Matt Mansfield

Matt co-founded MG in 2002 with Scott Goldman. As CEO, he leads major projects and works hands-on with clients and internal teams. He has held senior leadership roles in content, design, multimedia, and product for more than two decades.

Here’s some background: Matt led award-winning teams at the San Jose Mercury News, National Geographic, and CQ Roll Call. From 2008 to 2013, he served as a professor and co-director of the Washington Program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where he helped shape the careers of many outstanding journalists. He also co-edited Truth Counts: A Practical Guide for News Consumers (CQ, 2018) with his Medill colleague Ellen Shearer.

Matt is a frequent speaker at design, product and strategy events, and he serves on the leadership team of M. Harris & Co., a longtime collaborator of MG Strategy + Design. He has helped M. Harris in building a growing design practice and is excited to partner on Provable, our science communication division.

Recent work includes leading MG’s engagement with The Onion on its digital, print, and membership reinvention in 2024 — a project that continues today in collaboration with the amazing team at The Onion as we build more cool things. The MG team is so honored to be part of this rich satiric history.

Matt also led the creative development of the annual U.S. Energy & Employment Report in partnership with NASEO, the EFI Foundation, and BW Research, reviving it after it was discontinued under the first Trump administration; MG continues to support the report at the U.S. Department of Energy. Other highlights include multimedia work addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy for the American Academy of Pediatrics, finding a new home for Stateline, and major initiatives for clients such as NPR, Stanford University, NORC at the University of Chicago, RMI, the Mission Possible Partnership, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Poetry Foundation, the National Governors Association, and many others.

Matt’s teams have received hundreds of honors, including the Pulitzer Prize, Best of the West, the National Magazine Awards, and World’s Best-Designed™ designation. In recognition of his contributions to the field, he received the Society for News Design’s Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring him as a design pioneer, a dedicated volunteer, and a mentor to a generation of creative professionals.

Matt is also a distinguished fellow with the Climate Equity Foundation — and someone who still gets excited about a good headline, a great design solution, or a well-structured story.