Michael Maness joined Knight Foundation in 2011. He leads Knight’s Journalism and Media Innovation program. Previously, he was Gannett’s vice president of innovation and design. During his tenure, he led the creation of an innovation process based on human-centered design and launched multiple new brands. He also served as vice president of strategic planning for Gannett's newspaper division, launched several local news sites across the company and developed the industry’s first daily video newscast on the Web done without a television partner. In addition, Maness was named to the Newspaper Association of America's list of "20 under 40" and was a co-winner in 2007 of the Chairman's Special Achievement Award at Gannett. Before joining Gannett, Maness was an analyst and media consultant, a campaign manager and a marketing account executive. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.
