ESPN NEXT Leadership

Josh Gronowski designs, facilitates, and scales development experiences, including leading the ESPN NEXT Accelerator, a selective leadership development program for top-performing employees. His work focuses on building highly individualized growth experiences that strengthen leadership capability, business acumen, and long-term readiness across the organization. He also shapes strategic opportunities that expand how NEXT participants contribute across ESPN and prepares emerging talent for long-term success within The Walt Disney Company.

Beyond ESPN NEXT, Josh serves on ESPN’s Emerging Leaders Board, where he creates and facilitates leadership development sessions designed to strengthen leadership capability through highly interactive peer learning and curated discussion. His work centers on creating environments where employees learn from one another, deepen leadership perspective, and grow through shared experiences, while partnering across departments to support broader talent development priorities.

Josh began his time with the Walt Disney Company at ABC Chicago, working in daytime television before transitioning into sports content creation at ESPN, where he held roles including Production Assistant, Content Associate, and Associate Producer on SportsCenter and Get Up. During his time in content, Josh received two Emmy Awards for his work on SportsCenter. Despite being born and raised in Chicago, he is an avid Ohio sports fan at heart. A former collegiate tennis player, he enjoys staying active through golf, tennis, basketball, and marathon running.