When it comes to connecing local news to the community, Wilmington University alumna Avie Silver has been on the cutting edge.
In 2004, she was on the opening staff at Spark, a free weekly publication for younger readers. She later joined the launch team for the Delaware Business Times, which Today Media started in 2014 to provide local business coverage. Today, she’s with Spotlight Delaware, a nonprofit newsroom that provides free, independent reporting to address gaps in news coverage across the state.
Silver is not a reporter. She helps generate revenue through advertising, sponsorships, and strategic partnerships. “My favorite part is the relationship,” says Silver, who dislikes the word “sales.” “People became my friends.”
Her current position as director of strategic partnerships draws on more than two decades of experience in publishing, sales, and nonprofit fundraising. An MBA from Wilmington University helped her see how those experiences fit together and how to apply them strategically.
The Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, native has a knack for being at the right place at the right time. She majored in Communication at the University of Pittsburgh, where she became involved in the city’s underground music scene. “I lived through the musical subculture of the ’90s and early aughts,” she says. “Journalism was never on my mind.”
After graduation, Silver spent a year with AmeriCorps. She remained in Pittsburgh for two years before returning to the Philadelphia area. While exploring marketing careers, she interviewed with the newspaper preparing to launch Spark, a publication for younger readers with the feel of an alternative city paper. Having read similar publications in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Silver was excited about the project and became one of Spark’s first employees.
Before Spark launched, Silver spent three months learning how its parent newspaper operated. She trained with the advertising department, accompanied drivers on distribution routes and visited the press room.
“They really immersed me in what a newspaper was,” she says.
Silver didn’t need a primer on Spark’s target audience. As a Trolley Square (Wilmington) resident, she was surrounded by a post-college age group.
Once Spark was up and running, she met the people behind Delaware’s restaurants, clubs, and small businesses. She earned clients’ trust by telling them when an advertising purchase wasn’t a good fit and when it could meet their goals. The job also helped her become part of the local community.
After nine years at Spark, she moved into pharmaceutical sales. Although the job had a larger paycheck, there were fewer opportunities to build the relationships she valued. The position ended in layoffs within a year, and Silver briefly worked as a contract carpet salesperson while searching for another role. She found it at the American Heart Association.
As part of the Philadelphia Heart Walk team, Silver worked with businesses and medical institutions to recruit participants and raise money. The American Heart Association later asked Silver to return to Delaware and oversee three Heart Walks, one in each county. A job at Mobius New Media expanded her knowledge of website technology and digital marketing. She then joined the staff at Delaware Business Times, which once again put her on a startup staff.
Silver stepped away from paid employment to raise her children. The pause gave her time to reconsider what she wanted from the next stage of life. “After having kids, you wonder, ‘Where’s your career?’” she says. “I needed a confidence boost. I really needed to level up a little bit, at least for myself.”
Silver enrolled in WilmU’s online MBA program. The format allowed her to pursue the degree while managing her children’s schedules. During the pandemic, her kids attended school through Zoom, which made the flexibility even more important.
She particularly enjoyed her capstone project. She and three classmates competed against other teams to effectively manage a simulated shoe company. They determined prices and marketing budgets and considered expansion opportunities.
The group met regularly on Zoom to study the results and adjust their strategy. “By week three, you really start to understand it,” she says. “You see it all work together.”
While completing the MBA and raising her children, Silver followed the Local Journalism Initiative, which started Spotlight Delaware. Concerned about declining local coverage and the number of people relying on social media for news, she participated in focus groups. In September 2025, she joined the organization part-time. She moved into her full-time position in January 2026.
Spotlight receives support from grants, donations, and members. Silver’s role is to diversify the revenue. “At some point in time, there’s going to be a funding cliff, which is what all nonprofits have to think about,” she says. “My job is to help balance that and enable us to be continuously sustainable.”
Rather than present every prospective partner with the same sales pitch, Silver considers what the organization is trying to accomplish. An event sponsorship may make sense for one business, while another might benefit from a clearly labeled sponsored story.
The approach reflects Silver’s relationship-based style and the strategic thinking she strengthened at WilmU. A partnership must meet the advertiser’s needs, generate revenue for Spotlight, and support the newsroom’s long-term stability, she says.
It must also preserve the boundary between news and sales that Silver learned to respect at Spark. “You don’t want me to tell the writers what to write,” she says. “And you don’t want them to write favorably about you because you’ve paid for it, because then you lose the value of what it is.”
The boundary is not an obstacle to Silver’s work — it’s central to her role and Spotlight’s credibility.
—Pam George
Want to read more in-depth stories? Explore our latest magazine articles.
When it comes to connecing local news to the community, Wilmington University alumna Avie Silver has been on the cutting edge.
In 2004, she was on the opening staff at Spark, a free weekly publication for younger readers. She later joined the launch team for the Delaware Business Times, which Today Media started in 2014 to provide local business coverage. Today, she’s with Spotlight Delaware, a nonprofit newsroom that provides free, independent reporting to address gaps in news coverage across the state.
Silver is not a reporter. She helps generate revenue through advertising, sponsorships, and strategic partnerships. “My favorite part is the relationship,” says Silver, who dislikes the word “sales.” “People became my friends.”
Her current position as director of strategic partnerships draws on more than two decades of experience in publishing, sales, and nonprofit fundraising. An MBA from Wilmington University helped her see how those experiences fit together and how to apply them strategically.
The Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, native has a knack for being at the right place at the right time. She majored in Communication at the University of Pittsburgh, where she became involved in the city’s underground music scene. “I lived through the musical subculture of the ’90s and early aughts,” she says. “Journalism was never on my mind.”
After graduation, Silver spent a year with AmeriCorps. She remained in Pittsburgh for two years before returning to the Philadelphia area. While exploring marketing careers, she interviewed with the newspaper preparing to launch Spark, a publication for younger readers with the feel of an alternative city paper. Having read similar publications in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Silver was excited about the project and became one of Spark’s first employees.
Before Spark launched, Silver spent three months learning how its parent newspaper operated. She trained with the advertising department, accompanied drivers on distribution routes and visited the press room.
“They really immersed me in what a newspaper was,” she says.
Silver didn’t need a primer on Spark’s target audience. As a Trolley Square (Wilmington) resident, she was surrounded by a post-college age group.
Once Spark was up and running, she met the people behind Delaware’s restaurants, clubs, and small businesses. She earned clients’ trust by telling them when an advertising purchase wasn’t a good fit and when it could meet their goals. The job also helped her become part of the local community.
After nine years at Spark, she moved into pharmaceutical sales. Although the job had a larger paycheck, there were fewer opportunities to build the relationships she valued. The position ended in layoffs within a year, and Silver briefly worked as a contract carpet salesperson while searching for another role. She found it at the American Heart Association.
As part of the Philadelphia Heart Walk team, Silver worked with businesses and medical institutions to recruit participants and raise money. The American Heart Association later asked Silver to return to Delaware and oversee three Heart Walks, one in each county. A job at Mobius New Media expanded her knowledge of website technology and digital marketing. She then joined the staff at Delaware Business Times, which once again put her on a startup staff.
Silver stepped away from paid employment to raise her children. The pause gave her time to reconsider what she wanted from the next stage of life. “After having kids, you wonder, ‘Where’s your career?’” she says. “I needed a confidence boost. I really needed to level up a little bit, at least for myself.”
Silver enrolled in WilmU’s online MBA program. The format allowed her to pursue the degree while managing her children’s schedules. During the pandemic, her kids attended school through Zoom, which made the flexibility even more important.
She particularly enjoyed her capstone project. She and three classmates competed against other teams to effectively manage a simulated shoe company. They determined prices and marketing budgets and considered expansion opportunities.
The group met regularly on Zoom to study the results and adjust their strategy. “By week three, you really start to understand it,” she says. “You see it all work together.”
While completing the MBA and raising her children, Silver followed the Local Journalism Initiative, which started Spotlight Delaware. Concerned about declining local coverage and the number of people relying on social media for news, she participated in focus groups. In September 2025, she joined the organization part-time. She moved into her full-time position in January 2026.
Spotlight receives support from grants, donations, and members. Silver’s role is to diversify the revenue. “At some point in time, there’s going to be a funding cliff, which is what all nonprofits have to think about,” she says. “My job is to help balance that and enable us to be continuously sustainable.”
Rather than present every prospective partner with the same sales pitch, Silver considers what the organization is trying to accomplish. An event sponsorship may make sense for one business, while another might benefit from a clearly labeled sponsored story.
The approach reflects Silver’s relationship-based style and the strategic thinking she strengthened at WilmU. A partnership must meet the advertiser’s needs, generate revenue for Spotlight, and support the newsroom’s long-term stability, she says.
It must also preserve the boundary between news and sales that Silver learned to respect at Spark. “You don’t want me to tell the writers what to write,” she says. “And you don’t want them to write favorably about you because you’ve paid for it, because then you lose the value of what it is.”
The boundary is not an obstacle to Silver’s work — it’s central to her role and Spotlight’s credibility.
—Pam George
Want to read more in-depth stories? Explore our latest magazine articles.
