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Meet the change leaders: Hugo Balta

Hugo Balta
David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsAug 09, 2024
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
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Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Hugo Balta is a 30-year multimedia journalism veteran with multiple market and platform experience that includes leadership positions at NBC, Telemundo, ABC, CBS and PB. He is a two-time president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Balta, who lives in Chicago with his family, is the publisher of the Latino News Network. LNN’s mission is to provide greater visibility and voice to the Hispanic-Latino community, amplify the work of others in doing the same, mentor and provide young journalists with real world experiences, and apply the principles of solutions journalism in producing stories focused on the social determinants of health and democracy.

“As other news outlets are forced to retreat, we are meeting the challenge and advancing,” explained Balta. “It’s a presidential election year, the migrant crisis at the border is spilling over cities across the country, Covid is still gripping the community, poverty, unequal access to health care, lack of education, stigma, and racism-coverage addressing the social determinants of health and democracy has never been more important for Latinos.”

Balta, who recently joined The Fulcrum as director of solutions journalism and DEI initiatives, is also an adjunct professor in the journalism department at Columbia College Chicago.

He previously worked at the Chicago Reporter as executive editor, WBBM News Radio as editor and WTTW Chicago as news director.

Balta is the only person to serve twice as president of NAHJ. He was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 2016. A graduate of Seton Hall University, Balta has completed executive leadership programs at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He is also an accredited Solutions Journalism Network trainer.

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Balta in late July for the CityBiz “Meet the Change Leaders” series. Watch to learn the full extent of his democracy reform work:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com


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The Kayla Test: Exploring How AI Impacts Everyday Americans

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Here’s what I mean: The Hunger Games starts with the reaping, the moment when a Capitol official selects two children, one boy and one girl, to fight to the death against tributes from every other district. The games were created as an annual reminder of a failed rebellion, to remind the districts that dissent has consequences. At first, many Capitol residents saw the games as a just punishment. But sentiments shifted as the spectacle grew—when citizens could bet on winners, when a death march transformed into a beauty pageant, when murder became a pathway to celebrity.

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Who’s Responsible When AI Causes Harm?: Unpacking the Federal AI Liability Framework Debate
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Who’s Responsible When AI Causes Harm?: Unpacking the Federal AI Liability Framework Debate

This nonpartisan policy brief, written by an ACE fellow, is republished by The Fulcrum as part of our partnership with the Alliance for Civic Engagement and our NextGen initiative — elevating student voices, strengthening civic education, and helping readers better understand democracy and public policy.

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  • In March 2026, the White House and Congress introduced major proposals to establish a federal standard, but there is significant disagreement about whether that standard should prioritize protecting innovation or protecting people harmed by AI systems.

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