I’m Amy and I have a project that’s made the finals in one of the most prestigious journalism awards in the U.S. I need your help to get to the finals.

Out of 220 applicants from across the country, The E’ville Good — our bilingual community journalism project serving northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota — has been named one of six finalists for the 2026 Next Challenge, competing for up to $75,000-$50,000 for the category prize and an additional $25,000 for the grand prize winner.

Six. Out of 220. From Estherville, Iowa.

The Next Challenge is one of the most prestigious journalism innovation competitions in the country. What we’ve been quietly building here — bilingual stories designed with our community, serving neighbors who speak English and Spanish — is exactly what judges say the future of local news looks like.

As a finalist, I receive a $3,000 stipend to develop my pitch materials and travel to San Francisco on May 28th to make my case. I’m asking our community to match half of that — just $1,500 — to show judges that Estherville, Worthington, Jackson, and our whole region believes in this work.

Every dollar is proof that The E’ville Good belongs to all of us.

If we win, this funding allows The E’ville Good to hire a bilingual community correspondent, expand our translation network, launch journalism workshops in local ESL programs, and build the kind of sustainable bilingual journalism that serves our changing community for years to come.

No amount is too small. Fifty people giving $30 gets us there.

Thank you for being part of this story. You always have been.

— Amy H. Peterson, Founder

The E’ville Good

theevillegood.beehiiv.com