John Schrag is the former executive editor of the Pamplin Media Group, which includes the Portland Tribune and two dozen community papers throughout Oregon. There, he managed group-wide projects within the company and collaborations with outside news partners. He previously worked as a reporter and editor for Willamette Week in Portland and as the editor and publisher of The News-Times in Forest Grove. He started his career at The Chicago Reporter, a non-profit investigative magazine focusing on race and social justice and now serves on the advisory board of the Chicago-based Investigative Project on Race and Equity. He lives in rural Washington County.

Lee van der Voo is an independent journalist based in Oregon who is known for accountability journalism. She has been involved in nonprofit news since 2010 and is the former managing director of the nonprofit newsroom InvestigateWest, for which she coordinated and managed collaborative news projects in Oregon. Lee launched the investigations desk at Civil Eats in 2021. She has also authored two books and won significant national grants and awards, including from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and Society of Environmental Journalists. She received an Oregon Book Award in 2017 and has won or received special recognition for the Bruce Baer Award, Oregon’s top reporting prize, four times.

Mike Green is a cultural economist and co-founder of Common Ground Conversations on Race in America. He’s the architect of CGC’s trademarked Conversations Journey® process and co-founder of the National Institute for Inclusive Competitiveness. He’s a consultant to educational, governmental and nonprofit institutions, and a leading voice on issues of economic inclusion and competitiveness in the innovation economy. He is also an award-winning journalist with 18 years experience and led digital media innovation efforts for the former Dow Jones Local Media Group, including five years as content editor for the Ashland Daily Tidings.

Emily Harris is an award-winning journalist with local, national and international experience. She has served as an international correspondent for NPR in Berlin, Baghdad and Jerusalem, an investigative reporter for CIR/Reveal, the host of the daily news talk show “Think Out Loud” on Oregon Public Broadcasting and co-author of the daily newsletter Axios Portland. She also directed editorial content for the Journalism Accelerator startup, promoting financial stability in journalism. Emily grew up in Portland, served on Oregon’s Public Records Advisory Council and teaches journalism and audio storytelling at the University of Oregon.