Emily Dresslar serves as a Principal Consultant with BlueLena Advisory, where she helps independent news organizations develop sustainable business models, diversify revenue, and translate ambitious growth strategies into practical programs and operations.
In this role, Emily works with publishers on earned revenue strategy, business innovation, sponsorships, events, and organizational growth. Drawing on extensive experience coaching news organizations across the country, she helps publishers identify new revenue opportunities, test and refine business models, and build the internal capabilities needed to sustain them.
Emily previously served as Director of RevLab at The Texas Tribune, an industry training and innovation program that worked with more than 350 newsrooms. Under RevLab, participating publishers generated more than $1.5 million in new revenue while developing and testing strategies designed to strengthen the long-term sustainability of local journalism.
Before joining RevLab, Emily led business operations for The Compass Experiment at McClatchy, a Google News Initiative-supported initiative created to launch and develop sustainable local news businesses in underserved communities. She previously managed strategic partnerships for Calkins Digital, giving her experience across both established media organizations and emerging approaches to local news.
Emily is also a Specialist-in-Residence with Project C and has developed and taught revenue strategy curriculum for organizations including the American Journalism Project, CUNY and the University of Texas at Austin. Her work combines hands-on operating experience with a deep understanding of the challenges publishers face in turning new ideas into sustainable sources of revenue.
Through BlueLena Advisory, Emily brings that experience to publishers seeking to strengthen their business strategies, develop new earned-revenue programs, and create diversified revenue models that provide a stronger financial foundation for independent journalism.