NEW YORK, NY – (APRIL 2026) – URL Media is proud to announce a major achievement: certification as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) by the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. (NMSDC). This nationally recognized credential is a powerful validation of our core mission, as a company that is 100% owned, operated, and controlled by minorities. This designation was secured only after a rigorous, standards-based review process by the NMSDC, making it an exclusive recognition for eligible minority-owned, for-profit businesses. The MBE certification is a catalyst for URL Media, significantly enhancing our ability to access new revenue partnerships, corporate supplier diversity budgets, and government contracting opportunities. This strategically positions the company for accelerated and sustainable growth.
URL Media, founded in January 2021 by Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita, achieved major wins across all divisions by the end of the first quarter of 2026. This success also extended to our nonprofit arm, URL Collective which launched in 2024 and focuses on strengthening community media and independent journalism through education, advocacy, and innovation, ensuring publishers have the tools and resources to thrive. Recently, our nonprofit brought on Kirstin Garriss as its new PR & Communications Director.
Q1 2026 Highlights:
- Network Expansion: URL Media is making significant strides in its expansion, now boasting a network of 50 trusted independent publisher partners. Furthermore, our partnerships team has established a robust pipeline for evaluating potential content creators and respected community voices. This continuous growth positions the company to meet its ambitious target of growing the network to 100 publishers and 250 influencers and content creators by 2028.
- Intentional Team Growth: Our organization has added several strategic positions. Garry Pierre-Pierre is our new Director of Partnerships and he’ll be working closely with Michaella Mannix, our new Partner Success Manager to continue building our network. On the sales side, Alexis Rogers joined as Director of Client Services and Michelle Pearson and Jonathan Bates joined as Sales Account Executives. These hires expand URL Media’s direct revenue-generating capacity, particularly in national brand sales and partner monetization.
- Strategic Media Amplification: Through targeted media pitches, URL Media placed more than a dozen publisher partners for nearly 40 media hits, driving increased visibility for partner outlets and strengthening their ability to attract advertisers, sponsors, and audience-driven revenue. This includes live interviews on talk radio, local news segments, national streaming shows, a prominent newspaper feature and a national news hit on NewsNation. Additionally, the network hosted an engaging and informative virtual discussion highlighting four different partner outlets and their work covering immigration. This is the beginning of a new virtual event program series.
- Support for our Publisher Partners: URL Media helped 15 partners attend the annual Knight Media Forum, an invite-only convening of leaders shaping local journalism, research, academia and the arts. Our team also conducted custom training for partners such as our Designing Winning Advertising Strategies & Unlocking Local Business Revenue and Opportunities, featuring the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. This session directly equipped our publishers to increase local ad sales and diversify their revenue beyond grants and programmatic income.
- Sales and advertising: URL Media has launched a pilot program focused on URL Media Partner sales enablement This initiative is designed to boost local revenue generation by directly supporting our partners’ local sales teams with enhanced tools and on-the-ground collaboration within their communities.
- Talent & Workforce Development: URL’s Recruitment & Workforce Development division had a record-breaking quarter, successfully completing or assisting with 10 searches and renewing a job outplacement program in partnership with The 19th News. The scope of these searches was broad, ranging from reporter and freelancer roles up to C-suite and nonprofit CEO positions. Key contracts included conducting multiple searches for Oregon Public Broadcasting, as well as the search for the CEO of Nonprofit Quarterly.
Developments from URL Collective:
- Dynamic Training Opportunities: With support from the Joyce Foundation, URL Collective hosted the Amplify Local: News–Creator Partnership Workshop in Chicago with over 50 attendees. This two-day, invite only workshop helped foster collaboration and connections between journalists and independent content creators in the Midwest region to further expand the reach of community-driven storytelling. Kahlil Greene, the Gen-Z historian with over 1M followers across platforms, was the keynote speaker
- Sustainability Funding: URL Collective established its Sustainability Fund, which provides rapid-response support, professional development stipends, and essential resources to independent news outlets navigating urgent, time-sensitive needs. During the first quarter, it deployed $40,000 in grant funding to support high-impact reporting and professional development initiatives, including investigative and emergency reporting projects, podcast production, fellowships, and participation in journalism conferences, helping ensure continuity of coverage during critical moments.
- Collaborative Reporting Projects: In addition to rapid response funding through the Sustainability Fund, URL Collective is supporting a collaborative reporting initiative with three independent newsrooms to cover the Underground Railroad Consortium of NY’s three-day Harriet Tubman tour this fall. This initiative is anticipated to result in multiple feature stories, utilizing video, audio, and photography, with a projected combined social reach exceeding 500,000 impressions across the participating outlets’ audiences.
Building on our strong infrastructure and revenue strategy, both URL Media and URL Collective are poised for a new phase of growth, designed to scale our impact in the coming quarter and beyond. This spring, our leadership teams met in Los Angeles to align on a robust pipeline of initiatives. These projects include expanding sustainable revenue streams, deploying new ad technology for our publisher partners, and deepening engagement with the diverse content creators who are actively reshaping the media landscape.
With support from the newly established URL Collective Advancement Fund, which supports growth focused opportunities and professional development, URL Media and National Press Club Journalism Institute will host News Reimagined on Monday, May 4 in Washington, DC. The one-day event will bring together journalists, creators, and newsroom leaders for an experience focused on sustainable growth, building trust, and expanding audiences. Mainstage speakers for this event include Bianca Graulau, independent journalist from Puerto Rico and former CNN Anchor now independent journalist, Nick Valencia.
About URL Media:
URL Media is transforming the media landscape by building a scalable, sustainable ecosystem that empowers trusted publishers and creators serving Black and Brown communities, strengthens their capacity, and directs investment and opportunity to these voices central to shaping our culture and democracy. Founded in 2021 by media trailblazers Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita, URL Media delivers authentic reach and lasting impact for brands, institutions, and audiences ready to engage meaningfully with these communities. For more information, visit url-media.com.
Media Contact:
Kirstin Garriss, kirstin@url-media.com
