Ron Smith, executive director of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a Marquette University alumnus, has been named the 2025 IDEA Champion of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Southeastern Wisconsin.
The honor, presented as part of National Philanthropy Day, recognizes leaders whose work advances inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the philanthropic and nonprofit communities. Smith will be recognized alongside other honorees on Thursday, Nov. 20, during an event celebrating individuals whose generosity, leadership and commitment are strengthening Southeastern Wisconsin.
In nominating Smith, writers highlighted his steady leadership and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service’s mission-driven journalism, which amplifies underrepresented voices, deepens public understanding and builds bridges across Milwaukee’s diverse neighborhoods. Under his direction, NNS continues to model for equitable, community-centered reporting along with journalism that listens first, collaborates deeply and informs with integrity.
NNS, housed in the Diederich College of Communication, merged in 2024 with Wisconsin Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative news outlet. The merger is designed to coordinate fundraising and core operations to strengthen both organizations’ capacity to provide trustworthy, high-quality news, particularly for underserved urban communities of color and rural areas across Wisconsin.
NNS was founded in 2011 as part of the Zilber Family Foundation Neighborhood Initiative — a 10-year, $50 million effort to improve Milwaukee’s most challenged neighborhoods. NNS has since provided professional reporting for Black and Latino residents who have been historically ignored, underserved or misrepresented in other media.
