About panelists:

About Ron: Ron Smith, INN board secretary and member representative, is an instructor of practice in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication and the editor/program director for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Reach him at: ronald.smith@marquette.edu

About Irene: Irene Romulo is co-founder of Cicero Independiente, a bilingual news site that launched in 2019 to ser Cicero, a west Chicago suburb. Born in Chicago, Irene has a background in organizing around housing and immigrant rights issues and was named a 2020 Voqal fellow, a talent and technology accelerator for social entrepreneurs.

Reach her at: irene@ciceroindependiente.com

About Keri: Keri Mitchell is executive director of the Dallas Free Press. She launched the newsroom in 2020 after spending 15 years dedicated to community and civic journalism at Dallas' Advocate magazines.

Reach her at: keri@dallasfreepress.com

About Vandana: Vandana Kumar is a publishing executive with a 32-year track record in the industry. She leads the India Currents Foundation as President and CEO. As a new immigrant, she co-founded India Currents magazine in 1987. Fully digital today, India Currents has the largest following among Indians in the United States.

Reach her at: publisher@indiacurrents.com

About Angilee: Angilee is the Editor-in-Chief of Charlottesville Tomorrow and part of Charlottesville Inclusive Media. The collaboration with Vinegar Hill Magazine and In My Humble Opinion aims to bring greater diversity to the narratives and news of the community. She also works with local news organizations around the country on their missions and editorial strategy. Before coming to Charlottesville, she spent many years developing immigration coverage for public radio program The World and reported from Asia.

Reach her at: angshah@cvilletomorrow.org

From the Field: Connecting with Communities of Color