National multicultural media network closes Q3 with major recognition, high-profile convenings and new partnership with New York Public Radio
NEW YORK, NY – URL Media, a national network of multicultural publishers, journalists and creators, is celebrating a major milestone after earning the No. 5 spot on Fast Company’s 2026 list of the 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators. The recognition caps a quarter marked by national convenings, new partnerships and continued investment in the people and organizations shaping the future of multicultural media.
Fast Company’s recognition followed an editorial evaluation of URL Media’s workplace culture, internal initiatives and investments in innovation, with final selections made by an expert panel of judges. URL Media Co-founders Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita joined staff at a New York City awards reception celebrating the recognition.
“This is a very challenging time for multicultural media organizations. But amidst the setbacks and targeting of our communities, we also have to celebrate the wins, embrace them and metabolize them so that we have the fuel and energy to keep fighting,” said Lomax, President of URL Media. “We will keep providing resources and support for media organizations doing amazing work every single day to serve Black and Brown communities
“We’re guided by the history of our people, our families, and a lot of resilience that comes before us. This is a really important moment and I’m grateful to be acknowledged,” said Kalita, CEO of URL Media. “It speaks volumes about the amazing team that we’ve assembled at URL Media and we hope they feel every bit of ownership of this.”
Building Community and Connection Beyond Borders
This Fast Company recognition comes as URL Media continues to create spaces for connection, collaboration and investment across media, culture, business and civic life.
This summer, URL Media hosted Black Beyond Borders on Martha’s Vineyard, an intimate dining experience bringing together leaders shaping business, culture, media and civic engagement across the African Diaspora. The evening featured a curated conversation moderated by Lomax with Priscilla Sims Brown, President and CEO of Amalgamated Bank; Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad of Princeton University; and Meryanne Loum-Martin, owner of Jnane Tamsna in Marrakech and host of the Diaspora Salon.
URL Media also partnered with The Martha’s Vineyard Times for a second event called Voices of the Vineyard, celebrating the diverse communities of color who call the island home year-round. Kirstin Garriss, URL Collective’s PR and Communications Director co-moderated the panel discussion featuring Elaine Cawley Weintraub, co-founder of the African American Heritage Trail; Nia Rhodes Jackson, a member of The Cottagers, Inc. and Julianne Vanderhoop, owner Orange Peel Bakery.
Reclaiming the Narrative in Washington
In September, URL Media brought together leaders from media, politics, business and advocacy for “Reclaiming Our Narrative: Independent Media and the Road to the Midterms,” a sold-out, standing-room-only breakfast reception and panel discussion during the 2026 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference week in Washington, DC.
With support from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and the Washington Association of Black Journalists (WABJ), Lomax moderated a conversation featuring Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood; Don Lemon, independent journalist and founder of Lemon Media Network; Errin Haines, President of the National Association of Black Journalists and editor-at-large and founding mother of The 19th; Joy Reid, host of The Joy Reid Show; Justin Pearson, Tennessee State Representative; and Lauren Williams, co-founder and CEO of Capital B. URL Media hosted the event at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) building and the panel discussion was livestreamed on C-SPAN3.
This gathering underscored the critical role of independent Black media outlets connecting communities with trusted information and shaping the conversations that matter most.
Expanding the Future of Creator-Led Media
URL Media also announced a new partnership with New York Public Radio (NYPR) focused on developing creator-driven opportunities for revenue and impact, including a live event series.
The partnership reflects URL Media’s broader focus on building new models for multicultural media — connecting publishers, journalists and creators with audiences, partners and revenue opportunities while expanding the reach and impact of community-rooted storytelling.
In September, URL Media leadership and team members also hosted two dozen publisher partners and creators in Chicago for a guided tour of the new Obama Presidential Center. Alongside the tour, the team convened a half-day strategy session centered on goals for the remainder of the year and into next year. To support peer-to-peer learning and organizational sustainability, our nonprofit, URL Collective awarded grants to attending publishers.
Together, these milestones reflect a quarter of growth and momentum for URL Media from national recognition of its workplace culture to high-impact activations that bring leaders together and partnerships designed to expand opportunity across the media ecosystem.
Q3 2026 Highlights:
- Founder Highlights: Sara Lomax has been named one of Philadelphia’s Most Influential African Americans honorees in the “Most Influential” category. S. Mitra Kalita will be awarded the 2026 SCIAA Distinguished Alumni Award from Rutgers’ School of Communication & Information Alumni Association this October.
- Network Growth: The URL Media network has grown to more than 70 partners nationwide, including these latest publishers: SEEN’T, Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs, Rewire News Group, Time Television Inc., Bangla Patrika, elTOQUE and NepYork. This expansion also includes several independent creators: Marquise Davon, content creator and host of the Keepin’ It a Bean podcast; Chelsea Cox, civic journalist and independent content creator; Hallease Narvaez, filmmaker and storyteller; Courtney White of Courthouse Couture, a lawyer who combines all things law, fashion, politics, and pop culture; Fernando Hurtado, independent journalist covering U.S. Latino culture; Nicholas Jackson of Nick the Immunologist, a PhD level immunologist who uses his online platform to discuss science; Eileen Ivette, award-winning Afro-Latina journalist and creator of Black Latin History; Jen Ruiz of Jen on a Jet Plane, award-winning travel journalist and content creator and Lauren, known online as @baewatch86, a history creator who produces educational content focused on Black history and women’s history.
- Sales & Advertising: URL Media continued to expand its work with brands and public sector partners during the third quarter, with growing demand for campaigns that combine trusted community media with local activation. Highlights included a third year of work with the New York State Office of Mental Health, the launch of a statewide storytelling campaign supporting New Jersey’s 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, new work supporting SUNY and the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, and sponsored programming on Martha’s Vineyard with McDonald’s and Amalgamated Bank. This quarter also reflected URL Media’s growing role in helping organizations reach priority communities through trusted publishers, creators, newsletters, digital media and community-based experiences.
- Editorial Content: Our editorial team launched the “We the Many” newsletter offering sharp, conversational analysis of the 2026 midterms through the lens of multiracial democracy, representation, and accountability. Leading up to the midterms, this daily newsletter will spotlight candidates and grassroots movements, examine voting rights and policy battles affecting Black and brown communities, and break down key races and barriers shaping who gets heard and represented. Contributing writers include Danielle Belton, an accomplished writer and former Editor-in-Chief of both The Root and HuffPost. Our editorial team also produced a variety of content for our audiences, including stories about GLP-1s, measles outbreaks, how being a “strong Black woman” can become a health behavior, Black women and rest, as well as interviews with R&B and Broadway star Deborah Cox and actor John David Washington.
- Viral Social Media Moments: On social media, URL Media reached 1.3 million views on Instagram this past quarter alone, gaining more than 2000 new followers. Some of our most viewed content include a photo carousel about Dolly Parton’s unlikely friendship with Lebanese Dr. Abumrad and a visual recap of our sold-out event Reclaiming Our Narrative in DC. On YouTube, URL Media’s original video explainer about the film, Your Mother Your Mother, is now the most viewed video on our page with 9,000 views and climbing.
- Media Amplification: This quarter, URL Media secured its first international media hit with an appearance on BBC News, featuring Calvin Davis of Capital B Gary about the ongoing power outages affecting tens of thousands of residents in the area. URL Media partners have also been featured on MS NOW, Apple News, NewsNation, The Don Lemon Show and Roland Martin Unfiltered over the last few months.
- Talent & Workforce Development: Recently, our Recruitment and Workforce Division launched Uplift Your Career, a new digital video series from our career newsletter, UR Hired. These videos focus on career advancement for job candidates and recruitment and placement support for hiring managers.
- National Panel Highlights: Throughout the summer, URL Media team members and partner organizations shared their insights on journalism panels across the country. URL Media’s Director of Partnerships, Garry Pierre-Pierre, appeared on several panels and delivered the awards dinner keynote, “Refusing to Look Away: Local Journalism When Communities Need It Most” during this summer’s Colorado Press Association conference. Leonor Ayala Polley, URL Media’s Chief of Recruitment and Workforce Development, was also a mainstage speaker at the Colorado Press Association conference and participated on a panel at NABJ entitled From Layoffs to Career Pivots: Navigating Today’s Media Workforce. At the NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Convention, Sonali Kohli, URL’s Director of Recruitment and Workforce Development, moderated two well-attended discussions: One about AI in hiring and another featuring URL Media partners sharing insights from Black and Brown media. URL Media also co-sponsored a networking mixer alongside the San Francisco Chronicle and the Trans Journalists Association during NLGJA. Additionally, URL Media partners WURD Radio, The Haitian Times, and Scalawag participated in a panel about community driven reporting in the Deep South at the annual NABJ convention.
Developments from URL Collective:
- URL Collective successfully launched its first individual-giving campaign during Give 8/28 and Black Philanthropy Month, surpassing its $5,000 fundraising goal and welcoming 48 first-time individual donors to the Collective’s community of supporters. The campaign represents an important step toward diversifying URL Collective’s revenue and building a sustainable individual-giving program.
- This past quarter, URL Collective distributed $50,000 in rapid-response grants to independent publishers and journalists. These grants addressed urgent organizational needs following unexpected funding losses and supported timely community-centered journalism, including investigative reporting on protected lands in Puerto Rico, coverage of devastating flooding in Nepal, and Spanish-language immigration reporting.
- With support from the Heinz Endowments, URL Collective hosted the first of two convenings with Pennsylvania publishers and creators around election readiness and collaboration, creating space for newsrooms to identify opportunities to work together and strengthen coverage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. This virtual event also included an intimate conversation with three philanthropic funders about the current funding landscape and opportunities to better resource independent and community-centered journalism.
Look for URL Media this fall:
URL Media at SOMOS in Puerto Rico from November 4 – 7
- URL Media Co-founder and CEO S. Mitra Kalita will moderate a panel about the housing crisis during the conference
- URL Media’s Cafecito Activation: An intimate interview series and dinner connecting Latino policymakers, business leaders, media and cultural influencers
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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.
