Wendi C. Thomas, Editor & Publisher:
Wendi C. Thomas founded MLK50: Justice Through Journalism in 2017 as a one-year project that grew into a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on poverty, power and public policy in Memphis.
Previously, Thomas was metro columnist and assistant managing editor at The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal. She has also worked for The Charlotte Observer, The (Nashville) Tennessean and The Indianapolis Star. Thomas was a 2016 fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. She was a member of ProPublica’s 2020 Local Reporting Network and was in its 2019 LRN cohort.
Thomas is the 2023 winner of the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. In 2022, Thomas received the Freedom of the Press Local Champion Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. In 2020, she was the winner of the Selden Ring Award for investigative reporting and won first place in the Association of Health Care Journalists’ 2019 awards for business reporting. Her “Profiting from the Poor” investigation tied for first place in the Investigative Reporters & Editors 2019 awards in the print/online division 1.
In 2019, Thomas received the National Association of Black Journalists’ Best Practices award. In 2018, she was named Journalist of the Year by Journalism and Women Symposium. She was inducted into the Scripps Hall of Fame for commentary in 2008. She’s a graduate of Butler University and a proud product of public schools.
When she’s not touting the benefits of talk therapy, she’s learning to play tennis and giving skritches to her dog, Ben. Email her at wendicthomas@mlk50.com. Twitter: @wendi_c_thomas
Adrienne Johnson Martin, Executive Editor:
Adrienne Johnson Martin is the first executive editor for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. She is the former managing editor of Duke Magazine, Duke University’s alumni publication. Martin spent five years as a copy editor and writer at the Los Angeles Times, where she was part of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning team for spot news for coverage of the Northridge earthquake. She joined The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1997, covering radio, television and film — winning an American Association of Sunday and Feature Writers prize — before becoming the associate features editor.
A Bronx, N.Y. native, she is a graduate of Syracuse University and earned her masters in journalism at Columbia University.
Adrienne lives with her husband Dietrich and her son Gavin in a house with a red door. A good cookie makes her happy. Email her at adrienne.martin@mlk50.com
Andrea Morales, Visuals Editor:
Andrea Morales, visuals editor, is Peruvian-born, Miami-bred and Memphis-based: After years of existing in spaces heavy with the constructs of socioeconomic binaries, her work moves with the hope of observing the things in between.
A decade in community newspapers taught Morales to value both the ceremonial and the mundane while a graduate education in visual storytelling at Ohio University helped her think about giving that life off the printed page.
As an independent photographer in the Delta South, she focuses on editorial work through a journalistic and documentary lens. Email her at andrea.morales@mlk50.com. X: Andrea Morales
Melonee Gaines, Audience Engagement Manager:
Melonee Gaines is a writer, abolitionist educator, and co-host of two podcasts: On The Phone With Friends Podcast, a show that discusses and witnesses Black women’s friendships; and The Markup, a podcast that gives local news coverage the “red pen treatment.” She is also a journalism fellow with The Peace Studio where she is creating and producing a podcast series and documentary through her digital media firm, MPact Media Group, on Fannie Lou Hamer’s legacy in current-day Ruleville, Mississippi and beyond.
Fueled by Black literary traditions and social justice, her career has included a 12-year tenure with Memphis Shelby County Schools as a reading specialist; the lead programming and outreach director in post-Katrina New Orleans with Southern University at New Orleans Center for African and African American Studies; a public relations and affairs lead with American Black Film Festival and Swing Phi Swing Social Fellowship, Inc.; and a presenting scholar for the Toni Morrison Society. Other accolades include: Living Cities Year of Reckoning writing fellow for the city of Memphis (2021), Leaders of Color graduate (2021), and VP of Digital Media for the Memphis Association of Black Journalists (2017-2019).
She has written for MLK50.com, NAACP’s CRISIS Magazine, TheGrio.com, Edible Memphis, High Ground, and WKNO public radio. Born by the water in New Orleans and rooted on her grandmother’s land in Picayune, Mississippi, Melonee has made Memphis her home for over 10 years. She is the proud mama to a teenage womanist-in-training and a happy shih tzu.
Stephanie Wilson, Digital Editor:
Stephanie Wilson, digital editor, has been working in journalism for 20 years. She spent 14 years working at The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal covering a variety of roles, most recently as senior producer of digital content. She also spent a number of years as a community editor, copy editor, assistant night news editor, and team editor for crime, courts and general assignments.
Wilson was born in Ohio and spent her early years living all over the United States as her father pursued his career in commercial construction. She is a graduate of the University of Memphis with a degree in journalism.
When she’s not working, and sometimes while she is, Wilson spends her time trying to keep up with her young daughter and her Corgi, Jax. She also enjoys reading, crocheting, and trying out new recipes. Email her at stephanie.wilson@mlk50.com.
Katherine Burgess, Reporter: Katherine covers government accountability.
She began to love journalism growing up as a child in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she saw how awareness and information can bring about change. In 2018, she began covering local government in Memphis for The Commercial Appeal. Previously, she worked in Kansas at The Wichita Eagle and in Jackson, Tennessee, at The Jackson Sun.
Since coming to Memphis, Burgess has fallen in love with the city, including its friendly people, its rich history and, of course, its food. When not interviewing and writing, she loves crafts, world travel and spending time with her three cats.
Email her at katherine.burgess@mlk50.com and follow her on X at @KathsBurgess
Rebecca Cadenhead, Reporter: Rebecca is MLK5o’s youth and juvenile justice reporter.
Rebecca E.J. Cadenhead writes about youth and juvenile justice for MLK50. She recently graduated from Harvard University cum laude, where she studied philosophy and African American studies. In the past, she has been a reporting fellow for The Nation and Harvard Magazine, where she wrote about student life and activism. She has also served as an editor for Harvard’s student newspaper, The Crimson, and Harvard’s literary magazine, The Advocate. Her work has been awarded a 2022 Puschart Prize and a 2023 CASE Circle of Excellence Award, and was listed as one of the 16 best pieces of student journalism published by The Nation in 2023. In her free time, Rebecca enjoys lying in the sun and making pottery.
Email her at rebecca.cadenhead@mlk50.com
Mike Finch, Reporter: Mike is MLK50’s enterprise reporter.
Mike Finch has been a reporter for over a decade, writing about business, government and health care. He most recently worked at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans as an investigative reporter and at the Sacramento Bee in California.
The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing and the National Association for Real Estate Editors recognized his work documenting the collapse of Louisiana’s insurance market. The series also won a Green Eyeshade Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
A Miami native, Finch started his career freelancing for the Miami Herald and also worked at the Palm Beach Post and the Tampa Bay Times, among other publications. He studied political science at Florida International University.
He likes to read about food science, writing and economic history, and is learning to play tennis.
Email him at mike.finch@mlk50.com
Lupita Parra, Development Director:
Lupita began her career in the journalism industry in 2018 as an impact-tracking coordinator with SembraMedia, an organization that helps independent newsrooms across Latin America to build sustainable business models. She quickly became passionate about media impact (and how to articulate it to funders). She was previously the development director at Enlace Latino NC, where she co-developed and implemented a revenue strategy from the ground up.
Her background includes 8+ years of experience working with nonprofit organizations whose missions align with principles of social, racial and economic justice. Among them are CASA of Oregon, a leader in affordable housing and financial well-being, and a joint initiative by Latino Network and the Consulate of Mexico in Portland to provide educational resources to immigrant families.
Lupita is a first-generation Mexican immigrant and was raised in Salem, Oregon. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, French, and Spanish (with a minor in neuroscience) from the University of Portland, and a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of California, San Diego. She has spent time studying and living in France, Spain and Ecuador, but currently calls San Diego home.
Email her at lupita.parra@mlk50.com
Lyndsey Pender, Development Manager:
With seven years of experience in the nonprofit and philanthropy sector, Lyndsey Pender has accumulated a diverse skillset that includes grant writing and management, quantitative and qualitative research, and community engagement and development. Lyndsey obtained her bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology and English from Western Kentucky University. A native Memphian, she returned home following her undergraduate studies to further her anthropological training and received a master’s degree in applied medical anthropology from the University of Memphis. Like many in the program, Lyndsey’s graduate studies centered around issues of inequity related to health disparities, aging, and reproductive justice. After graduating, she began her professional career at The Works, Inc. CDC – a nonprofit community development corporation that serves Memphians through the avenues of affordable housing and food access. After five years at The Works, Lyndsey joined the ALSAC/St. Jude Donor Experience (DX) department, where she served as a Sr. Research Manager on the DX Analytics, Research, and Insights team. In her role, Lyndsey crafted research instruments, analyzed data, and socialized insights and recommendations pertaining to the ALSAC/St. Jude event experience.
In her free time, you can find Lyndsey outdoors with her dog Ripley, with friends, or pulling an all-nighter to finish the fantasy/sci-fi novel she’s currently reading.
Email her at lyndsey.pender@mlk50.com