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Our people

At Kensington Voice, our team is scrappy – i.e., someone recently called us "the little community newspaper that could"–, but we have worked and will continue to work hard to make an impact.

When committing salaries to paid staff, our priorities include:

  • Creating opportunities for people with lived experience and residency in the North Philly neighborhoods we serve
  • Facilitating workforce development for individuals and groups historically denied publishing power and media industry inclusion
  • Providing leadership opportunities for people and groups historically excluded from formal, paid leadership roles

For members of our advisory board, each of whom receive a very small annual stipend for their service, we prioritize lived experience and residence over fundraising experience.

Executive Staff

Executive Director & Editor

Jill Bauer-Reese / jill@kensingtonvoice.com / 215-385-3392

Jill Bauer-Reese is an educator, journalist, social worker, and, more than anything, a media harm reductionist. She oversees Kensington Voice while working full-time as an associate professor of journalism at Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication.

Jill's work focuses on the impact of local journalism on the quality of life in geographically defined communities. She draws inspiration from her parents; her dad is a writer born and raised in the far Northeast (Mayfair), and her mom is a social worker from South Philly. She holds an MSW in Macro Practice in Organizations, Communities, and Policy Arenas, an MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences, an MS in Interactive Design and Media, and a BA in Journalism. She also holds a graduate certificate in Community Practice from the Association for Community Organization and Social Action (ACOSA).

When she's not working, she enjoys gardening and relaxing outdoors with her husband, daughters, and chihuahua/rat-terrier mix Wally.

Deputy Director

Aja Beech / aja@kensingtonvoice.com

Aja Beech is an author and organizer, born and raised in Philadelphia, currently living in Kensington. Her poetry, commentary, journalism, short stories, and other works can be found internationally at publications like The Huffington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Nation, Atma Tattva, and WHYY. She has also worked on campaigns to ensure equity for people of all abilities, fair pay, victims’ rights, voter engagement, and criminal justice reform. Beech is a mother to two sons and her youngest son attends Kensington High School. More on her work can be found at authorajabeech.org and she can be found online everywhere as @ajabeech.

Newsroom Staff

Accountability Reporter

Emily Rizzo / emily@kensingtonvoice.com / 215-436-8244‬

Emily Rizzo began her career in film and audio documentary production. Her first job in Philadelphia was at PhillyCAM’s community radio station. She then worked as a reporter for WHYY, where she covered Philadelphia’s suburban counties. There she reported on everything from censorship in education, housing insecurity, to a small town’s fight against the sale of its sewer system. She brought local stories to a national audience on NPR, and produced an episode on WHYY’s education podcast; “From COVID to censorship: How a right-wing book ban took hold in Bucks County.” More recently for Chalkbeat, she dug into Philadelphia’s tax break program for developers and its failure to deliver benefits to Philly students.

She’s invested in holding powerful people and institutions accountable, while centering marginalized and working class voices. She looks forward to continuing to follow the city’s plans for Kensington and listening to community stakeholders.

Special Projects Reporter

Sammy Caiola / sammy@kensingtonvoice.com / ‪971-910-6050

Before Sammy joined Kensington Voice, she was most recently a gun violence prevention reporter at WHYY News in Philadelphia. She is an adjunct professor at Temple University (podcasting) and a senior fellow with the University of Southern California's Domestic Violence Impact Fund. In 2022 she was a mentor with The Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting Credible Messenger Program

Sammy strives to create journalism that facilitates healing and empowerment for people impacted by trauma. She became interested in this while reporting and hosting  "After the Assault", a participatory journalism podcast about healing from sexual violence produced by Capital Public Radio.

She was a 2023 Ochberg fellow with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. She is also the co-host of "Stop and Frisk: Revisit or Resist", a Murrow Award-winning podcast about policing and public safety.

At Kensington Voice she focuses on law enforcement accountability and a span of public health issues including gun violence and sexual assault. When not doing that, she enjoys participating in community musical theatre and hiking with her lab, Pepper. 

Program Staff

Community Art and Engagement Coordinator

John Zerbe / jczerbe@gmail.com

J.C. Zerbe is an artist, community activator, and advocate. Known for his graphic lines and expressionistic style work, he has managed to fuse street art elements with his techniques while using lines to create waves of energy throughout his work. Zerbe's focus and passion are directed toward community building and social change. 

The neighborhood of Kensington in Philadelphia is where you can often find Zerbe painting, participating in neighborhood projects, or connecting with the community. Zerbe has also led art workshops to bring healing to those experiencing addiction, homelessness, or other forms of ongoing trauma. His work inspires and provokes movement toward social change within Kensington and beyond.

Zerbe was born in Thailand and came to the USA at age 4. He was raised in Central PA, where he graduated from Selinsgrove Area High School. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army, receiving an honorable discharge after 3 years of service. He later moved to Philadelphia, where he pursued an art career, attending the Art Institute of Philadelphia and later completing a mural program with Mural Arts. Since then, he has branched out into various neighborhoods and continues working with communities by using art to connect with self and others.

Youth Voices Coordinator

Khysir Carter / khy@kensingtonvoice.com / ‪215-385-3115

Khysir Carter is a multimedia journalist, writer, and editor from Kensington. He has worked for Kensington Voice for nearly four years, writing community-based articles and building partnerships with local neighborhood organizations such as the New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) and Youth United for Change (YUC). A lot of his work in KV is centered around engaging with youth to assist them in finding their creative expression through writing and multimedia.

Youth Voices Media Assistant

Maddy Nieves

Maddy Nieves, a lifelong resident of Kensington, graduated from Mastbaum High School and has deep roots in their community. Over the course of two years, they actively participated in Stay True, supporting food drives, clothing drives, and various community initiatives throughout the tristate area. Additionally, Maddy was involved in Kensington Voice programs during their youth.

A self-taught audio editor with a passion for journalism, digital art, video recording, and photography, Maddy enjoys exploring interests such as reading, writing, music, and indulging in a good horror movie. They contribute their skills to programming, audio and video recording, and photo editing.

Administrative Staff

The administrative staff are provided as needed through our fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Federation of Neighborhood Centers (FNC).

Executive Director, FNC Philly

Michael Harbison / michaelh@fncphilly.org

Michael is responsible for the oversight of FNC’s 50+ city programs, including Kensington Voice.

He is responsible for the following:

  • Executing contracts
  • Fundraising support
  • Strategic planning

Contact Michael at michaelh@fncphilly.org.

Chief Financial Officer, FNC Philly

Adam Wilder / adamw@fncphilly.org

Adam Wilder is responsible for the fiscal and operational oversight of FNC’s 50+ city programs, including Kensington Voice.

He is responsible for the following:

  • Incoming and outgoing payments
  • Insurance certificates
  • Hiring/termination paperwork
  • Payroll and benefits

Contact Adam at adamw@fncphilly.org.

Community Partners

Our partnerships vary in nature and depend on the project. Some are ongoing relationships (i.e., our newspaper distribution partners), and others are time-bound (i.e., collaborative grant-funded projects).

See below for some of our recent partners.

Newspaper Distribution Partners

Càphê Roasters (19134)

Commonwealth Campus (19124)

Community Center at Visitation (19125)

Congreso de Latinos Unidos (19133)

Esperanza Health Center (19134)

Friendly Pharmacy (19133)

Greater Goods Grocery (19134)

HACE CDC (19140)

HACE CDC’s Casa Indiana (19133)

Health Center Six (19123)

Kensington Community Food Co-op (19125)

Kensington Creative & Performing Arts High School (19122)

Kensington Hospital (19122)

Kensington Library (19133)

The Lighthouse (19133)

Lillian Marrero Library (19133)

The Loom (19134)

Mastbaum High School (19134)

McPherson Square Library (19134)

New Kensington Community Development Corporation (19134)

Norris Square Community Alliance (19122)

Norris Square Neighborhood Project (19122)

Norris Square Senior Community Center (19122)

Prevention Point Philadelphia (19134)

The Simple Way (19134)

Taller Puertorriqueño (19133)

Visitation BVM School (19125)

West Kensington Ministry (19122)

Broke in Philly Media Partners (via Resolve Philly)

AL DÍA News

Billy Penn

Chalkbeat Philadelphia

2Puntos

ecoWURD

Friends, Peace, and Sanctuary Journal

FunTimes

Generocity

Germantown Info Hub

Green Philly

Klein College of Media and Communication

Kouvenda Media

Love Now Media

Madre Tierra

Metro Philadelphia

Metro Chinese

Metro Viet

Metro Korean

NBC10/Telemundo62

Next City

The Philadelphia Citizen

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia Gay News

Philadelphia Magazine

Philatinos Radio

PhillyCAM

PlanPhilly

Technical.ly

WURD Radio

WHYY

Every Voice, Every Vote Media Partners (via Lenfest)

6abc

AL DÍA News

Chalkbeat Philadelphia

Community Voice PHL

FunTimes Magazine

Green Philly

Grid Magazine

Love Now Media

NBC10/Telemundo62

New Mainstream Press

Nueva Esperanza – Impacto

Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists

Philadelphia Gay News

PhillyCAM

¡Presente! Media

Resolve Philly

Scribe Video Center

Technical.ly Media

The Philadelphia Citizen

The Philadelphia Hall Monitor

The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Philadelphia Tribune

Unified Partnerships, iHeartMedia

We Talk Weekly

WHYY

WURD Radio

Every Voice, Every Vote Community Partners (via Lenfest)

Alliance for a Just Philadelphia

Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia

Athletic Club of Fairhill

Ceiba

Committee of Seventy

Congreso de Latinos Unidos

DiverseForce

East Point Breeze NeighborsEasterseals of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church

Friends of FDR Park

Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Humanature – The Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation at Drexel University

One PA Activists United

PA Youth Vote

Pennsylvania Prison Society

Philadelphia Parks Alliance

Project HOME

Southwest Community Development Corporation

The Philadelphia Crosstown Coalition

Urban Affairs Coalition

we REIGN

Why Not Prosper

William Way LGBT Community Center

Woori Center

YOACAP

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Wondering how we support our work? Check out our funders >>