Hello, Streets.mn community,
I’m so excited to introduce myself as the new managing editor here at Streets.mn. Writing, editing and community journalism education have been at the heart of my work for many years. I feel deeply honored to be able to step into this role, because I believe that conversations about transportation and land use are at the center of whatever justice and equity conversations we have.
We know that historically, decisions about land use have been shaped by systems of oppression — like redlining, environmental racism and forced displacement — that still impact our communities today. We also know that equitable land use reporting means centering community voices, repairing past harms, and designing policies that ensure equitable access to land, resources and decision-making power.
I became connected to Streets.mn after guest lecturing for a class at Minneapolis College. A Streets.mn board member was in that class, and I got to learn more about the work this organization does. When Streets.mn began seeking a contractor to conduct a racial equity impact analysis (REIA) — an oft-used tool in policy and educational spaces that is more rarely used in newsrooms, much to my disgruntlement — I completed a proposal and was awarded the contract. Through that work I got to know the organization quite well, and I was excited to bring my own research around REIAs in the newsroom to the Twin Cities. I was also lucky enough to keynote at a February 2023 contributors’ workshop held in North Minneapolis — the first time I had ever done so.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking through how I want to approach my work at Streets.mn. I’m grateful for this organization — in part because it inspired me to learn how to ride a bike last year.
Building on Shared Values
Streets.mn names four core values as part of what guides the organization: people-centered, future-oriented, justice-driven and delight-cultivating. I love each one of these values, because they ask us to reimagine the world, and to center the people and communities that make it up, no matter how big or small they are. These values push us to think about solutions, to imagine new worlds, and to find joy in our own communities now.
A few things about me:
I am a trained community organizer, a community-trained journalist, and a community journalism educator and activist. I’ve worked on campaigns related to food justice, media justice, education equity and more, and outside of my work at Streets.mn, I teach and do research.
Professionally, I serve as department director for Critical Social Justice and Solidarity (undergraduate) and Organizing and Community Justice (graduate) at Prescott College. I teach classes on grant writing, community organizing how-to, strategic media, research advocacy, community journalism, digital storytelling and strategic communication. I also direct our campus Fanon Center (a community-based student and movement center). In October 2025, I’ll be beta-launching two microcredentials at the college focused on community journalism education, as we work to ensure that the power and tools of community journalism are accessible to any who need them.
My teaching and research live at the intersection of social movements, community journalism and sustainability. Much of my work has centered on helping people and communities tell their own stories, bridging scholarship and activism with the belief that the tools of community journalism must be in the hands of those most impacted by injustice.
Outside of Prescott College and Streets.mn, I’ve been a longtime freelance and staff journalist.
- I most recently sat on the board of Alley Communications and worked as executive director for The UpTake.
- I worked with North News as a staff reporter from August 2017 to June 2019.
- I’ve been a freelance journalist for the Minnesota Women’s Press and served as the guest editor for their “Transforming Justice” issue in February 2021.
- I’ve had pieces published in Colorlines, Prism Reports, Minneapolis Schools Voices, Feet in 2 Worlds, Streets.mn, Open Source, The Nation and Palestine in America, among others.
- I volunteered for the Twin Cities Daily Planet and Twin Cities Media Alliance back in the day, both as a community engagement coordinator and as a community journalist-in-training.
Out of all the pieces I’ve published, one of the articles I am most proud of is in Streets.mn. This work was published through Street.mn’s old “Crosswalks” initiative, and I was so grateful for the chance to answer longtime questions I had about the Twin Cities in the years following the 2020 uprising.
Looking Forward
One goal I have for these next few months is to go back to the completed racial equity report and develop editorial goals for my work and this organization: How can I bring in more contributors of color and more reporting related to issues of relevance to marginalized communities?
As managing editor, my role is not only to support strong writing and thorough reporting, but also to nurture dialogue. I see Streets.mn as a space where lived experiences of transit, housing, climate and community intersect with research, policy and imagination. My hope is to help widen the circle of contributors and readers, making sure that our collective storytelling reflects the many perspectives and voices shaping life across Minnesota.
Through these past few weeks of getting to know Streets.mn contributors, I’ve been blown away by this community’s commitment to imagining new worlds — both in how we get around each day and what our relationship as humans can be with the rest of the world. I have loved getting to learn from so many of you this month. I was recently asked at my college what my favorite thing about my teaching work is, and I said that it’s “learning from all my students.” That feels true for Streets.mn contributors as well.
If you’re a longtime contributor, I’m looking forward to supporting your writing and amplifying your work. If you’re new and wondering if I want to hear from you, my answer is yes — your perspective matters, and we want to hear what you have to say.
Thanks for welcoming me into this community. I can’t wait to get to know you all better.