community + partnerships

select projects bridging the gaps and connecting for change.

FOIA Fest

I served as a board member (VP of FOIA) and lead organizer and fundraising lead for FOIA Fest 2023, one of the Midwest’s largest public records and investigative journalism training events hosted by the Chicago Headline Club. I secured nearly $18,000 in new funding (MacArthur Foundation) and coordinated the first return to an in-person/hybrid convening since the height of the pandemic, bringing together more than 200 journalists, media professionals, students, and community experts for training and collaboration around public records and investigative reporting. The program contributed to the Chicago Headline Club receiving a 2023 Society of Professional Journalists Circle of Excellence Award.

(Photos by Ronnie Boykin)

healing illinois: segregation and migrant crisis reporting project

While working at Public Narrative, I coordinated a collaborative reporting initiative under the 2024 Healing Illinois project, supported by the Field Foundation of Illinois. The initiative convened five Chicago newsrooms—Chicago Defender, Chicago News Weekly, Borderless Magazine, the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, and South Side Weekly—to produce reporting exploring segregation and the city’s migrant crisis. I guided collaboration across participating outlets and coordinated project implementation. The work resulted in more than a dozen stories published across participating newsrooms, along with community conversations connected to the reporting.

(Photos by Tafari Melisizwe for Public Narrative)

“state of the public narrative” youth summit

I developed and produced the 2024 State of the Public Narrative: Charting the Youth Voice youth summit. The convening brought together young people, journalists, and community leaders to explore how youth perspectives shape media coverage and civic dialogue. I led the program and branding design, coordinated partnerships with YR Media and participant invitations, managed the budget, and oversaw event production and facilitation, ensuring the summit centered on youth experiences and created meaningful opportunities for dialogue and reflection.

(Photos by Sulyiman Stokes for Public Narrative)

“the circuit” stories campaign

The Circuit, a collaborative effort on understanding the Cook County court system between Injustice Watch, Better Government Association and the civic tech company DataMade, provided many opportunities to work with the court data colleagues obtained from the circuit court. But that data isn’t what makes the stories reported whole — people are. I ideated a postcard campaign to reach out to marginalized communities our newsrooms were not particularly fully connected with to seek their stories for follow-through from our reporters. We distributed 3,500 postcards to Chicago’s West Side. I also led and co-managed a Facebook group connecting project partners and journalists with everyday Chicagoans and other experts connected to the criminal justice system.

Designed the postcard and project managed with my engagement counterpart at Injustice Watch to facilitate collaborative constructive feedback meetings with community organizations and community members for vital feedback
Delegated tasks to my engagement fellow that provided additional assistance in keeping the team on track with our postcard campaign timeline
Led engagement process in coordinating direct mail and printing needs for a timely and cost-effective postcard distribution
Led social marketing and engagement, providing social copy, graphics, and guidance for our marketing team
Created opportunities of communication accessibility for engaged community members to share their stories with us, i.e. QR code for quick mobile connect and SMS/Voice hotline through a relationship with Groundsource

the main homepage layout of the bga's "what the gov?" site.

reimagining “what the gov?”

Originally, What the Gov? was a play on the phrase “What the fuck?”, a common (and to some, vulgar) expression of curiosity seeking clarity or insight. It’s an effort to hear directly from readers who have questions about their local and state governments. The previous engagement editor, Mia Sato, used Hearken and its submission-collector tool to receive questions and track down answers, publishing a series of in-depth research-based answers on election and government issues. In its reimagined state, What the Gov? answered questions and provided original civic reporting and resources based on the Chicago, Illinois, and national news cycle, primarily focused on political and governmental trends, conversations, and lawmakers’ policies.

This project included working with the web & graphics editor Cesar Calderon in building a “refreshed” homepage layout for the once RSS feed format; creating a brand guide for the marketing team and organization’s knowledge base; updating and creating opportunities for original civic journalism and resources for new and existing audiences; among others.

(Graphic: Cesar Calderon)

“failures before the fires” engagement

The Failures Before the Fires, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning joint investigation between the Chicago Tribune (Cecilia Reyes) and the Better Government Association (Madison Hopkins), revealed scores of fire deaths in buildings that Chicago’s City Hall had long known were fire traps. I led the engagement initiatives in partnership with our Tribune counterparts.

To accompany the multi-part investigation, I worked with award-winning photographer and director Alex Garcia to produce a two-minute video previewing the grave and delicate investigation with the goal to provide a humane and empathetic tone that avoids the common media problem of “trauma porn.” This video is a 2021 Peter Lisagor Award finalist.
I connected with numerous local and national organizations to coordinate a fires safety “cheat sheet” digitally accessible and printed for distribution. Additionally, provided digital and physical distribution of the stories of the investigation to community organizations, like the Metropolitan Tenants Organization and Bright Star Community Outreach.
Eric Patton Smith is a South Side Chicago resident, housing safety advocate, and most importantly, a parent who lost his daughter in one of the many preventable fires in a building the city knew had fire hazards. Following the investigation, Mayor Lori Lightfoot decided to rework an ordinance — the very one Mr. Smith helped create and named after his late daughter Eri’ana and the stepchildren he lost in the fire. Lightfoot changed its name to the ‘Scofflaw List,’ unbeknownst to Smith, and revised the criteria of a ‘bad landlord’s criteria. With no comments from the mayor, I asked Mr. Smith if he would like to provide his own. He offered a moving op-ed which I had the honor of editing and producing with our partners.

“surviving the pandemic: black-owned businesses and the paycheck protection program”

Not seeing substantial narratives of how the Black-owned businesses were faring with the Paycheck Protection Program in their communities, I partnered with Austin Weekly News, which covers the West Side neighborhoods of Austin, North Lawndale and Garfield Park; Village Free Press, which covers nine of Chicago’s west suburbs; and CatchLight, a nonprofit news organization focused on visual journalism, to report on the experiences of Black business owners’ experiences in Chicago’s West suburbs.