Genia has been a legacy resident of Grove Park for more than 50 years. She is a retired operations manager with a master’s in leadership and most recently served as a member of Canopy’s Bankhead/Grove Park Community Editorial Board. Genia’s interested in social and economic justice and is passionate about community- and team-building. Her personal mantra: “Operate with the intention of doing what is best for all and all should do what is best.”

Serena Garcia has experience leading communications strategies for Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and higher education institutions. She has worked as a newspaper reporter/editor, magazine editor, public relations practitioner, and communications director. Currently, she serves as a communications adjunct professor at Edward Waters University. Serena is the recipient of the 2016 Southern Regional Press Institute’s Louis R. Lautier Award for Communications Career Achievement. She completed her communications undergraduate and graduate work from Savannah State University and Fort Hays State University, respectively.

Floyd is a Canopy Atlanta cofounder, media strategist, cultural producer, writer, and documentarian from Atlanta. He has worked across the media spectrum and has produced hundreds of podcast episodes covering art and culture, including projects for WABE, the High Museum, Flux Projects, the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, and WonderRoot.

Ann is a Jamaican-born, Ghana-raised, Southern Black-reared woman writer who currently lives in Atlanta. In 2017, she began writing for The Atlanta Voice. In 2019 and 2021, she was the licensee and producer of TEDx Collier Heights, which engaged residents from the Bankhead corridor. Ann has written on Bankhead history and is also, currently, working with former residents of Bowen Homes.

Christina Lee is an award-winning freelance journalist who’s written for Atlanta magazine, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, NPR Music, The Washington Post and more. She co-hosts the Southern hip-hop podcast Bottom of the Map podcast with Dr. Regina N. Bradley.

Mariann is a Canopy Atlanta cofounder and award-winning journalist who has worked for Gannett and the Chattanooga Times Free Press as a reporter, writing about criminal justice, government, politics and healthcare. More recently, she has worked as a freelance writer and a coordinator for a nonprofit, managing community engagement, projects, and budgets. She has also taught college-level English and history.

John Ruch is a journalist and editor with over 25 years of experience at community and alternative newspapers. He previously served as managing editor at the Reporter Newspapers in Atlanta, where he won first-place awards for investigative reporting, business writing and other work. John has also served as editor at community newspapers in Boston, covered metro Atlanta government and politics for Creative Loafing and the Covington News, and worked as a film critic, film publicist and arts columnist. He writes fantasy novels in what remains of his spare time.

Sonam is a Canopy Atlanta cofounder and award-winning freelance journalist who’s written for the New York Times, Atlanta magazine, ProPublica, National Geographic, and several others. She is a John. S. Knight Community Impact Fellow. She often writes about criminal justice, immigration, racial history, and inequity. She grew up in Norcross and has lived in Atlanta since.

Kamille is a Canopy Atlanta cofounder and the managing editor of Atlanta magazine. She is a collaborative journalist and editor with more than a decade of experience researching, reporting and managing editorial operations all along the media spectrum, including for the Atlanta Tribune and Real Times Media, the parent company of operations including the Atlanta Daily World and the Chicago Defender.

Ada is an Atlanta-based, award-winning journalist with published stories at Canopy Atlanta, CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta magazine and Georgia Public Broadcasting. She began working with CA doing freelance community engagement by listening to local communities before joining full-time to help with various levels of production across stories, website, social media and the weekly newsletter, Canopy Atlanta Voices. She values journalism that prioritizes authenticity and intentionality.

Max is a Canopy Atlanta co-founder and an award-winning investigative journalist with ProPublica. He has worked as a staff writer at STAT, CNN, Atlanta magazine, and Creative Loafing Atlanta. A graduate of the University of Georgia’s narrative nonfiction MFA program, he was chosen as a 2019 fellow by the Center for Civic Innovation.

Brent is a West End resident for nearly 20 years and the managing editor/publisher of the Our West End Newsletter (OWEN) since 2006. He also participated in CA’s inaugural Fellow cohort in West End. In curating the bimonthly OWEN publication, he has read, edited, and written hundreds of stories showcasing the neighborhood’s strengths. As a Canopy West End Fellow, he received training and mentorship and copublished a longform story about the West End Mall.

Mindy (she/her/hers) is an Asian American Georgia native passionate about driving social impact, building community, and advancing racial equity so that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their full potential and a sense of belonging. Mindy works as an independent consultant and project manager at the intersection of equity, community, and institutions in the Metro Atlanta region. She currently resides in Adair Park with her husband, dog, and cat.

Derona is a recently retired nonprofit Executive Director who uses the art of listening and storytelling to create personal relationships between local people to bring about social inclusion and to effect social change.

Karyn is a Chief Inclusion Officer and a civic technologist, working in both fields to empower a more inclusive and equitable experience for everyone. Previously, she led digital efforts for ChooseATL, and was the user experience lead for iReport, CNN’s citizen journalism initiative.

Adam is a digital project specialist at Emory University’s Center for Digital Scholarship. Previously he was the managing editor of Atlanta Studies, an open access, multimedia digital publication that examines Atlanta from all disciplinary perspectives.

Hannah works as an urban designer in Atlanta. She writes about the intersection of Southern stories and urban landscapes for venues like CNN, Art Papers, Atlanta magazine, and Atlanta Studies. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, she earned an MFA in creative writing from Sewanee: The University of the South. She lives near the Atlanta airport with her husband and sons.

Sheena, Lakota, is the education manager for the Native American Journalists Association. Previously, Sheena spent six years as director of membership and programs at the Atlanta Press Club, as well as nearly 10 years as a freelance journalist. Her work can be found at Indian Country Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Native Peoples Magazine, Vice Sports and more. Sheena holds a degree in Journalism with a research specialty in American Indian Media from Georgia State University. She is currently based in Atlanta, Ga.

Nathaniel is the founder and chief equity officer of the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE), which advances policies and institutional actions that promote racial equity and shared prosperity for all in the growth of metropolitan Atlanta and the American South.