Welcome

Thanks for visiting my site. Here's a bit about me ...

I started out as a journalist reporting for local daily newspapers in Vermont, right at the moment digital publishing was remaking how news and information move through the world. I've spent the years since figuring out how to harness that change — building revenue, growing audiences, and helping organizations find their footing in a landscape that keeps shifting.

I've spent most of my career in places where the resources were never quite enough. That turns out to be good training. You learn to be creative with what you have, to find the angle others miss, and to keep moving when the obvious path is closed.

Some things I'm proud of: I've owned and built businesses, Vermont Sports Magazine, a monthly magazine focused on human-powered sports (and grew circulation 60% before a successful exit), and Alpenglow Fitness, a boutique group fitness studio that weathered the pandemic and a flood, and is the home to the most wonderful and loyal community. I've also led at scale, as VP of Sponsorships & Market Strategy at Chalkbeat, where I grew a national earned revenue program for one of the country's leading nonprofit news organizations. Most recently, I served as CEO of VTDigger, Vermont's statewide nonprofit newsroom.

These experiences inform everything I do. When I work with an organization, I'm not bringing a framework I read about — I'm bringing the perspective of someone who has built revenue programs, editorial strategy, owned businesses, led teams, and found a way when the path wasn't obvious.

I like to move. I'd rather be solving real problems than sitting in long planning meetings, and I think the best work happens when strategy and execution stay close together. I'm a people person with a good sense of humor and a genuine belief that most problems (especially civic polarization) have a solution worth finding. I also like dogs and New Haven pizza.

If that sounds like what you're looking for, I'd like to talk. Reach out at mail@skybarsch.com.