WASHINGTON -- NAHJ staff member Kevin Olivas has been named the association's Parity Project director and will oversee the organization's bold new initiative to dramatically increase the presence and influence of Latino journalists in our nation's newsrooms.

The goal of the Parity Project is to double the percentage of Latinos working in our nation's print and broadcast newsrooms during the next five years. NAHJ has so far launched the project at seven newspapers, including at Rocky Mountain News and five other Scripps newspapers as well as the North County Times, a Lee newspaper.

As NAHJ's educational programs manager since September of 2002, Olivas has been responsible for overseeing the organization's scholarship fund and educational programs as well as encouraging Latino students to pursue careers in the journalism field.

Before working at NAHJ, Olivas was the career development manager for the California Chicano News Media Association (CCNMA) where he helped professional and student journalists of color find newsroom jobs and internships.

Olivas began his journalism career in 1990 as an on-air reporter at KVEN News/Talk Radio in Ventura, Calif. He also worked as an on-air reporter for KSDO News/Talk Radio in San Diego and KFWB News Radio in Los Angeles before joining CCNMA in 1999.

"Kevin brings his experience in the newsroom, his love for students, his skills in mentoring, and his experience with NAHJ to the table," said NAHJ Executive Director Iván Román. "We're sure he will not only be an effective advocate for more Latino representation in newsrooms, but he will also find more ways to bring schools, universities, communities and media organizations together to attract more Latinos into the profession and to help bring about more accurate news coverage. Bringing these pieces together is what this project is all about."

NAHJ announced the creation of the Parity Project in October of 2002. The Scripps newspaper chain was NAHJ's first partner on the project. So far, the project has yielded dramatic results at the Rocky Mountain News and the Ventura County Star, the first two Scripps papers that NAHJ has worked with.

Minority newsroom employment has increased by 36 percent since the project was launched at the Rocky Mountain News last April and has increased 46 percent since it was kicked off at the Ventura County Star last June.

NAHJ continues to seek news organizations to partner with on the project in cities where Latinos are underrepresented in newsrooms but where they make up a significant portion of the population. In those cities, NAHJ will offer to work jointly with existing print and broadcast outlets, area journalism schools, foundations and Latino community leaders to develop comprehensive model programs that will increase Latino newsroom presence and influence.

NAHJ's Parity Project has received funding from both the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as well as NAHJ's Campaign for Parity donors. The NAHJ board has set a goal of raising $3.6 million over the next five years to expand rapidly the Parity Project to dozens of target cities.

Founded in 1984, NAHJ's mission is to increase the percentage of Latinos working in our nation's newsrooms and to improve news coverage of the country's Latino community.