Carol Nunnelley, founding executive director of the Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism, died Dec. 3 after a long illness.

Her more than 50-year career as a journalist led to many important initiatives, both locally and nationally.

Nunnelley began her career as a reporter at The Birmingham News in 1966, when women were still something of an oddity in newsrooms. Read more.

The Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism has announced the retirement of Carol Nunnelley, founding executive director of the organization. Nunnelley joined Jerry Lanning and Mark Kelly to found AIIJ in 2014 and became its first executive director in 2015.

Nunnelley led AIIJ through the creation of its publishing arm, BirminghamWatch, and fostered steady growth in reporting and readership. Key projects included nonpartisan voter guides for local elections and a series on the Legacy of Race. Read more.