Our Fellows
The Opportunity Agenda’s Communications Institute Fellows are media-ready experts on some of the country’s most urgent challenges, coming largely from communities most affected by those challenges. For journalists seeking voices with a grassroots perspective that links economic opportunity, criminal justice, immigrant opportunity, and racial justice issues to the lived experiences of Americans, Communications Fellows are ideal spokespeople.
Jennifer Ramo
Executive Director, AppleseedJennifer Ramo is the founder and Executive Director of New Mexico Appleseed. An experienced attorney, she designed New Mexico Appleseed’s effective system of change and created Appleseed’s first in the nation programs such as the Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights (prohibited lunch shaming children whose parents owe school meal debt),...
Get To know JenniferAseante Renee
Director of Communications, Common JusticeAseante Renee is a strategy and communications executive with over 12 years of experience working at the intersections of healing, wellness, and criminal justice. Currently, she is the Director of Communications at Common Justice, a nonprofit that develops and advances solutions to violence that transform the lives of those harmed...
Get To know AseanteLaurie Reynolds
Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at ChicagoLaurie Jo was the organizer for Tamms Year Ten, a grassroots campaign to close the notorious supermax in Tamms, Illinois, shuttered in 2013 by Governor Pat Quinn. As a 2010 Soros Justice Fellow, she advocated for best practices to stop sexual abuse and reduce recidivism. Recent exhibits and honors include:...
Get To know LaurieTroy Rienstra
Outreach Director, Safe and Just MichiganTroy Rienstra joined Safe and Just Michigan in 2017 and works to advance the organization’s outreach program by elevating the voices of people directly harmed by the effects of crime and punishment. He is responsible for outreach activities to crime survivors, formerly incarcerated individuals and their family members, and the...
Get To know TroyPaheadra Robinson
Director, Consumer Legal Resource Center, Mississippi Center for JusticeJackson-native Paheadra Robinson directs the Consumer Legal Resource Center of the Mississippi Center for Justice. She is a graduate of Tougaloo College and the University of Mississippi School of Law. In addition to private practice, Robinson has also served as legislative counsel to three House committees: Conservation and Water Management,...
Get To know PaheadraChristy Rogers
Director of Outreach, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and EthnicityChristy Rogers is the Director of Outreach at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, where she has worked since 2004. She focuses on equitable neighborhood revitalization and federal housing policy, particularly housing finance reform. Rogers holds a B.A. in English, an M.A. in English, a MLA...
Get To know ChristyAngelina Rosado
Founder and Executive Director, Returning Hope Inc.On her journey to surviving and escaping a toxic and abusive relationship, Angelina Rosad0 sought help from countless organizations to no avail. Instead of giving up, she decided to return hope and founded Returning Hope - an organization dedicated towards empowering survivors and educating the next generation.
Get To know AngelinaKalima Rose
Senior Director and Director of PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity, PolicyLinkKalima Rose, Senior Director and Director of the PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity, works with the infrastructure team to steer resources for transportation, housing, and key amenities to communities of opportunity. Rose helps local and statewide groups implement economic stimulus funds for greater workforce participation and new investments in underserved...
Get To know KalimaKeith Rushing
2013 Communications Fellow, The Opportunity AgendaKeith Rushing, a native of Queens, New York, is a graduate of Carleton College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He worked as a print journalist for newspapers in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Virginia, and California. He worked in a number of reporting beats including local government, education, and crime....
Get To know KeithTopeka K. Sam
Founder and Executive Director, The Ladies of Hope Ministries (The LOHM)Topeka K. Sam is the Founder and Executive Director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries – The LOHM – whose mission is to help disenfranchised and marginalized women and girls transition back into society through spiritual empowerment, education, entrepreneurship, and advocacy. She is also the co-founder of HOPE HOUSE NYC...
Get To know Topeka K.