Sylvia A. Harvey (SAH), independent journalist

Harvey, widely known as SAH, is an award-winning journalist, speaker, and author of “The Shadow System: Mass Incarceration and the American Family.” Her work on race, class, policy, and incarceration has appeared in The Nation, Elle, Politico, Vox, The Marshall Project, The Root, and more. NPR, WBAI, Embodied WUNC, Cheddar News, and others have featured her commentary on the criminal legal system. SAH's research and reporting explore how culture, politics, history, policy, and economics impact society. She examines how key social institutions—the criminal legal system, the child welfare system, and the education system—exacerbate the collateral effects of mass incarceration. Her work is utilized in university coursework and cited by lawmakers calling for criminal justice reform. The Oakland native turned New Yorker holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from Columbia University and a master's in journalism from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. Catch her online as @Ms_SAH.

 

Joe Hong, independent journalist

Hong is a Brooklyn-based reporter who has been writing about education since 2017. He recently completed a Spencer Fellowship at Columbia University where he spent a year conducting research and reporting for a book about how Asian American students and parents have shaped math education in the U.S. He started his career covering HBCUs for the magazine Diverse: Issues In Higher Education and later went on to cover schools for The Desert Sun, the daily newspaper in Palm Springs, CA, and KPBS, San Diego's public radio station. His reporting has led to policy changes surrounding juvenile justice and dyslexia screening. He earned a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of California, Irvine and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. He’s a proud graduate of California’s public schools.

 

Abigail Kramer, independent journalist

Kramer is an investigative reporter who writes about public policy and its impact on people’s lives. Most recently, she spent two years investigating New York State’s broken mental health care system for children and adolescents. Her stories, which were published by ProPublica and THE CITY, led to an inquiry by the state attorney general and multiple initiatives by the New York City Council. Previously, her reporting on child welfare, juvenile justice, policing and education led to several reforms and increased oversight of social services in New York City. Her recognitions include a Deadline Club Award and a Front Page Award from the Newswomen’s Club of New York. Kramer holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree in journalism from New York University.

 

Rory Linnane, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Rory Linnane is a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where she covers K-12 education. In previous roles with USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, she has reported on a range of public health topics, specializing in youth mental health and solutions-oriented journalism. Beginning in 2015, she was the lead reporter on the network’s “Kids in Crisis” series, which examined barriers to mental health care and highlighted programs with strong evidence of success. Linnane was a 2018-19 fellow with the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Program, which supported her in co-producing a documentary and educational toolkit about mental health in collaboration with Milwaukee PBS. Linnane graduated in 2013 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in journalism and international studies. As a student, Linnane worked for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Madison Magazine, the Daily Cardinal and Shorewood Ripples.