John Thornton, Ross Ramsey and Evan Smith, left to right, attend the 2014 Texas Tribune festival in Austin on Sept. 20, 2014. Credit: The Texas Tribune So he built a team that conceived of the ...

Evan Smith is a senior advisor at Emerson Collective, working closely with journalists and funders around the country to support the local news ecosystem. He’s also a professor of practice at the LBJ ...

Image Mr. Thornton, right, outside the state capitol in Austin in 2009 with Evan Smith, the president and editor in chief of The Texas Tribune at the time. Mr. Thornton was the chairman.