Vox Welcomes Its First Executive Director of Talent and Development, Phoebe Gavin

In early January, VP Allison Rockey welcomed Phoebe Gavin to Vox in a brand-new role for the company, one that sits within the editorial team at Vox. The role of executive director of talent and development is a response to the challenges Vox and many newsrooms have faced over the last few years.

“Vox’s audience comes to us for ideas and solutions on how to make the world more just and fair, and it is important that we extend that commitment to our staff as well, working every day to find new solutions to help our journalists find fulfillment and success at work,” said Rockey. “Our goal is ambitious: We want to continue to evolve how we work together to create the best newsroom culture in the industry, and I couldn’t be more confident in Phoebe’s ability to help us get there.”

With experience in newsrooms leading the audience teams at Quartz and ThinkProgress and in her own career and leadership coaching business, Gavin understands the challenges journalists face, from burnout to online harassment and systemic discrimination, and she has a great track record of coaching managers on how to build a high-achieving, inclusive environment. She is also gifted at helping journalists find career clarity through reconnecting with their values, setting courageous goals, and creating sustainable plans.

The executive director of talent and development will be Vox’s accountable leader for making it one of the best newsrooms in the industry at diversity, equity, inclusion, career development, and hiring, but she won’t be doing this work alone. Gavin will be partnering closely with Vox Media’s core services teams in addition to Vox leadership.

“For a long time, Vox Media’s unique and open culture has attracted people from across the industry to work here, and we’re excited for Phoebe to collaborate with company leaders to keep improving it,” said Tom Giratikanon, Vox Media’s deputy publisher.

“The labor market is undergoing a permanent cultural shift. Workers are focused on finding employers that value them as people, not just as engines for profit and growth,” said Gavin. “Vox’s human-centric approach to talent gives it a massive competitive advantage in this new reality. I’m excited to support Vox as it further develops its forward-thinking approach to employee experience.”

If you are interested in learning more about open positions at Vox, please check out our careers page.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via