About me
Lisa Renze is the managing editor of partnerships and projects at Free Press Indiana, a nonprofit news organization based in Indianapolis. In her role she works with journalists and new outlets around the state on projects that provide essential information to Hoosiers.
Prior to joining the FPI team, she worked for 10 years at Ball State University, overseeing the Unified Media Lab’s student journalism teams that produced two magazines, a newspaper and a nightly television newscast.
She has spent the bulk of her career as a journalist at The Indianapolis Star, covering educational legislative issues that impacted the state’s fastest-growing school districts. She also worked at The South Bend Tribune and other newspapers and specialty magazines throughout the Midwest. Her work has taken her on location throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, and she’s earned SPJ, APME, AP, and Hoosier State Press awards. Additionally, she received an Indiana Judges Association Merit Citation for Journalism for fair and balanced reporting.
In 2024 she was nominated for two regional Emmy Awards, for her work as writer and director for a documentary about immigrants in the Midwest.
She holds her MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Butler University, and is a proud alumna of Northwest Missouri State University where she studied broadcasting and journalism.
She is the president of the Indiana Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and a member of the planning committee for the ACP.
In her spare time, Lisa spends as much time as possible outdoors, and shamelessly spoils her adopted rescue dog.
