddle has been named interim executive director of The Lens, New Orleans’ nonprofit online investigative newsroom.

Peddle, a longtime supporter of The Lens with a background in marketing, joined the board in April 2016 and has served as board chair since December 2016. He is experienced in communications strategy, community outreach, partnership development and event planning.

Peddle comes on board at a time when nonprofit newsrooms around the country, strapped for financial resources in ways that larger, commercial publications aren’t, are figuring out how to address the challenges of sustainability.

As The Lens seeks to increase its reach and support in the community, the board selected as interim executive director a local individual with a passion for the mission of The Lens, a ready understanding of its needs and strengths, a commitment to the organization and the ability to begin working on Day 1 to carry out its strategic plan for sustainability and growth.

Since January 2017, The Lens has been working to implement a two-year strategic plan, developed with foundation funding, designed to improve The Lens’ reach in the community and its financial sustainability. The plan supports the mission of The Lens to engage and empower the residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast by providing the information and analysis necessary to advocate for more accountable and just governance.

The Lens, now in its ninth year, ended 2017 with its largest year-end fundraising drive to date. The organization now looks to quickly focus on the next steps of expanding its revenue streams and tracking impact.

The Lens continues to publish articles of significant local impact: revealing that local prosecutors had sent fake subpoenas to uncooperative witnesses; documenting the effect of short-term rentals on New Orleans’ vulnerable neighborhoods; and exposing issues in charter-school governance.

Donations allow New Orleans’ first nonprofit news organization to remain a place where investigative journalism can thrive. Please support The Lens today.