Having moved back the US to be closer to her family, Mary-Katharine Phillips has joined the News Leaders Association.

In her new role as senior manager for marketing and development, she will be based at the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

During a career with international newspaper technology provider Twipe, Phillips (pictured) worked as a media innovation analyst and team leader for business development, developing a community of thousands of media innovators across the globe. She brings extensive experience in researching the future of journalism, with a particular focus on reader habit formation, product thinking, audience engagement, and organisational transformation.

At Twipe, her position has been taken by Dana Nastase.

NLA has just launched a new award for News Leader of the Year, to recognise a news leader who went "above and beyond" to support their team in 2020.

"Our membership at NLA is particularly interested in supporting emerging news leaders, increasing diversity in news organisations, and fostering truth-seeking journalism," she told GXpress.

Deadline for the NLA Awards has been extended to February 19, with all news websites, news services - including radio, TV stations and magazines - and newspapers eligible to enter. Categories include one for coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new News Leader of the Year Award for 2021. For contest rules and more details, please see the contest website.

An awards ceremony later this year will honour winners of both the 2020 and 2021 competition.

The NLA was formed by the merger of the American Society of News Editors and Associated Press Media Editors.