Our team

Staff | Board of Directors | Journalist Advisory Committee | Collaborators

Our core team of three has been together since 2019. We are continually aware of the ways we are the same as and different from each other and are committed to working to complicate our own lens on the world and on people’s information needs. Read more about our DEIB commitment here.

 

Executive Director: Joy Mayer (she/her) founded Trusting News in 2016 after a 20-year career in newsrooms and teaching. She spent 12 years at the Missouri School of Journalism, where she created an audience engagement curriculum and a community outreach team in the newsroom of the Columbia Missourian and also taught web design and print design. She lives in Sarasota, Florida, and can be reached at joy@TrustingNews.org and on LinkedIn.

Assistant director: Lynn Walsh (she/her) is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has worked in investigative journalism at the national level and locally in California, Ohio, Texas and Florida. She is the former Ethics Chair for the Society of Professional Journalists and a past national president for the organization. Based in San Diego, Lynn is also an adjunct professor and freelance journalist. She can be reached at lynn@TrustingNews.org and on LinkedIn.

Project manager: Mollie Muchna (she/her) has spent the last decade working in audience and engagement journalism in local newsrooms across the Southwest. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, where she is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona’s School of Journalism. She can be reached at mollie@trustingnews.org and on LinkedIn.

Board of directors

The following seven members, alongside Joy Mayer and Lynn Walsh from the Trusting News team, make up Trusting News’ board of directors. 

Andrew DeVigal, board chair, holds the endowed chair in journalism innovation and civic engagement and is the director of the Agora Journalism Center at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism & Communication. A constant connector and bridge builder, DeVigal’s leadership at the school has led to industry-recognized initiatives such as Gather, a platform to support community-minded journalists, and the Doers Gathering, a toolkit to drive community-driven solutions addressing pressing local issues. Before joining the UofO, DeVigal was the multimedia editor at The New York Times.

David Grant is the bridge between Blue Engine Collaborative and its friends and partners. Prior to joining Blue Engine, David spent four years at Facebook/Meta, managing many of its programs, investments in local media, and support efforts for news “creators.” His prior experience includes eight years at The Christian Science Monitor where, as associate publisher, he led the team responsible for driving digital and print subscriptions. He began his career as a political reporter at the Monitor. 

Kristen Mueller is a media strategist specializing in digital transformation and performance-driven change. Muller is the former chief content officer of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR). Under her leadership, SCPR transformed from a leading public radio station in Los Angeles into one of the most innovative local journalism outlets in the country. Previously, Muller worked for CBS News as a producer for the CBS Evening News and associate producer for 60 Minutes II. She is a recipient of the prestigious JSK Fellowship at Stanford University and was a 2018 Columbia University Punch Sulzberger Executive Leadership Fellow.

Ellen Russ is a Human Resources and Operations executive with 30+ years of experience across diverse industries, including media, financial services, not-for-profit, and technology. In her most recent role as Senior Vice President at Warner Bros Discovery, Ellen led the talent strategy for over 4,500 employees across CNN and WBD Sports. Ellen holds an MS in Social and Organizational Learning from George Mason University and a BA in Sociology from the University of Virginia.

Nina Sachdev is deputy director of external affairs at Media Impact Funders (MIF). Since joining MIF in 2016 as the organization’s first full-time director of communications, Nina has been leading efforts to showcase the power of media, journalism, and storytelling to the philanthropic community. Before her MIF days, her work in journalism took her to The Dallas Morning News, The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, The Philadelphia Daily News, and The Philadelphia Weekly.

Reuben Stern, board treasurer, is the director of the Missouri School of Journalism’s New York program and the director of New York City partnerships for the Reynolds Journalism Institute. Previously, Stern was part of the RJI Futures Lab team and served as the managing editor for the Columbia Missourian, where he directly oversaw the day-to-day operation for the website and daily newspaper. Before joining Mizzou, Stern worked at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; The Budapest Sun, an English-language newspaper in Hungary; and the Los Angeles Daily News. 

Nick Swyter is a program manager at The New York Times specializing in launching and managing philanthropic-funded journalism initiatives. Prior to working at The Times, Nick worked as a program associate at Knight Foundation and oversaw a portfolio of journalism grants focused on topics such as pro bono legal services, reducing misinformation, local news collaborations, and startup development. He previously worked as a broadcast news producer in Arizona and as a magazine editor in Miami.

Former board members

Richard T. Griffiths served as board treasurer from 2024-2025. Griffiths retired as vice president and senior editorial director at CNN in 2017 following a 26-year career with the network. He led reporting and investigative projects that won multiple George F. Peabody Awards, the Overseas Press Club David Kaplan Award, two Emmys, a National Headliner Award and the Investigative Reporters and Editors Medal. He is active in the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the University of Georgia Grady College Board of Trust. 

Journalist Advisory Committee

The Journalist Advisory Committee helps keep us plugged into what support is needed, and give us candid, constructive feedback and ideas about how Trusting News can be most helpful. Read more about the committee here.  

Alex Cooper believes in making journalism accessible. His work has focused on reporting on underrepresented communities and how newsrooms can best engage with them. He was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate, the oldest LGBTQ+ news magazine in the U.S., where he grew its audience and expanded its product suite. He began his journalism career with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. He earned his B.A. at the College of William and Mary and his M.A. at the Central European University.

Abby Hamblin is the Guides Editor and an audience specialist at The San Diego Union-Tribune, where she has worked for 10 years. Her resume in local news includes government reporter, opinion editor, editorial board member, audience engagement editor and producer. And she also occasionally teaches Intro to Journalism or Media Law and Ethics at Point Loma Nazarene University. Currently, her work focuses on digital publishing strategy and reader engagement.

Zaki Barak Hamid leads the Community Engagement department at KUOW Public Radio in Seattle, whose main goal is to facilitate connections between the various communities of the Puget Sound area and the content division, so that KUOW’s news coverage is more holistic and informed by listeners’ needs. His favorite programs include initiatives that facilitate understanding between people who might disagree with each other, such as StoryCorp’s One Small Step. A Palestinian immigrant from Jordan, Zaki’s curiosity and passion for community connections have guided him throughout his career.

Ashlyn Lipori-Russie is an Emmy-nominated independent journalist dedicated to helping people build a healthier relationship with news and technology. She is the creator of Ask Ashlyn, a text-based news service that helps people stay informed without feeling overwhelmed. Ashlyn’s diverse background spans investigative, broadcast, and digital news, as well as content management and strategic communications. Her work focuses on media literacy, digital well-being, and helping people understand how news and social media actually work. Based on her own experiences with doomscrolling and social media overwhelm, Ashlyn guides people to be better informed about what they see online.

 

Elliot Njus is a director of content at The Oregonian/OregonLive, where he oversees breaking news, business news and features, as well as newsroom development. He spent his career at The Oregonian reporting on housing, transportation and the regional economy, and as an editor building the newsroom’s business coverage and audio department. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Laura McCallum edits the Minnesota Life team and immigration coverage at the Minnesota Star Tribune, after four years as Politics & Government Editor there. Prior to the Star Tribune, she spent nearly 27 years at Minnesota Public Radio News.

 

Dalila-Johari Paul is Capital B’s national editor, overseeing politics, education, climate, criminal justice, and rural coverage. She also leads national newsroom editorial partnerships, including solutions and rural journalism initiatives. Her editorial career spans decades, including roles at CNN, The Guardian, CNBC, The Star-Ledger, and the Hartford Courant. She started her career behind-the-scenes in TV news in New York City.

 

Seth Prince is the University of Oklahoma’s Student Media director and OU Daily adviser. Since 2014, he’s helped the newsroom where he worked as a student accelerate its digital transformation, become the leading news source for OU and Norman and further its legacy as a collegiate media pacesetter. Previously, he worked at The Oregonian in Portland for 14 years, rising from intern to sports editor.

 

Ross Terrell is the managing editor of The Oklahoma Eagle. His career in journalism has included stops at Axios, WABE in Atlanta and KUER in Salt Lake City. He’s from Atlanta and went to school at the University of Missouri where he received a journalism degree. When he’s not working, you can find him rooting for the Atlanta Falcons and Hawks.

Kate Winkle is an award-winning digital media leader with more than a decade of experience directing content strategy and executing investigative projects. She’s passionate about building audience trust through exceptional multimedia storytelling, collaborative newsroom practices and ethical AI tool experimentation. Her cross-platform perspective emphasizes how newsrooms can responsibly innovate while strengthening community relationships. Kate previously worked as digital director at KXAN in Austin, Texas; supervising EP of BorderReport.com; and news producer in Anchorage, Alaska. She’s based in San Francisco.