Jonathon Kealing

Jonathan Kealing is the Executive Director of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), the grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative journalism worldwide. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he leads IRE’s work to train, support, and connect the journalists holding power accountable in communities across the globe.

Kealing brings more than fifteen years of nonprofit journalism leadership to the role. Most recently, he served in senior leadership at the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), where he helped grow the organization’s membership and secured millions of dollars in support for journalism initiatives — including investigative projects examining rural healthcare, paid newsroom internships, and website and audience development programs. He cultivated partnerships with major technology companies and national funders to advance the organization’s mission and extend the reach of nonprofit news.

Before INN, Kealing spent seven years at Public Radio International, where he rose to Executive Editor of PRI.org. There he significantly expanded the site’s audience and editorial ambition, overseeing story editors, social strategy, and key content partnerships, while securing grant funding to support major journalism initiatives.

He began his career as a reporter and editor at a multimedia news outlet in Kansas, an experience that gave him a practitioner’s understanding of the challenges and demands facing the journalists IRE serves every day.

Kealing holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Kansas. He is a past president of the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists.