Biography
Sisi Wei is the Co-Executive Director at OpenNews, where she envisions and executes transformative initiatives for journalism, especially for journalists of color and local journalists. As part of her work, Sisi founded the DEI Coalition For Anti-Racist, Equitable, And Just Newsrooms in 2020, and led more than 100 members of the journalism community in co-creating and launching the DEI Coalition Slack space in March 2021. The Slack is dedicated to sharing knowledge and taking concrete action in service of a more anti-racist, equitable, and just journalism industry.
Previously, she was the Assistant Managing Editor at ProPublica, during which she edited and managed news apps, graphics, visual investigations, and large, interdisciplinary projects — including co-editing a project that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2020.
In 2021, Sisi won the Gwen Ifill Award, which honors a remarkable woman journalist of color whose work embodies Ifill’s legacy of supporting and elevating women of color in news media. In 2019, Sisi and her fellow Journalists of Color Slack administrators also won the ONA Community Award, which recognizes a person or small teams in online journalism that has made outsize contributions to creating tools or work environments that allow digital journalists to do their best work.
She serves on the board of News Revenue Hub, and is the co-founder of Code with me, a nonprofit that teaches journalists how to code. In her role as a journalist/developer/designer, Sisi has also won numerous Malofiej, SND Digital, and ONA awards, the Gannett Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism, and the 2016 Data Journalism Award for Best Individual Portfolio. She has previously worked at the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press.
Articles, Publications, and Appearances
Writings & In the News on DEI
- DEI Coalition Guides
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Newsroom Execs and Managers: Ways to Uphold Your Diversity and Inclusivity Values During COVID-19 (OpenNews, April 2020)
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A Blind Application Process Might Be Easier Than You Think (OpenNews, November 2017)
Writings & In the News on Newsgames
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The Waiting Game (ProPublica, April 2018)
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From Nieman Reports: How news outlets are harnessing the power of video games for journalism (Nieman Lab, January 2016)
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Creating Games for Journalism (ProPublica, July 2013)