PHOTOGRAPHY

Sinclair Holian

Sinclair Holian covers racial segregation and its lasting effects on Roanoke, Virginia, for The Roanoke Rambler. Before joining Report for America, Holian reported on injustices in her home state of North Carolina. Her work spans a range of issues, including racism in the agriculture industry, barriers to healthcare access, and challenges in public education. Her story, “Land Loss and Legacy on Historic Black-owned Farmland,” won Article of the Year at the 2024 Hearst National Writing Championship in San Francisco. Her reporting has appeared in publications across North Carolina, including The News & Observer, Indy Week, NC Newsline, and more. She graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2024 as the John Robert Bittner Outstanding Graduating Senior in Journalism, where her minor in social and economic justice fueled her commitment to revealing, in-depth reporting. When she’s not chasing a story, she loves long hikes, open water swimming, and exploring thrift shops.

Michael Indriolo

Michael Indriolo is a photographer and journalist based in Cleveland, Ohio. His work focuses on how people relate to community and the built environment in the Midwest. Michael has worked in journalism for about five years. He started out covering local government as a beat reporter before moving toward visual journalism. Through short documentaries and photo essays, he aims to amplify the everyday stories of Cleveland residents and document how policy decisions impact the city.

Alexander Banks

Before joining the Yakima Herald-Republic, Banks completed two internships with the Baker City Herald, through the University of Oregon's Snowden internship, and the Statesman Journal, in partnership with the Asian American Journalists Association. During those internships, he covered education, economic development, breaking news and feature stories. He holds a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Oregon State University and is currently studying for his master’s in strategic communications from Washington State University. His passion for journalism started while working for OSU’s student newspaper, The Daily Barometer, where he wrote his first feature story on the dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences. Banks enjoys screenwriting, photography, videography and learning Spanish in his free time. A fun fact about him is that his mother used to be a columnist for The Oregonian.

Justin Hamel

Before joining the Waco Bridge, Justin Hamel spent the previous six years living in El Paso, Texas, as a freelance photojournalist covering migration along the U.S.-Mexico border and the energy industry in the West Texas Permian Basin. As an avid outdoors enthusiast, his photos show the increasing militarization of the populated borderlands as well as the remote and wild regions with minimal human impact. His photos always seek to humanize the effects of industry and government policy. Hamel’s introduction to the journalism industry began in the sixth grade in Galion, Ohio, and later in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, where he started delivering papers from his bike. He later went on to earn a degree in Documentary Photography from the New England School of Photography in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sophia Kalakailo

Before joining City Bureau, Sophia Kalakailo reported on the Ypsilanti, Michigan area for MLive. She covered homelessness, dire conditions in one of the city’s largest apartment complexes, excessive flooding in predominantly Black and low-income neighborhoods and raids of pro-Palestine protesters’ homes in late April. As a college freshman, she served as the news editor for Eastern Michigan University’s student newspaper, The Eastern Echo. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in documentary film from Michigan State University. As an editor at The State News, she oversaw an investigation revealing allegations that one Title IX executive slowed crucial civil rights and sexual misconduct investigations. Interning at the nonprofit newsroom Bridge Michigan and the statewide NPR station Michigan Public, Kalakailo covered misinformation and cultural divides over the state’s reintroduced wolf population. She also followed the late Dr. Robert Anderson sexual abuse scandal at the University of Michigan and the unionization of Starbucks workers across the state.

Annie Barker

Annie Barker is a 25-year-old freelance photojournalist and Michigan State University graduate with two bachelor's degrees in journalism and creative advertising. Previously, she was a staff photographer at The Everett Herald and a photo intern at Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press, and Deseret News, as well as a photo fellow with Boyd's Station. Annie has attended the Eddie Adams Workshop and the Missouri Photo Workshop. Between taking photos, you can find Annie with her partner, preventing squabbles between their cats, Marinara and Pesto, or looking to set the high-score on Pac-Man at the local arcade.

Justin Taylor

As a visual journalist for The Current, Justin Taylor covers the stories of the challenges and cultural changes residents face with sea-level rise and fast growth in Coastal Georgia's six counties. He is a self-taught photographer who started his own photography business in 2017 and began freelancing in photojournalism in 2023. Before journalism, Taylor spent 15 years in the marine industry as a captain on a tugboat in the Savannah River. His journey with photography began during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served two combat tours in Iraq, including the 2003 invasion. Taylor brought a 35mm camera with him and started photographing daily life in a war zone, sparking a lifelong interest in documentary photography.

Russell Sun Eagle

Prior to joining Crosswinds News, Russell traveled the state of Oklahoma capturing stories of Indigenous athletes. In 2021, he created the Okie Podcast, showcasing indigenous actors, athletes, comedians, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, and musicians from across the United States. Russell attended the Institute of American Indian Arts, studying Cinematic Arts. Russell won host of the year in 2023, and best documentary short award at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival in 2024. He loves creating and learning, working on his passion projects, and helping people in any way he can.

Annie Bresee

Before becoming a Report For America Corp Member, Bresee was the editor of two community newspapers in Georgia and Alabama. While there, she covered issues like the local school boards' efforts to consolidate under a federal desegregation order, citizens protesting a proposed quarry, and abuse in a small town church. Bresee became interested in journalism late in college when she began writing for the university’s newspaper and would later write a long-form feature for her undergraduate thesis. She received her undergraduate degree from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.

Katherine Lin

Before joining Mississippi Today, Katherine Lin graduated with her master’s in journalism from Columbia Journalism School reporting on business, housing and economics. She attended UC Davis where she worked at the student paper, The California Aggie. After graduating with a degree in history, she spent four years working in the biotech industry. She then returned to journalism through an internship at The Palo Alto Weekly on their editorial and audience engagement desks. Five generations of her family have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.