Jody Chong

Executive Director, City Bureau

Jody serves as executive director of City Bureau, a civic media lab that designs people-powered journalism practices and supports their local adoption and adaptation across the country. She first joined the organization in 2022 as Documenters deputy director and was the primary architect of its national growth strategy. The national Documenters Network is now active in 25 communities and growing, bearing the imprint of her strategic vision.

With 15 years of experience in the social impact and public policy sectors, Jody has expertise in organizational strategy, inclusive leadership, collaborative program design and field building. Jody spent nearly a decade at Heartland Alliance, one of Chicago’s prominent social justice organizations, where she led operations for a 25-person research and policy division. Earlier in her career, she directed the Illinois Asset Building Group, a statewide coalition, won multiple state legislative campaigns and built her advocacy expertise at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and Community Organizing and Family Issues.