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Carolina Public Press is an independent nonprofit news organization dedicated to nonpartisan, in-depth and investigative news built upon the facts and context North Carolinians need to know. Our award-winning, breakthrough journalism dismantles barriers and shines a light on the critical overlooked and under-reported issues facing our state’s 10.2 million residents.
Carolina Public Press is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization and relies upon the support of individual donors, foundations and sponsors/underwriters to operate.
Contact Us
Carolina Public Press – headquarters
(mailing) PO Box 17595, Asheville, NC 28816
(physical) 4A Herman Avenue Extension, Asheville, NC 28803
Main phone: 828-774-5290
info@carolinapublicpress.org
To call a staff member, dial 828-774-5290 and the appropriate extension.
Staff and Contributors
While the organization is headquartered in Asheville, staff and contributors are located across North Carolina.
Kara Andrade, Ph.D., M.J., Editor in Chief
kandrade@carolinapublicpress.org
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Kara Andrade brings decades of experience in news entrepreneurship, communications research and multimedia reporting in more than twenty countries. As an Ashoka fellow and Fulbright scholar, she co-founded, in her native Guatemala, HablaCentro Informatics NFP and LLC, a network of citizen journalism and information sharing hubs in Latin America. Andrade is also an adjunct professor and PhD candidate at American University’s School of Communication. Her stories have been published by Al Jazeera America, Americas Quarterly, The Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN, France 24, Global Post, The Huffington Post, National Public Radio, The New York Times and others.
Jacob Biba, Lead Investigative Reporter
jbiba@carolinapublicpress.org
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Jacob Biba is the lead investigative reporter for Carolina Public Press. Prior to joining Carolina Public Press, Biba worked as a tech reporter covering robotics. He has also been a freelance reporter and photojournalist focused on the criminal justice system in North Carolina. His work has appeared in publications including The Intercept, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and other statewide and national outlets.
Tara George, Administrator
tgeorge@carolinapublicpress.org
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Tara George graduated with honors from San Diego State University with a bachelor’s degree in applied design. A desire to be more involved and make a difference in the community brought her to the nonprofit world, where she has worked in development, project and office management for organizations including Land of Sky Regional Council and OnTrack Financial Education and Counseling. Tara assists with community engagement planning and the office and financial systems for Carolina Public Press.
Lisa Lopez, Director of Development
llopez@carolinapublicpress.org
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Lisa Lopez has more than 20 years experience in the nonprofit sector. She joins Carolina Public Press after three years at Development by Design, LLC, a development strategy consulting firm she helped found. Prior to launching her own company, Lisa served for 14 years in development at the Center for Creative Leadership, a top-ranked global provider of leadership development. She began her fundraising career at the American Red Cross Cape Fear Chapter and went on to seek and secure major gifts for the UNC Wilmington Center for Marine Science. She also has worked in both production and advertising/sales in TV and radio news organizations. Lisa oversees fundraising development for Carolina Public Press across North Carolina.
Angie Newsome, Founder and Executive Director
anewsome@carolinapublicpress.org
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Angie Newsome founded Carolina Public Press, which launched in March 2011. A North Carolina native with a master’s degree in journalism from UNC Chapel Hill, Angie has 20 years of experience in daily, online and magazine journalism. She has won numerous awards, including for reporting on the international banking interests of a North Carolina congressman and for following the closure of the nation’s last Levis sewing plant. After launching Carolina Public Press, she was named one of four New Media Women Entrepreneurs in the country by the McCormick Foundation in 2012. Carolina Public Press has gone on to be a featured media startup by PBS MediaShift and J-Lab and to earn numerous awards, including for its environmental, mental health and investigative reporting and for general excellence among North Carolina’s online news organizations. Angie oversees efforts to improve and measure the sustainability, reach and impact of Carolina Public Press and its work across North Carolina.
Lindsey Wilson, Community Engagement Manager
lwilson@carolinapublicpress.org
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Lindsey Wilson, who has led the 2022 Rural Engagement Project, comes to Carolina Public Press with experience in a variety of capacities as a community organizer, research facilitator and environmental educator. Her work on small-scale produce farms in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina has given her a deep interest in issues facing rural people. Lindsey has a dual major in anthropology/sociology and creative writing from Kalamazoo College. Lindsey manages the organization’s efforts to build new audiences and listen to and collaborate with current audiences, community members and organizations across the state.
Contributors
Calvin L. Adkins, Photographer
Calvin L. Adkins is a photographer who started his career as a photo stringer for The Daily Southerner in 1989. He went on to work as a photographer and cops reporter at the newspaper and was its editor until it closed in 2014. Calvin was born in Princeville, N.C., the oldest town in the United States chartered by African Americans. He still lives in Princeville, in Edgecombe County.
Jennifer Bringle, Reporter
Jennifer Bringle is a Greensboro-based writer who has covered North Carolina for The News & Observer, The News & Record, The Charlotte Observer and The Winston-Salem Journal, among other outlets. Her work also has appeared in The Washington Post, Glamour, Good Housekeeping and Parents.
Taylor Buck, Data Visualization
Taylor Buck is a data visualization freelancer and senior at UNC-Chapel Hill pursuing a B.A. in Journalism and a B.A. in the Peace, War, and Defense program. As a student journalist, she covered Silent Sam protests and higher education for The Daily Tar Heel. She is currently interning for National Defense University Press, the publishing arm of National Defense University.
Mark Darrough, Reporter and photographer
Mark Darrough is a Wilmington-based photojournalist and reporter. His award-winning work has been published by Carolina Public Press, The New York Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Associated Press, Denver Post, NBC News, ABC News, San Francisco Chronicle, and Wilmington’s Port City Daily, among others.
Melissa Sue Gerrits, Photographer
Melissa Sue Gerrits is a photographer with a degree in photojournalism from Randolph Community College and has worked in South Dakota, Arkansas and North Carolina. Most recently, she was a photojournalist for The Fayetteville Observer.
Jack Igelman, Lead Environment Reporter
Jack Igelman is a reporter with a master’s degree from Montana State University, where he studied natural resource economics. His main interest is in conservation and environmental stories that on the people, places and institutions involved with managing the state’s natural resources. Co-author of “Trekking the Southern Appalachians” and currently teaching college-level economics, Jack’s reporting has appeared in dozens of local, regional and national publications.
Rob Mikulak, Copy Editor
Rob Mikulak is a veteran journalist who has more than 40 years’ experience on daily and weekly newspapers and has edited books, magazines, trade publications, promotional materials and just about anything else that consists of words. Mikulak has worked for publications in New York, New Jersey and, for the last 20 years, North Carolina. He has also done freelance editing for clients in California, North and South Dakota, Connecticut and Colorado, among others. He was copy desk chief for the Asheville Citizen Times for 12 years and currently is copy editor for Carolina Public Press, Mountain Xpress in Asheville and select other clients.
Colby Rabon, Photographer
Colby Rabon is a freelance photographer with a bachelor’s degree in technical photography from Appalachian State University. Colby currently shoots a range of material from documentary projects to news, sports, portraiture and more and has had work featured in local and national publications.
Aaron Sánchez-Guerra, Reporter and Translator
Aaron Sánchez-Guerra is a bilingual journalist based in Durham and is a reporter for The News & Observer covering business, real estate and news regarding the Latino immigrant community. He has worked as a freelance journalist for the Spanish-language newspaper Qué Pasa in North Carolina and for WLRN Public Radio in Miami, Florida.
Mariano Santillan, Illustrator
Mariano Santillan is currently the web designer and illustrator for the USASOC History Office on Fort Bragg. Before that position, he spent over a decade as the graphics editor and illustrator for The Fayetteville Observer. Some of his freelance clients include The Washington Post, The U.S. Army and Cricket Magazine.
Imari Scarbrough, Reporter
Imari Scarbrough is a freelance journalist with a bachelor’s degree in communications and minors in English and music from Montreat College. She worked as a staff writer at The Anson Record for five years, earning five awards from the N.C. Press Association and covering crime, politics, education, local government and more.
Carolina Public Press Board of Directors
Scott Barnwell, President
Patrick Doran, Vice President
Victoria Hicks, Secretary
Bob Lewis, Treasurer
David Hurand
Dr. Deitra Williams-Toone
Christopher Chung
Carolina Public Press is a member of the N.C. Open Government Coalition, the NC Watchdog Reporting Network, Institute for Nonprofit News, Local Independent Online News Publishers and the N.C. Press Association. Certain staff members and contributors are members of Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society of Environmental Journalists.