Nora Hertel

Nora Hertel is the founder of The Optimist, a solution-focused, digital news startup serving small cities and rural communities in Minnesota. Through The Optimist, Nora provides training to student and community journalists. She coordinates The Optimist's environment, business and social issues coverage and a community dialogue series. Before becoming a news entrepreneur, Nora worked as an investigative reporter for the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota, the Wausau Daily Herald in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, the AP and several others. Since 2021, she's been awarded fellowships by the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, the Initiative Foundation in central Minnesota and the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative.