CJC 2025 Local News Impact Summit

Held in May each year, the CJC Local News Impact Summit brings together housing advocates, nonprofit organizations, city and county leaders, neighborhood associations, churches, local residents and journalists for a day of collaboration.

Chris Rudisill, CJC
June 2, 2025

On Thursday, May 22, 2025, the CJC hosted its fourth annual Local News Impact Summit at WFAE’s Center for Civic & Community Engagement in Uptown Charlotte.

Held in May each year, the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative’s Local News Impact Summit creates an opportunity to go beyond the story.

Together, we explored bold ideas, shared powerful stories, and deepened our understanding of how local journalism and community engagement can move Charlotte forward—especially around the issue of affordable housing.

We’re grateful to all of our speakers, sponsors, partners, and participants who made this day meaningful. Here’s what a few people said about the event:

"Thank you for your work building collaborations in Charlotte that serve our neighbors, connect newsrooms, and build the ecosystem!"

North Carolina Local News Lab Fund via LinkedIn

Home of Press Forward Charlotte and Press Forward North Carolina

"Thank you for elevating these important stories!"

Silent Images via Facebook

Welcome to the 2025 CJC Local News Impact Summit

Ely Portillo | Executive Editor, WFAE 90.7 FM

Watch below.

"Brilliant introduction by Ely Portillo who explained succinctly the connection of housing to health, racial poverty, and other critical community issues."

Ted Fillette

Longtime housing advocate and retired attorney

Live Interview: A Charlotte Affordable Housing Journey

For several months, former WCNC reporter Julia Kauffman followed Samantha Leacock’s journey to find permanent housing in Charlotte. From living at Heal Charlotte to enrolling in the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) home purchase program, Leacock, who is a mother of three, is hopeful she will be able to buy a home in the next year. Now hear more of her story in this special conversation.

Panelists:

Julia Kauffman, Reporter

Samantha Leacock, Charlotte Resident

"Big love to Julia Kauffman for not just reporting the story, but for walking the journey with Samantha. That's real journalism. That's relationship over ratings."

Greg Jackson via LinkedIn

Co-Founder at Heal Charlotte

Local News Community Impact Award

This year’s Summit also included the inaugural presentation of the Local News Community Impact Award, which celebrates the storytellers, advocates and partners who shape Charlotte’s local news community.

Local News Community Impact Award 2025 recipient – Amy Lehtonen, WCNC Charlotte

Amy Lehtonen, community initiatives and sales integration director at WCNC Charlotte, has centered the community in everything she does. As a founding partner of the CJC, she helped launch “I Can’t Afford to Live Here” by initiating a public affairs special of the same name, which aired on September 14, 2019. Some 70 community members gathered for a sneak preview at the station with a panel of CJC journalists, our very first event as a collaborative. At events moving forward, Lehtonen always stepped up to ensure that WCNC Charlotte was there to capture the stories of Charlotte residents.

A Welcoming City? Immigration Policies and Housing in Charlotte

La Noticia’s Diego Barahona will lead a panel of industry experts and housing leaders to uncover the impacts of new immigration policies and enforcement on Charlotte’s affordable housing.

Moderated by: Diego Barahona, Editor, La Noticia

Panelists:

Jessica Moreno, Action NC

Carlos Calzadilla, SunSouth Carolinas

Victor Loor, Latino Community Credit Union

Translation provided by David Nettles, Clear Voice Translations

Documentary screening of "Our Home: Uniting Charlotte for Affordable Housing"

Echoes: Affordable Housing in Charlotte the Past Five Years and Looking Forward

The pandemic reshaped the housing landscape across the country, deepening existing challenges and creating new ones. In this last panel of the day, we explored what those changes mean for Charlotte today — and how proposed State Senate Bills and other innovative solutions can expand housing access and opportunity. From policy to practice, this forward-looking conversation explores what can be done to address the housing crisis in Charlotte and North Carolina.

Moderated by: Stella Mackler, Davidson University student and CJC Intern

Panelists:

Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield, City of Charlotte

Tiffany Fant, Sol Nation

Shannon Green, Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region