Ashley Woods Branch Email & Phone Number

Leading the transition from the Fund for Equity in Local News from a fiscally-sponsored project to a nonprofit organization. Worked with Board to create partnership with Google News Initiative to support 240 publishers through Transformation Tech. Serve as project manager for Transformation Tech, responsible for publisher experience, grant reporting, financial reporting, data collection and operations.

Consultant/Consigliere to C-Suite leaders in nonprofit and community media organizations. I help founders and their teams identify priorities for strategic growth, audience loyalty and revenue generation.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

After leading a merger of my newsletter startup, I served as senior director of audience and growth for Outlier Media, a new position that creates a bridge between audience, editorial and revenue in our community-focused newsroom. Outlier Media is dedicated to reimagining local news as an accessible utility of civic life. Outlier operates a crisis SMS text system that allows every Detroiter the opportunity to speak with a reporter and offers assistance on housing, utility and other critical needs issues. We leverage this 1:1 communication to source our rigorous original journalism focusing on critical needs for Detroiters, like housing, utilities and city services. Our service journalism helps residents hold their elected officials and leaders accountable for longstanding problems and work towards solutions for a more equitable city.

Detroit, Michigan

Detour Detroit was founded by Ashley Woods Branch and Kate Abbey-Lambertz as one of the first newsletter startups focused on a single city. First funded through a 2018 seed investment led by Silicon Valley-based tech news startup The Information, Detour’s vision for curated newsletters for Detroit millennials – sharp but lighthearted and accessible – expanded to include equitable, community-powered reporting; award-winning audience engagement practices; and an events program focused on service for a devoted community of members. They have since grown the organization through a mix of foundation funding, local advertising and the support of more than 600 members and individual donors.Detour Detroit also worked as a strategic partner to help local publishers like FlintBeat, BLAC Detroit Magazine, Outlier Media, Tostada Magazine and Planet Detroit launch and grow their own newsletters.

Worked with the Google News Initiative to support digital native journalism founders through accelerators, training and funding.

Detroit, Mi

Consultant, trainer and coach for newsrooms big and small, specializing in social media, direct marketing, digital strategy, newsletters and audience engagement. In addition to private consulting, I manage a social media program offering consulting on audience engagement, social media marketing and digital strategy, plus educational webinars and troubleshooting, to members of the Institute for Nonprofit News, LION (Local Independent Online News) publishers and other startup journalists. Since 2019, I've served more than 100 news outlets across America through this role. Funded by the Center for Cooperative Media and Facebook.

My mission is transformation and my method is collaboration. I'm a masthead-level editor overseeing content presentation, production and programming on all platforms for the Detroit Free Press, Michigan's oldest and best news organization. I work with content creators and editors on major stories, projects, workflow and training, along with representing our push to engage our audience through new initiatives and events. But helping run a 115-person newsroom isn't all fun and journalism games. That means org charts, budgets and job reqs are all part of my job description, too.

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Mi

I'm charged with growing the Detroit Free Press' digital audience in metro Detroit and Michigan while increasing the quality of reader experience and interaction on Freep.com, apps, mobile sites and social media. I'll work across departments as a newsroom educator of best digital practices and strategies, while also helping tackle new initiatives with the Detroit Media Partnership and Gannett Michigan.So it's basically the best job ever.

Detroit, Mi

At Huffington Post Detroit, our 24-7 original and aggregated coverage led our market in publishing innovative content packages.I managed Huffington Post Detroit's front page, daily news coverage, social media, content partnerships, blogger outreach and stats analysis. Our team also provided national reported coverage at The Huffington Post for Detroit's bankruptcy and other Motor City stories with a worldwide audience.

Greater Detroit Area

Content creation (arts, new urbanism, entrepeneurs, Detroit) and product development (Oakland County's Prosper e-newsletter, interninmichigan.com, Insider Ohio, semichiganstartup.com) for Michigan's fastest growing media company. I write the Dev News and Buzz columns every week for Model D. www.modeldmedia.com

Along with the editor, I bring our 70,000 circulation alt-weekly from conception to print every seven days. Supervise story budget and assignments for 30 staff and freelance writers, while maintaining relationships with PR execs, label reps and venue management. Manage day-to-day website operations and RDW blog. Write 2000 words avg. per week, while helping to copy-edit the week’s issue. Directly supervise six summer interns, as well as the creation and maintenance of our events and listings database. Utilizing social media, learning digital SLR photography and leading the launch of our new website are just some of the ways in which I’ve embraced technology to bring RDW into the 21st century.

Worked with national, regional and local clients to develop social marketing (blogs, Facebook, Twitter) to increase web traffic and engagement. Built marketing initiatives and relationships for Urbane Apartments, while increasing our visibility in the Detroit community. Created and directed resident engagement and apartment marketing, not limited to tangible marketing pieces, web-based advertisements, resident events, newsletters and website copy. Along with my leasing duties, I managed four blogs and social marketing accounts for clients.

Worked with national company to help sponsor real estate auctions of high-end properties in Detroit. Along with representing buyers and sellers in downtown Detroit real estate investments, created TLW marketing brochure and secured a client for social marketing engagement. We used video, Twitter, Facebook, while creating marketing materials and signage, to expose new developments in Detroit loft living to potential Metro Detroit buyers.

· Created feature stories and event write-ups for Detroit's premiere online newsmagazine· Helped planning and production of monthly Model D Speaker Series

Duties included suite ticket allocation, relationship management and event planning for 100 suite holders and 3,000 club seat accounts. Help create client communication and marketing materials. Took over duties of the Coordinator of Premium Sales while staffer left for three months on maternity leave. Served as North Side event manager for all Detroit Lions home football games and other Ford Field events. Only college student asked to represent Ford Field in a supervisory position at Super Bowl XL

Visiting Nieman Fellowship, Journalism

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard has selected a group of nine journalists and media executives as Knight Visiting Nieman.

English, Political Science