About Us
The News Literate Community Initiative is a collaborative effort spanning local organizations, educators, civic leaders, and engaged residents who recognize the urgent need for stronger news literacy skills. In an era of information overload, rapid online sharing, and intentionally misleading content, our community deserves reliable strategies to navigate the news landscape with confidence.
Through public events, hands-on workshops, a growing Ambassador Program, and partnerships across Washoe County, we equip adults with the knowledge they need to evaluate sources, verify claims, and understand how quality journalism functions. Our approach is practical, nonpartisan, and rooted in the belief that well-informed communities are healthier, stronger, and more resilient.
Our Mission & Vision
Our mission is to fight truth decay by bringing a wide variety of resources that will help the community tell fact from fiction and be more savvy consumers of all kinds of news.
Our vision is to give adults practical tips, tools, and techniques to recognize fact from fiction in news of all kinds. By helping people identify what is true, we hope to build a shared set of facts, encourage meaningful dialogue on important issues, and strengthen both our community and our democracy. We help fight truth decay.
Click on the buttons below for NLCI in the news!
Our Goals
Empower Adults with Practical Skills
We equip community members with the tools, tips, and techniques they need to confidently distinguish fact from fiction across all forms of news and media.
Promote Informed, Meaningful Dialogue
Our programs encourage thoughtful, respectful conversations about important issues—grounded in evidence rather than misinformation or assumptions.
Build a Shared Foundation of Facts
By strengthening news literacy skills, we help residents identify reliable information, creating a common set of facts that supports understanding and reduces division.
Strengthen Community and Democracy
By improving news literacy, we help fight truth decay, build a more resilient community, and support the democratic processes that depend on an informed public.
Commitment to Nonpartisanship
The News Literate Community Initiative is firmly committed to a nonpartisan approach. Our work focuses on strengthening critical thinking, promoting credible information, and empowering individuals to evaluate news on its merits—not its political implications.
We do not endorse candidates, parties, or policies. Instead, we provide tools and techniques that help community members navigate information responsibly, regardless of their political beliefs. By maintaining strict neutrality, we ensure that everyone feels welcome, respected, and supported in the shared pursuit of truth.
Our Team
Our team of dedicated professionals brings decades of combined experience in journalism, education, community engagement, and nonprofit leadership. Together, we leverage our diverse backgrounds to deliver high-quality programs, strengthen community partnerships, and advance our mission to build a more news-literate and informed community.
Jody Ruggiero Baden, Program Coordinator
Former Washoe County School District Trustee; long time advocate for responsible media use and founder of Tune In To Kids, a nonprofit whose mission was to encourage families to “live a real life, not a virtual life”, with an annual outdoor event drawing 12,000 in Reno, NV. This was long before anyone thought of needing jails for cell phones at the dinner table.
I am convinced that the only way we can have meaningful dialogue is through a common set of facts. When people have more tools to distinguish fact from fiction, there is hope for solving the myriad of problems our country faces.
Steve Mulvenon
Former Communications Director, Washoe County School District. Former Board Member, Tune In To Kids, Communications Audit Consultant with the National School Public Relations Association.
As a communications professional for my entire career, I strongly believe that only with a common set of facts can we engage in productive conversations about public policy. The public’s growing lack trust in the media, the rise of AI and an over-reliance on social media makes the mission of NLCI crucial to the success of our democracy.
Mike Graf
Former campaign manager for Greg Kidd for Congress (NV), and seasoned public diplomacy professional with the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Currently a national sales manager for Caesars Entertainment.
Christine Hull
Washoe County School District (Nevada) Trustee and Executive Director of the Nevada Center For Civic Engagement. Former social studies teacher
Rachel Tillotson
Education Programs Professional at the Nevada Department of Education (NDE), focusing on Secondary English Language Arts (ELA) and K-12 World Languages, supporting curriculum, instruction, and advocating for global competency, social justice, and innovative teaching practices like AI in classrooms, as a former teacher and advocate for language revitalization in Nevada. Named Nevada World Language Teacher of the Year in 2017.
Rachel Ferreiro
Rachel supports statewide efforts at the Nevada Department of Education to strengthen STEM instruction, elementary science, and student-centered learning across Nevada. She serves on the Future of Learning Network Steering Committee and champions project- and problem-based learning alongside personalized, competency-based approaches in schools statewide.
Contact Us: info@nlcwashoe.org
The News Literate Community Initiative is happy to provide this list of resources, which we hope will help you distinguish fact from fiction and help us fight “truth decay.”
News Literacy Project — Resources for the Community and Educators
The News Literate Community Initiative is proud to use resources developed by the News Literacy Project (NLP), a nationally recognized leader in news literacy education. Through this collaboration, we bring NLP’s proven resources, expert guidance, and evidence-based materials to our local community.
The NLP resources strengthen our ability to provide high-quality, nonpartisan tools and training, ensuring that our programs reflect the best practices in news literacy education and strengthen our efforts to fight truth decay.
Contact Us: info@nlcwashoe.org
News Literate Community Initiative is fiscally sponsored by AHA Projects, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
All donations to the News Literate Community Initiative are considered tax-deductible.
For questions or to contact AHA Projects, please email info@aha-projects.org.