Nora Hertel

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Project Optimist Founder Nora Hertel leads a training on solutions journalism for Arts Midwest's Creative Midwest Media Cohort gathering in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Photo: Mia McGill | Arts Midwest
June 11, 2024

Local journalism is hard work. Help us carry the load

Through my first decade in the field, Nora Hertel could see that local audiences did not feel well served as the media grew more polarized, nationalized and negative. So, she left in 2021 and launched her own news organization, Project Optimist.

Project Optimist founder Nora Hertel (center) talks with a Jama Alimad (right), an elder in St. Cloud's Somali community, and Sara Nimis (left), a volunteer moderator in the Shades of Purple dialogue series, during the first dialogue event May 13, 2023 at the Stearns History Museum in St. Cloud, Minn.
May 25, 2023

The highs and lows of launching multiple products in a news startup

Project Optimist launched with a single product and now works on multiple fronts.

This is me with my husband Ben Decker and our kid Jude on December 10, 2022, when we were all healthy enough to see a holiday show in St. Cloud, MN.
February 21, 2023

How being a solopreneur has forced me to reckon with my limitations

Learning to set boundaries while I launch a news organization — amid a pandemic — is as important as learning to market and fundraise.

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