Change Agents Podcast
Season 4 Trailer
Change Agents is an audio series revealing the power of community-driven activism told by those in the fight.
In our program, truthful and authentic stories on community change agents are reported by emerging journalists working within BIPOC and underserved communities throughout Chicago and the Midwest that challenge societal and media biases.
Change Agents is an independent journalism lab and empowerment engine, operating as a program of Reparations Media. The program maintains a focused goal: training emergent journalists from BIPOC and marginalized communities, collaborating in a mentored and authentic newsroom environment, to create first-hand narrative content shared with the public through its online media channels.
Our team reports on authentic stories of community activists and organizations working toward social justice to a broad and diverse audience, cultivating a class of innovative journalists skilled in finding and reporting on grassroot solution models.
The impact is three-fold:
- Equipping emerging journalists with new tools, leaving them primed to help reshape conventional journalism into a more equitable model.
- Providing community leaders the opportunity to learn media and storytelling skills, be heard and their stories authentically heard and extend their organizing capabilities to community organizers and collaborators.
- Distributing community-driven narratives across multiple media platforms and through community engagement events, inspiring civic engagement and empowerment while disrupting biases and negative stereotypes to audiences beyond the directly impacted community.
Editorial Independence Policy
We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:
Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN's Membership Standards.
Donor Transparency
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization.
Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics and special projects. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates as a public trust, we do not pay certain taxes. We may receive funds from standard government programs offered to nonprofits or similar businesses.
Our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.
We make public all revenue sources and donors who give $5,000 or more per year. As a news nonprofit, we avoid accepting charitable donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
Reparations Media NFP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; all contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Prior to 2024, Change Agents podcast was a fiscally sponsored program of City Bureau, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization.
Executive Producers
Executive Producers
Founder, Board Chair & Executive Director of Reparations Media
Judith McCray is a multiple Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist, documentary filmmaker, and media activist with over 30 years in television and media production. She received the Leaders for a New Chicago award from the Field and MacArthur Foundation in 2023.
Her experience includes working both fulltime and as an independent producer for public broadcasting stations WNET/New York, WTTW/Chicago, WBEZ/Chicago, WYCC/Chicago, WSIU/Carbondale, and Common Ground/weekly radio series on world affairs.
She’s also written, directed and produced independent documentaries for PBS Primetime and national public television. She has long embraced using media as a vehicle to examine social justice issues and advocate social change. Her passion for finding the “ah-hah” moment in every story that can inspire and compel deeper understanding has taken her to the Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Switzerland, Brazil and across the U.S. to uncover hidden truths, the unheard and little recognized.
Born and raised on a family farm in eastern Iowa, on land her grandfather purchased after fleeing Jim Crow racism in Mississippi, she has always fought for social justice with the media as her primary tool. She holds a B.S. degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and a M.A. degree in politics and public policy from Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics.
is a media producer with more than 20 years of broadcast production experience, working with A&E, History Channel, Discovery Channel, PBS and more. His A&E Biography on Barack Obama is the most widely viewed episode in the history of the franchise. He’s a recent transplant to Chicago and has thoroughly lost his mind trying to furnish his apartment through Facebook Marketplace.
Funding provided by the Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund, Field Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Press Forward Chicago, and the Wayfarer Foundation.
Board of Directors
A.M. Triche - Reparations Media Board Secretary
Ashahed Triche is a seasoned media relations professional with two decades of experience in strategic communication across diverse sectors, including politics, civil rights, social justice movements, and entertainment. His career has spanned across the country and internationally through the Parliament in Bermuda and the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland where he observed and shaped narratives that connect diverse audiences.
In 2019, Ashahed joined the staff at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago. Upon his arrival at NHS, he spearheaded efforts to revitalize the organization's connections with community newspapers, rekindled existing media relationships, forge new media alliances and positioned key staff members as thought leaders to significantly enhancing the organization's reach and impact. Under his leadership as Director of Marketing and Communications, the organization has realized unprecedented media coverage, experienced substantial growth in e-mail subscribers, increased its social media presence and reach and created an expansive multimedia video library featuring client testimonials.
Greg McCray - Reparations Media Board Treasurer
Greg McCray is an experienced executive with more than 30 years of business, marketing, sales, engineering, operations, mergers & acquisitions, management and international experience in the communications technology industry. Greg has served in a number of CEO and management roles, including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FDH Infrastructure Services, CEO of Google Fiber, CEO of Aero Communications Inc., CEO of Antenova, Chairman and CEO of PipingHot Networks and Senior Vice President of customer operations at Lucent Technologies where he managed Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Greg currently serves on the board of directors of FreeWave Technologies; Belden, Inc.; DigitalBridge Group, Inc.; and Adtran Holdings. He also currently sits on the non-profit boards for The 1921 Institute and Iowa State University College of Engineering.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University and a Master of Science degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Purdue University. He has completed Executive Business Programs at Harvard University, INSEAD, and the University of Illinois. In 2022 Greg was inducted into the Iowa State University Engineering Hall of Fame. He was named Most Influential Black Public Corporate Directors in 2014 & 2016, and Who’s Who International Business Leaders for 2005-2006, 2009-2010, and 2011-2012.
Marianne Geula - Reparations Media Board Member
Marianne Geula is an attorney with 20 years experience practicing tax law, professional regulation, labor and employment, civil and family mediation, trust and estate planning and small business law. She holds a B.A. in music from Oberlin College, a Masters degree in music from Michigan State University and a law degree from Boston University. Marianne taught business English and writing in the interior mainland of China for more than 7 years.
Marianne is deeply committed to multi-racial and intercultural unity, and believes it can be found through listening with compassion and without judgement, and through mirroring the best of what's possible in individuals and groups. Her beliefs are expressed through a deep involvement in the Baháʼí faith community in which she works closely with Baháʼí administrative bodies and assists senior citizens. She's also a facilitator for Coming to the Table, a nonprofit organization that acknowledges and seeks to heal from racial wounds of the past to create a just and truthful society. She is most at peace on a body of water, in a hot, dry climate or hiking in the mountains.
Carl Williams - Reparations Media Board Member
Carl Williams is a passionate advocate for prison reform and youth restoration. He is dedicated to supporting incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals in various aspects of their lives, including mental health, education, rebuilding, employment opportunities, legal rights and societal reintegration. As Community engagement specialist at the Chicago Torture Justice Center (CTJC), he plays a crucial role in advocating for justice and providing support to survivors of police torture and their families. Additionally, he serves on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program Committee at DePaul University, contributing to educational initiatives that bridge the gap between incarcerated individuals and the broader community. Carl is also a committee member for the Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (ILCHEP).
As an entrepreneur Carl is dedicated to creating positive change through innovative solutions. He is president and owner of the custom furniture company Royal Men Solutions where he implements strategies to empower individuals in overcoming challenges and realizing their full potential. Moreover, his 501c3 organization Kids United for The Future, underscores his commitment to nurturing the next generation and creating opportunities for their growth and development.
Debra Gittler - Reparations Media Board Member
Debra Gittler is the Founder of ConTextos, a transnational non-profit dedicated to using the power of literary arts and education to promote healing, reflection, critical thinking, and dialogue through personal storytelling. Debra led ConTextos to scale throughout Central America and into Chicago, working in schools, detention (incarceration and migration) and reentry. ConTextos has reached over 80,000 individuals in Central America and 1,000 individuals closest to Chicago’s violence, growing their programs into systemic interventions through government institutions. Debra’s work is a reflection of a 20+ year yoga practice that reminds her to find strength in flexibility.
Debra received her master’s from Harvard Graduate School of Education with a focus on international policy and social entrepreneurship. She holds an M.S. in Bilingual Education from City College of New York and a B.S. in International Community Development from the University of Michigan. Debra has been recognized as an Echoing Green Global Fellow (2013), a Truman National Security Fellow (2015), a Schusterman REALITY Fellow (2016) and an Aspen Institute Global Leadership Fellow (2017).
Blog Posts
Change Agents Newsletter, Events, In the News and Other Cool Stuff
- February 29, 2024
- 4:00 pm — 7:00 pm
- February 23, 2023
- 6:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.
- February 2, 2023
- 6:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.
Contact
If you have a story idea or know of activists organizations working to bring solutions to the needs of a Chicago-land community of color, please send us a message.
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