Applications for the 2026 Wharton Seminars are closed. 

Each year, the National Press Foundation provides funds for two journalists to attend the Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists for free. NPF has sent more than 45 journalists to the seminars in Philadelphia over a relationship spanning two decades. The award covers registration fees, hotel and travel to Philadelphia.

NPF has awarded journalism fellowships for two reporters who attended the 2026 Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists, Oct. 19-21: Cerys Davies of the Los Angeles Times and Paighten Harkins of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Davies is a business reporter covering the entertainment industry. In 2025, she joined the LA Times fellowship program, covering trials involving high-profile rappers; in the fields of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, reviewing music’s biggest breakout artists; and even at local labor union rallies, closely tracking how L.A. residents will be impacted by healthcare cuts. Harkins covers business and aims to help Utahns better understand the world, from the economic conditions that influence higher coffee and beef prices, to why the businesses they love shut down or expand around them.

Cerys Davies and Paighten Harkins attended the October 2026 Seminars.