Jed Williams is an avid hiker, a national parks wanderer, a coffee connoisseur (and coffee mug collector), a vinyl records purveyor and an entrepreneur at heart. He comes to Lookout Local after four years as the Chief Strategy Officer at the Local Media Association (LMA).
Jed led industrywide business transformation and digital growth initiatives for newspapers, radio and TV broadcasters and digital publishers for LMA. He also spearheaded the launch of Accelerate Local, LMA’s business model accelerator that fosters profitable business transformation across local media. He has worked widely with publishers and broadcasters on digital business development and advancement.
Previously, Jed was Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at Vendasta, and has also held positions as Vice President of Strategic Consulting at BIA/Kelsey and Director of Business Development at Main Street Hub. He has led strategic consulting projects for AT&T, GateHouse Media, Google, NBC, Time-Warner Cable and Yahoo!.
Jed’s insights have been cited by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bloomberg, Digiday, FOX Business, and the BBC, among others. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and corporate meetings, and has written extensively on creative destruction and disruptive media. His work has been published and taught by the Columbia Journalism School and the Yale School of Management. He teaches media entrepreneurship at UNC-Chapel Hill.
“Lookout stands for, and operates on, fundamental beliefs that we’re eager to test. Among them, that quality local news and community betterment are closely linked — that as credible coverage thrives, so too does civic engagement. Also, that a diverse business model built on relationships — both with readers and business partners — can chart a sustainable path for local news.”
