Who we are

David Bornstein is a journalist and author who focuses on social innovation. He co-authors the "Fixes" column in The New York Times "Opinionator" section. His books include How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank, and Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know.

Courtney E. Martin is an author, blogger, and speaker living in Oakland. She is also the author of five books, including Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists, and Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: How the Quest for Perfection is Harming Young Women. She is Editor Emeritus at Feministing.com, and her work has recently appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, and MORE Magazine, among other national publications. Courtney has appeared on the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and The O’Reilly Factor, and speaks widely. She is the recipient of the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics and a residency from the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre. She is also a facilitator for The Op-Ed Project and a strategist for the TED Prize.

Tina Rosenberg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author. She co-authors the Fixes column in The New York Times “Opinionator” section. Her books include Children of Cain: Violence and the Violent in Latin America and The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s Ghosts After Communism, which won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. She has written for dozens of magazines, including The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Foreign Policy and The Atlantic. She is the author, most recently, of Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World.

Julia Power Burns was a founding employee of SJN -- joining the organization at its inception in early 2013 as Chief Financial Officer. In January of 2018, she also became General Manager. Just before joining the SJN team, she was the Business Director at Lincoln Center Institute, the education arm of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Previously, she had been Director, Global Strategy at Wolters Kluwer, leading work on corporate innovation. Prior to that position she was the Group Finance Director for Domestic Print and Global Electronic Publishing respectively at Dow Jones. While there, she managed the finance function for operating divisions with approximately $750 million in annual spending. These included products such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, the Ottaway Community Newspaper Group, and Dow Jones Newswires among others. Julia holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, and graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  

Delaney joins SJN from Prudential Financial's Office of Corporate Social Responsibility where she held coordination and support roles in the Spirit of Community Awards program and the Prudential Foundation. She graduated with a degree in English and American Literature from New York University's College of Arts and Sciences. 

Email me about any general information or requests for the Newsroom Practice Change program and team

Sara is a journalist, author and educator. She teaches journalism at the University of Southern California, serves on the program committee for the JSK Journalism Fellowship, where she was a fellow, and supports the Online News Association Women's Leadership Accelerator as a mentor and advisor. Her journalism experience includes digital leader and newsroom manager, grounded in years of reporting and writing at a wide range of news outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Mother Jones, the LA Weekly and NBC. She is the author of a forthcoming memoir about growing up in Bronzeville on Chicago's South Side. 

Email me about teaching solutions journalism in a J-School setting, and for more information about our J-School partners.

Catherine Cheney is the West Coast correspondent for Devex, the media platform for the global development community. Previously, she helped to launch NationSwell. Catherine has reported for POLITICO and World Politics Review, with freelance work supported by institutions like the International Center for Journalists appearing in publications including The Washington Post. Catherine graduated from Yale University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science and distinction as a Yale Journalism Scholar. Through her work with Devex, her support of a Newseum program for young journalists, and her involvement with SJN, she hopes to help shape the future of the field.

Email me if you're in the Bay Area and interested in a training or partnership or if you'd like to to join or start one of our West Coast communities.

Jefferson comes to SJN from the Bowery Residents’ Committee, a large non-profit in the Human Services sector where he was responsible for General Ledger Maintenance in relation to Government grants. He graduated from CUNY Queens College with a Bachelor’s in Accounting. Hobbies include watching a good baseball game, or catching a good movie at the cinema.

Michael Davis has held an array of top leadership and creative positions at digital news sites, magazines, newspapers and broadcasting outlets. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University during the 1986-87 academic year. Later he wrote the New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street” and is a co-executive producer of the feature-length documentary film adapted from the book. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s in journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where he later taught as an adjunct professor. He describes himself as a storyteller who helps others become better storytellers.

Nina was first involved professionally in humanitarian work as a trainer and manager in France and abroad. Her research in the field on engagement and altruism led her to work as an editor, writing articles. From 2011 to 2015, she worked in Russia as the chief web editor of a French newspaper. She’s now based in France and is the author of the book Nomade des mers, les escales de l'innovation, a world tour of low-tech solutions to basic needs. She is also supporting the famous French explorer and scientist Jean Malaurie in his projects with Inuits in Russia. She believes the "investigative path" that solutions journalism has taken in the US is the right one, and that's why she is representing the Solutions Journalism Network in Europe since October 2016, training journalists across countries and giving newsroom workshops.

Email me if you're a journalist/editor based in Europe who wants to get more info on our trainings, events, and possible collaborations.

Liza Gross is a journalist and media leader with over three decades of experience working in executive positions at news organizations and non profits. She has specialized in the transition of traditional news outlets to multimedia platforms, as well as in the exploration of new and transformational models for media organizations, including collaborative arrangements and innovative techniques of audience engagement. She was Managing Editor of The Miami Herald, Executive Editor of El Nuevo Día in Puerto Rico, and Publisher of Exito!, the Spanish language publication of the Chicago Tribune. As Executive Director and past board member of the International Women’s Media Foundation, she worked to support female journalists operating in conflict zones and to create professional opportunities for women in the media industry. She is a past board member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and has conducted seminars and trainings for journalists in the United States, Latin America and Europe.

Email me about newsroom partnerships, collaboratives, revenue and organizational models, and funding for solutions journalism projects in the U.S. and globally.

Sarah Gustavus came to the Solutions Journalism Network after more than a decade in public radio and television. She’s passionate about collaborative journalism and has led projects that included print, radio and online partners. Before joining SJN, she was a senior multimedia producer at New Mexico PBS and produced stories for the State of Change and Small Towns, Big Change collaborative projects that used solutions reporting to examine resilience in rural communities. Sarah also has extensive experience covering Indigenous issues and was previously the executive producer of national programs at Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, a Native American-owned company. In 2017, as a national fellow with the Center for Reporting on Health, she worked with National Native News to produce the multimedia series “Reconnecting With A Healthy Lifestyle.” Sarah lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Keith Hammonds comes to SJN from Ashoka, where he started and led the News & Knowledge Initiative, advancing the work of hundreds of social entrepreneurs in media around the world. He also has been Executive Editor at Fast Company Magazine; a bureau chief and editor for BusinessWeek in Boston and New York; a writer for The New York Times in London and Johannesburg; a consultant to New Nation in Johannesburg; director of an emergency food distribution program in Namibia; and coach of the Firebolts, a fearsome girls soccer team. In his spare time, Keith owns and publishes The Boulder Monitor, the leading newspaper in Jefferson County, Montana.

Julia Hotz comes to SJN from the University of Cambridge, where she received her Masters in Sociology and founded LokPal -- a local community workshop initiative to increase offline social activity. While teaching literature and history as a Fulbright Fellow in Greece, she published essays and chapters on Epicurean wellbeing, the future of work, and loneliness. She's also freelanced for YES! Magazine, HuffPost UK, Times Union, and others, and has worked as a junior reporter for IPS News. 

Email me about joining our mentorship program, applying for our freelance travel fund, and learning more about our online and offline communities. 

Maurisse Johnson has held a number of finance & financial systems roles and comes to us from NYCHA where he managed the capital planning and environmental review process. Over the years Maurisse has worked with a few companies in different capacities including Burson Marsteller where he was the Director of Financial Planning & Reporting, Parsons Brinckerhoff where he was the Manager of Reporting & Systems and J.Crew where he was the Director of Financial Systems. Maurisse is a husband, father and a big NY Jets fan. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Concordia University.

Samantha McCann has worked with SJN since 2013. As Vice President of Journalist Practice Change, she directs SJN's online presence and public events, and supports the growth of solutions journalism efforts around the world. Previously, she worked in environmental and fiscal policy research at Seattle University. She has published in The Journal of International Affairs, Scholastic, The Guardian, PRI, & others, and authored the text of an award-winning photography book, Columbia University in Pictures. She holds a M.P.A. from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. in political science from Seattle University.

Email me about becoming an SJN coordinator, if you represent a journalist organization/network, if you would like an SJN session or speaker at a conference, or if you are a journalist abroad looking for support in launching your solutions journalism project.

Casey Marie Mollón comes to SJN with a background in journalism (specializing in multimedia news) and psychology, and is a published photojournalist in Dollars & Sense Magazine. She joined SJN as an intern, working closely with the Finance and Administration team, before becoming a full-time staff member as the Grants and Development Associate in January 2017. Casey has worked closely with an environmental non-profit organization, educating and empowering young children to proactively help preserve our environment. Casey graduated from Baruch College, where she was an active member of the National Society of Leadership and Success.

Taylor cares about better connecting you with solutions stories about responses to problems that you care about and/or your community is currently facing. Since 2015, she has spearheaded the design, development, and expansion of SolutionsU.org. She leads our Knowledge Dissemination program, which includes the Solutions Story Tracker and SolutionsU. She's a design thinking and StrengthsFinder enthusiast, who loves a good flow chart (and cup of coffee). Currently calls New York City home, but will always been a Virginian at heart.

Katherine Noble-Goodman is a writer, educator and social entrepreneur. She has reported on philanthropy, education, religion, and the environment; taught environmental studies and green business; and collaborated with nonprofits on clean cook stove and biochar projects. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she is the founder of a social-benefit enterprise that brings evidence-based, “no-sweat” yoga and meditation to the workplace. She earned her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley and master’s degrees at Duke University and the University of Redlands.

Email me about creating assignments using stories about what’s working or hosting a SolutionsU webinar.

Sonja Petrovic comes to SJN from Imagine Better, a non-profit specializing in using storytelling and ritual in activism. While at Imagine Better, she worked on campaigns as lighthearted as a Star Wars-themed Teacher Appreciation holiday to ones as serious as Heroes Wear Vests, which sought to bring recognition to exploited port drivers in LA and Long Beach. She holds a master's in English from Brooklyn College. In her spare time, she can be found writing, baking, and making mixtapes, like it’s still the nineties.

Carolyn is a video journalist, media development program director and educator. She began her career with CNN’s medical news unit in Atlanta before relocating to Asia and the Middle East, first as a senior news producer in Hong Kong, and then in East Timor, where she ran the local TV station for the United Nations. She was the Internews Program Director in post-revolution Libya, overseeing journalism training projects in Tripoli and Benghazi. She has received a Jefferson Fellowship, a Freedom Forum Fellowship and four Knight International Journalism Fellowships, and has trained journalists in almost two dozen countries around the world. 

Email me about newsroom partnerships in the Midwest, solutions journalism in East Africa, and anything to do with broadcast solutions journalism.

Alice Quinn come to SJN from a community-based energy efficiency non-profit and has a background in film production. She organized national grassroots screenings of the Emmy-winning / Oscar-Nominated documentary film GASLAND, and went on to assist the producer and director on the production of GASLAND II. From there, Alice has worked on social issue documentaries and fiction projects alike and is passionate about story-telling, social justice, sustainability, and environmental conservation. She holds a BA in Social Thought and Political Economy from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Linda Shaw comes to the Solutions Journalism Network from The Seattle Times, where she oversaw Education Lab, a partnership with SJN that rigorously examines promising approaches to education’s toughest problems. She has worked as a reporter as well as an editor, mostly at The Seattle Times and mostly covering public schools. In 2008, she was named beat reporter of the year for large newspapers by the Education Writers Association and in 2011-12, she was a Spencer Education fellow at Columbia University. In 2016, she helped create a multimedia project on race called “Under Our Skin.” She holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and a master’s in journalism from Northwestern.

Mikhael Simmonds is a freelance multimedia journalist who specializes in international reporting. He is also the co-founder of Harlem Focus, a multimedia blog/media lab used as a learning tool at the City College of New York, where he taught reporting classes. Over the years, Simmonds has worked with a number of news and non-for-profit organizations including Democracy Now!, GritTV, Seeds of Africa, the YMCA International, and the UN Department of Public Information and NGO Relations. He has also worked closely with the New York Amsterdam News, a 106-year-old Harlem-based African American Newspaper.

Email me about newsroom partnerships in the North East and solutions journalism visual storytelling. 

Susan Smith Richardson has nearly three decades of experience as a reporter, editor and opinion writer. Her work has focused on inequality, with an emphasis on blending narrative and data-driven journalism. She has worked for nonprofit and news organizations, including the MacArthur Foundation and the Chicago Tribune, and most recently was the Editor and Publisher of The Chicago Reporter, which investigates race, poverty and income inequality. In 2002, she received a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and holds a M.P.A. from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and B.S. in Radio, TV and Film from the University of Texas at Austin.

Kerrin spent her early adult years splitting her time between school and the performing arts: dancing professionally both in Madison Square Garden as a NY Knicks City Dancer and as an ensemble member on Broadway, while also completing her bachelor’s degree in gender studies and English language arts at CUNY Hunter College. Since transitioning to a full-time career in social change, Kerrin has also worked with LBL Foundation for Children, researching policy analysis for international NGOs. She is a wife and mother of twin girls, and also studying to complete a M.S. degree in Urban Sustainability at CUNY City College. She is a recipient of the Dorothy Epstein Leadership Award, and a member SAG/AFTRA and the Actor’s Equity Association.

Email me about our organizational metrics and analytics, how we use Salesforce, or anything related to IT systems.

Lita Tirak leads SJN's Story Fellowship program, oversees the Story Tracker database, and the curation of stories. In 2016, she received her Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. While at the College, she taught university-level seminars in visual culture, served as Research Assistant for Swem Library, and was the Assistant Director of the Global Film Festival. Previously, she worked at George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY, where she performed research roles in the Departments of Photograph Conservation, Education, and Development. Lita is a researcher, writer, curator, and creative problem-solver, interested in sharing the bright ideas found in SJN’s stories.

Email me with your questions about the Story Fellowship, our Story Tracker database, or story submission criteria.

Leah Todd is the New England regional manager for the Solutions Journalism Network, building relationships with newsrooms in the New England states. From 2015 to 2018, Leah led SJN’s work in the Intermountain West, including launching and overseeing collaborative journalism projects between dozens of news organizations in Montana and New Mexico. Previously, she covered K-12 education at The Seattle Times, and local government at the Casper (Wyo.) Star Tribune. She has investigated and written about turmoil in Washington state’s new charter school sector; efforts to improve disproportionately high absentee rates among Native American students in Wyoming; Colorado’s attempts to divert mental health patients from overcrowded Emergency Rooms; and how residents in rural communities across the West find and use local news.

Email me about solutions journalism trainings and newsroom partnerships in the New England states.

Elizabeth comes to SJN with a dual background in social science research, as well as print and digital media. She has previously worked at Yale University Press, the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Ashoka, and documentary film company Momentofilm. She holds an M.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University. 

Email me about case studies, curriculum, the impact of solutions journalism and SJN's work, and questions about our website (including bug alerts).

Lisa Urlbauer holds a Bachelor's degree in European Studies from the University of Bremen, Germany. She is currently obtaining a joint Master's degree from Aarhus University and the University of Amsterdam in Politics and Media Studies. She previously worked for a local newspaper. Lisa supports SJN in its community building and European outreach, particularly in Germany. 

Email me about solutions journalism trainings, events, and possible collaborations in Europe, especially Germany.

Robrenisha is spearheading the development of our SolutionsU student community and student resources. She is informing our strategy around how we engage with college students, including piloting a student ambassadors program. Robrenisha is a rising senior at Barnard College studying Political Economics and Women & Leadership Studies.

Email me if you are a student who wants to get more involved or share how you using SolutionsU with other students.