Author Bios

James Ray is an organizer, writer, and political commentator with a bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from Purdue University.

Shailly Gupta Barnes is the policy director of the Kairos Center for Rights, Religions and Social Justice and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. She has a background in …

Maritza Perez Medina is the director of federal affairs for Drug Policy Action.

Shondiin Silversmith is an award-winning Native journalist based on the Navajo Nation. Silversmith has covered Indigenous communities for more than 10 years, and covers Arizona's 22 federally recognized sovereign …

Maria Montanez is a fellow with Building Freedom Ohio, which is a part of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.

Faith Crittenden, MD, MPH, is a Public Voices fellow with The OpEd Project and The National Black Child Developmental Institute. She is also a pediatric resident and incoming pediatric endocrinology fellow …

Brett Kelman, correspondent, joined KFF Health News after 15 years of reporting at three newspapers in the USA Today Network. Most recently he covered health care, the opioid crisis, …

Molly Castle Work, correspondent, covers health care in California. She has reported on a range of topics including hospital charity care, crisis pregnancy centers, and hospital lawsuits against indebted …

Syris Valentine is the 2024-2025 Grist climate solutions reporting fellow.

Caitlyn Clark is a national organizer at Essential Workers for Democracy, an organization dedicated to rank-and-file member education and empowerment for workers in grocery, meatpacking, and retail.