Independence Public Media Foundation is now the People’s Media Fund
PHILADELPHIA, November 6, 2025—The Independence Public Media Foundation is proud to reintroduce itself as the People’s Media Fund (PMF) to its grantees, funding partners, and the Greater Philadelphia communities the fund supports.
The fund worked with Message Agency, a local digital agency, to develop its new brand and name change. The name "People’s Media Fund" captures the organization’s goal of being a foundation for the people. A practice reflected in the ways the fund aims to democratize philanthropy and media through community-led grantmaking and by supporting community-owned and -led media and media-making that fuel movements.
"The People's Media Fund affirms our commitment to transparency and fostering spaces of belonging, collaboration, and imagination as we all work toward a liberatory future," said PMF President Molly de Aguiar. "Our new name holds us accountable to our responsibility to share power with communities whose stories have too often been overlooked or suppressed, and whose calls for justice and equity demand to be heard."
The new logo is a symbol of people power and representation. It features two tin calling cans, an old-school way of communicating that signals the hyperlocal, DIY, neighbor-to-neighbor, accessible form of media that People’s Media Fund grantees create.
"This rebrand was shaped by community voices. We invited the people closest to our work—our grantees, partners, and community members—to guide the process because this identity belongs to them as much as it does to the organization," said PMF Board Chair Jamila Medley. "Our new name and brand are not just a reflection of our mission; it’s a commitment to stay accountable to the communities who helped define it."
The organization transitioned from using foundation to fund in its name after receiving feedback from grantees, community partners, and board members who preferred a name that better reflects collective power and shared investment.
These conversations also informed the development of PMF’s new, vibrant color palette—one that embodies the organization’s core value of joy. The palette reflects the radical presence of joy during adversity. It also celebrates the creative resistance of grantees as they challenge structures that restrict the full expression of identity, culture, and lived experience within their communities.
Key elements of the People’s Media Fund rebrand include:
- New name.
- New logo (left) and brand colors.
- New tagline: “Building Power Through Storytelling in the Greater Philadelphia Region”
- A website update to reflect the new visual identity and brand.
- An updated grants database.
- New visual identity that will be applied to social media, newsletter, etc.
- New Instagram page, in addition to our current LinkedIn and BlueSky profiles.
For more information, contact Enni Aigbomian, enni@peoplesmediafund.org
About People’s Media Fund
Formerly known as WYBE Channel 35, the People's Media Fund (PMF) was founded in 2018 when WYBE sold its broadcast license as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadcast Incentive Auction and received a one-time payment of $131.5 million. With these funds, PMF supports Black-led, Indigenous-led, and people-of-color led media organizations and media making projects that help communities build their narrative power for equity and justice.
