MISSISSIPPI TODAY - Key Persons
Adam, named Mississippi Today's editor-in-chief April 2020, has covered politics and state government for Mississippi Today since February 2016. Adam oversees the newsroom and works with the editorial team to produce high-quality journalism in the public interest.
Alex, from New York City, is Mississippi Today's data and environment reporter. His work has appeared in the Boston Globe, Open Secrets, and on NBC.com. In 2019, Alex was a grantee through the Pulitzer Center's Connected Coastlines program, which supported his coverage around the impact of climate change on Mississippi fisheries.
Alex Rozier, a native of New York City, is Mississippi Today's data reporter. He analyzes data and creates visuals for numbers that inform our stories. He also reports on the environment, transportation and Mississippi culture and is a member of the engagement team.
Alex, whose work has appeared in the Boston Globe and Open Secrets, has a bachelor's in journalism from Boston University. He began his career with Mississippi Today as an intern July 2017 and became a full-time reporter November 2017.
Job Titles:
- Product Engagement Coordinator
Alyssa Bass serves as the Product Engagement Coordinator. The Monroe, Louisiana, native has lived in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for more than 10 years. In 2020, Alyssa earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and minor in Black Studies from The University of Southern Mississippi. There, she served as the executive editor of the award-winning student newspaper The Student Printz.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- President and Chief Operating Officer of NBC
Andrew Lack served as Former Chairman of NBC News. He oversaw editorial and business operations for the network's award-winning television and digital news properties. He is a member of the NBCU Executive Committee and reports to Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal.
Lack, an NBC veteran, returned to the company in April 2015. He first joined in 1993 as President of NBC News. Under his leadership, the network transformed into America's most-watched news organization, with NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press, TODAY and Dateline NBC all leading their respective categories. He was also responsible for expanding the TODAY show to three hours, and for creating the program's street-side studio at Rockefeller Center in New York City in 1994.
In 2001, Lack was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of NBC. In that role, he oversaw entertainment, news (including MSNBC and CNBC), NBC stations, sales, and broadcast and network operations.
Most recently, Lack held the position of the first-ever Chief Executive Officer of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent federal agency that oversees all U.S. civilian international media.
Lack previously served as Chairman of the Bloomberg Media Group. He joined Bloomberg in October 2008 as CEO of its Global Media Group, where he led the expansion of its television, radio, magazine, conference and digital businesses. During Lack's tenure, Bloomberg LP enhanced the quality of its media portfolio, expanded internationally with seven channels across Asia, Africa, India and the Middle East; and built out services to connect people with information in more places and across more platforms than ever before.
Prior to Bloomberg, Lack was Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, where he oversaw management of the company's prominent international artists and vast catalog of recorded music from around the world.
Lack spent much of his early television career at CBS News. After joining in 1976, within a year, he became a prominent producer for 60 Minutes and subsequently senior executive producer of CBS Reports. Lack's broadcasts at CBS earned numerous honors, including 16 Emmy Awards and four Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Journalism Awards.
Job Titles:
- COMMUNITY MANAGER
- Member of the Audience Team
Bethany works as a member of the Audience Team building and maintaining a diverse community of loyal Mississippi Today readers. She uses design to create reader-focused content and products to engage with readers across platforms, including our website, newsletters, mobile app and social channels. She is also responsible for growing and enhancing our membership program.
Bill Bynum is CEO of HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation, Hope Credit Union and Hope Policy Institute), a family of organizations that provides financial services and engages in advocacy to combat the extent to which factors such as race, gender, birthplace and wealth limit one's ability to prosper. Since 1994, HOPE has generated over $3 billion in financing that has benefited nearly 2 million people in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Bill began his career in North Carolina building groundbreaking programs at Self-Help and the NC Rural Center.
Bynum's board and advisory service includes the Aspen Institute, Bank of America, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Prosperity Now, William Winter Institute, E Pluribus Unum, Mississippi Today, Churchill Capital IV and Churchill Capital V. A recipient of the University of North Carolina Distinguished Alumnus Award, Bynum is a Henry Crown Fellow, Emerson Collective Dial Fellow, Salzburg Global Fellow. He previously chaired the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Advisory Board and Treasury Department's Community Development Advisory Board, served on the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty, and as a Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the University of Michigan Gerald Ford School of Public Policy
Job Titles:
- Senior Political Reporter
Bobby, Mississippi Today's senior capitol reporter, covers politics, government and the Mississippi State Legislature. He also writes a weekly analysis.
Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today's senior capitol reporter, covers politics, government and the Mississippi State Legislature. He also writes a weekly analysis.
A native of Laurel, Bobby joined our team June 2018 after working for the North Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo since 1984. He also worked for his hometown Laurel Leader-Call.
Bobby has a bachelor's in American Studies from the University of Southern Mississippi and has received multiple awards from the Mississippi Press Association, including the Bill Minor Best Investigative/In-depth Reporting and Best Commentary Column. He was recognized for two consecutive years as "Advocate of the Year" for the North Mississippi Special Needs Arc.
He is president of the Mississippi Capitol Press Corps Association and works with the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute to arrange luncheons for newsmakers.
"Mississippi needs people to shine light on both its failures and its successes. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer traditional news outlets are able to shine that light. As a journalist, and perhaps more importantly as a native Mississippian, I am thankful there are other outlets - namely nonprofits - able and willing to fill the void."
Job Titles:
- Sales & Marketing Director
Candi joins the staff of Mississippi Today as Sales & Marketing Director after a combined 12-year career in digital marketing sales, corporate relationship development and social media management between The Clarion-Ledger Media Group and United Way of the Capital Area. As a top-performing professional, she has received numerous sales awards and distinctions.
Charles L. Overby is the former chairman and CEO of the Freedom Forum, Newseum and Diversity Institute. He currently serves as chairman of the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. He also is an adjunct instructor in journalism at Ole Miss.
For 22 years he was chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum, a non-partisan foundation that educates people about the press and the First Amendment.
He was CEO of the Newseum from 1997 to 2011 and supervised the building of the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. He also was CEO of the Diversity Institute from its beginning in 2001. The Diversity Institute is a school that teaches journalists and aspiring journalists, with the goal of increasing diversity in newsrooms.
Overby has traveled to six continents speaking about media issues and promoting First Amendment freedoms.
Before joining the Freedom Forum, Overby was a reporter and editor for 17 years.
As a reporter, he covered Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House and presidential campaigns for Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper company.
Overby was the top editor at Florida Today in Melbourne, Fla., and the executive editor of The Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News in Jackson, Miss.
Overby supervised the news and editorial coverage that led to The Clarion-Ledger winning the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1983.
Overby also served as vice president of news and communications for Gannett and was a member of the management committees of Gannett and USA TODAY.
He served two brief stints in government, as press assistant to Sen. John Stennis, D-Miss., and special assistant for administration to Gov. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
Overby has served on several boards relating to education. He was a regent for Baylor University, a member of the board of visitors of Duke Divinity School, a member of the NCAA Foundation Board and a member of the foundation board of the University of Mississippi, his alma mater. He was a member of the board of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, which gives more than $2 million annually in college scholarships to underprivileged students. He is a member of the board of directors of the Andrew Jackson Foundation and serves on the Board of Visitors for the School of Journalism and New Media.
He and his wife, Andrea, live in Franklin, Tenn., and have three children and three grandchildren.
Consistently throughout her life, Donna Kennedy Barksdale has provided leadership in education activities, private business, public philanthropy, church and civic engagement.
She is currently on the board of the Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit committed to realizing a free, just and equitable society; a member of the International Women's Forum, whose mission is to support the women leaders of today and tomorrow; a board member of the Foundation for Mississippi History; and a board member of the Mississippi Women's Foundation. She served on the executive committee of America's Promise Alliance, committed to creating the conditions of success for all children and youth, and, among many other activities, she has served as a board member of Habitat for Humanity, a board member of the Mississippi Arts Commission, as a founder and chair of Leadership Jackson, on the board of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, a past president of the Junior League of Jackson, past chair of Mistletoe Marketplace and a deacon of her church.
As well as being chair of the board of MississippiToday.org, she is chair of the board of Nunoerin, a creative data economy company. Since 1991, she has served as president of Mississippi River Trading Company, and she manufactured in China and Mongolia for over 10 years. She previously served as a consultant to Viking Corporation.
Barksdale was deeply involved in the Youth Employment Project (YEP) in Jackson, which provided students at Lanier High School an opportunity to work in real-world professional settings during the summer and helped prepare and mentor them for college and for professional careers. Their college completion rate was 93-100%.
Eric, a native of Columbia, is a photojournalist focused on healthcare in Mississippi. Eric's journalism career started with an internship at the Associated Press in Boston. He later worked for daily newspapers as a photojournalist in Central and East Texas. He also worked for the Hattiesburg American and the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi. Eric was a 2018 corps member in Report for America, and joined the team as our first photojournalist. He rejoined Mississippi Today as our community health photojournalist in January 2022.
Job Titles:
- Senior Political Reporter
Job Titles:
- Community Health Reporter
Isabelle, an Atlanta native, covers health as part of Mississippi Today's community health team. Prior to joining Mississippi Today, she was a reporter for the Biloxi Sun Herald and a Report for America corps member.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board and President of Barksdale Management Corporation
James L. Barksdale is chairman of the board and president of Barksdale Management Corporation, a private company that manages his investments and philanthropic activities. He also serves as chairman of Spread Networks, a company he helped establish in 2009. Barksdale has more than 35 years of operational experience. He served as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Netscape Communications Corp., from January 1995 until the company merged with America Online in March 1999. He was director of Netscape from October 1994. Upon completion of the merger with America Online, Jim joined Time Warner's board of directors.
Prior to Netscape, Barksdale was CEO of AT&T Wireless Services (formerly McCaw Cellular Communications). From January 1992 to September 1994, he served as president and chief operating officer (COO) of McCaw Cellular. From April 1983 to January 1992, Barksdale served as executive vice president and COO at Federal Express Corporation and, prior to that, he served as the company's chief information officer (CIO) for four years. From the time he began his career at IBM, Barksdale has held various management positions, including CIO of Cook Industries and President of Cook Treadwell and Harry, an insurance brokerage firm and subsidiary of Cook Industries.
Under Barksdale's leadership, Netscape received the "Entrepreneurial Company of the Year" award from both Stanford and Harvard Business School alumni groups in 1997. Additionally, Computer Reseller News named Barksdale "#1 Executive of the Year," while PC Magazine selected him "Person of the Year." At the 1997 ETRE Conference in Budapest, Barksdale received the "Executive of the Year" award. He also earned the BEAR Award from Brown University for citizenship and the CIO Council for the United States awarded him the Industry Executive of the Year in 2006.
The Barksdale Foundation established the Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi in 1997. In January 2000, the foundation granted $100 million to the State of Mississippi for creation of The Barksdale Reading Institute to help Mississippi children improve their reading skills. In 2009, Barksdale was awarded The Working for Academic Excellence Award (HEADWAE) from the State of Mississippi for his overall contribution of the state's public and private institutions of higher learning. In addition, he received the national NetDay Hero Award for his work for education. He was later awarded the 2012 Winter-Reed Partnership Award for his work on education in Mississippi. He has earned inductions into the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame, the Mississippi Business Hall of Fame and the Memphis Society of Entrepreneurs.
In 2008, Jim and his wife, Donna Kennedy Barksdale, presented a gift to the University of Mississippi for the creation of the Mississippi Principal Corps, an initiative designed to change the way Mississippi school principals are trained. The Barksdales have also sponsored Parents for Public Schools' "Schoolhouse to Statehouse" project, which trains parents to become more engaged with public schools in the state. They were both selected for the 2014 Legacy Award given by the Ole Miss Women's Council for Philanthropy. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions as philanthropists, leaders and mentors and, through these contributions, have brought about definitive, positive change in the University of Mississippi, the state and nation.
Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, Barksdale was appointed by then-Gov. Haley Barbour to chair the Governor's Commission on the Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal of Mississippi. He was subsequently asked by Gov. Barbour to chair the Mississippi Broadband Connect Coalition (MBCC). Recommendations from this coalition will be used to develop a strategy for broadband development and use in Mississippi. For his work on these commissions, and for his establishment of the Barksdale Reading Institute, Jim was awarded the Mississippi Medal of Service in 2011.
In January 2012, Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Barksdale as interim Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority, the state's lead economic development agency. Later that year, Gov. Bryant also appointed him as co-chair of Mississippi Works, a working group of Mississippi business leaders focused on achieving greater economic success for the state.
Barksdale sits on the boards of several companies and foundations, including Time Warner, Federal Express and In-Q-Tel. He also was appointed to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board by President George W. Bush.
Barksdale received his B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Mississippi. In 1997, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Rhodes College and in 2001 the University of Mississippi conferred the Mississippi Humanitarian Award to him. Millsaps College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2003, and in 2012, Duke University awarded him an honorary degree.
Job Titles:
- POVERTY & BREAKING NEWS Reporter
Julia, a native of Mandeville, La., recently completed an investigative reporting internship with Mississippi Today. In that role, she closely covered the sprawling welfare scandal and public education. Continuing that work, she will also work closely with Mississippi Today's breaking news team.
Job Titles:
- COMMUNITY HEALTH EDITOR
- Lead Education Reporter
Kate is a Jackson native and returned to Mississippi Today as the lead education reporter after serving in the same capacity from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she was a reporter for The Clarion-Ledger covering education and state government. Kate became Mississippi Today's first community health editor in January 2022.
Kate Royals is a Jackson native and returned to Mississippi Today as the lead education reporter after serving in the same capacity from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she was a reporter for The Clarion-Ledger covering education and state government. Kate became Mississippi Today's first community health editor in January 2022. She won awards for her investigative work, including stories about the state's campaign finance laws and prison system. She was a news producer at MassLive in Springfield, Mass., after graduating from Louisiana State University's Manship School of Mass Communications with a master's degree in communications.
"Whether during a pandemic or ‘normal' times, I can't think of a more important topic to write about than the education of our children. Mississippi's future is being shaped in the classroom, and I feel lucky to write about it. My goal is to write stories that reveal how the policies formed at the Capitol in Jackson affect educators and students in every corner of the state, for better or worse."
Kayleigh joined the Mississippi Today staff in January 2017 as an education and legislative reporter. Now the managing editor, she works with a newsroom of photographers and journalists to create quality and impactful journalism for Mississippians.
Job Titles:
- Audience Development Director
A former newspaper reporter and magazine editor/publisher, Lauchlin served as web manager for Mississippi Today before the site launched in 2016, a role she maintained until joining the team full-time as web editor August 2017. As Audience Development Director, she leads a dedicated Audience Team and works closely with all staff to foster an audience engagement mindset across the organization.
Linden manages the business finances and operations at Mississippi Today. He previously worked as a senior auditor for Matthews, Cutrer, & Lindsay P.A., and as a real estate sales agent for Nix-Tann & Associates.
Marshall, a nationally recognized editorial cartoonist, shares his cartoons and travels the state as Mississippi Today's Editor-At-Large. Marshall can often be found in communities across Mississippi, promoting public conversations about the news and inspiring audiences to engage in civic life.
Marshall Ramsey, a nationally recognized editorial cartoonist, shares his cartoons and travels the state as Mississippi Today's Editor-At-Large. Marshall can often be found in communities across Mississippi, promoting public conversations about the news and inspiring audiences to engage in civic life. He's also host of a weekly statewide radio program and a television program on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and is the author of several books.
Marshall is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in business administration and marketing. His cartoons have appeared in the Clarion Ledger, where he worked for 22 years, as well as USA Today, CNN, Fox News, The Today Show, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine and 300 newspapers around the United States. He is a two-time Pulitzer Finalist and was named a top 100 employee of Gannett. He has received numerous MPA awards and the John Locher Memorial Award, which is given to nation's top collegiate cartoonist.
Mary Margaret is the CEO of Mississippi Today. She works closely with the Mississippi Today leadership team to ensure collaboration and mission alignment throughout our nonprofit newsroom. Mary Margaret builds relationships with foundations, grant makers and impact donors to ensure reporters have the financial support they need to do their work.
Mary Margaret White is the CEO of Mississippi Today. She works closely with the Mississippi Today leadership team to ensure collaboration and mission alignment throughout our nonprofit newsroom. Mary Margaret builds relationships with foundations, grant makers and impact donors to ensure reporters have the financial support they need to do their work. She was a fellow in the 2020 Online News Association's Women's Leadership Accelerator, an international executive training for women in media.
She is an advisory board member for the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Mary Margaret has a bachelor's in English and journalism and a master's in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi. Prior to joining Mississippi Today, she served nearly a decade with the State of Mississippi in leadership positions at both Visit Mississippi and the Mississippi Arts Commission. Her work has appeared in The Listening Post Collective, The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and on Mississippi Public Broadcasting Radio.
Michelle joins the staff of Mississippi Today as the Donor Relations Director following a successful 15-year not-for-profit fundraising career. Michelle has held leadership positions with Children's of Mississippi, the American Heart Association and JDRF where she was instrumental in philanthropic development as well as implementing mission related strategies.
Job Titles:
- HIGHER EDUCATION REPORTER
Molly, a Florida native, joins Mississippi Today as the newest member of the education team. Her work will be in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit news organization focused on higher education. Prior to joining Mississippi Today, Minta worked for The Nation and The Appeal.
Rick Cleveland, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Today's sports columnist since 2016. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor's in journalism, Rick has worked for the Hattiesburg American, Monroe (La.) News Star World, Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger as a reporter, editor and columnist.
He was executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers. Rick has authored four books and has been recognized 13 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year.
He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and into the Hattiesburg Hall of Fame in 2018. He received the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence in 2011 and was inducted into the University of Southern Mississippi Communications Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2000, he was honored with the Distinguished Mississippian Award from Mississippi Press Association. He has received numerous state, regional and national awards for his column writing and reporting.
"As traditional newspaper staffs and newspapers themselves have diminished, the traditional role of journalism as a watchdog has been threatened. Thorough news coverage is critical to the well-being of a democracy. I believe we are seeing nonprofit news begin to fill that role. I believe we will see that increase."
Sara, Mississippi Today's first economy and jobs reporter, covers economic development and job creation in Mississippi. A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Sara is the newsroom's first reporter based on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Seetha Srinivasan is director emerita of the University Press of Mississippi. She joined the press in 1979 as its first acquiring editor and advanced to become director in 1998, from which position she retired in 2008. Srinivasan played a major role in putting the press on a firm footing with a well-recognized publishing program.
Throughout her publishing career, Srinivasan was active in the Association of American University Presses, serving in a range of capacities, often in leadership positions. She served as president of the association in 2003-2004. In 2002, she received the association's Constituency Award for her "outstanding service to the university press community." On the occasion of her retirement, the Mississippi Legislature passed a concurrent resolution commending her career and her contributions to the state.
Srinivasan has lived in Jackson since 1969. She has always been and continues to be involved in a variety of activities in the community. She has headed civic and arts organizations, served as chair of the Women's Foundation of Mississippi (2011) and serves on the boards of the Community Foundation for Mississippi and St. Andrew's School. In 1998, Millsaps College presented her with the Jim Livesay Service Award. Millsaps College awarded Srinivasan an honorary doctorate in humane letters in 2013. That same year, Srinivasan was recognized by the Women's Foundation of Mississippi as one of the state's 10 Women of Vision.
Seetha Srinivasan is married to Asoka Srinivasan, and their sons, Arjun and Gautam, live with their families in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., respectively.
Job Titles:
- President of Both the Mississippi Association of Grantmakers
Tom Pittman was co-incorporator of the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi in 2002 and served as its first chairman before becoming its first full-time president and CEO in 2004. He oversaw its development of $20 million in endowments while granting $25 million to more than 200 nonprofits in its 11-county region before becoming president emeritus in 2020.
He previously was publisher and editor of the DeSoto Times newspaper, which received first place awards for general excellence in Mississippi. Prior to that he served as general manager and editor of the Daily Journal in Tupelo, the state's third-largest newspaper, for 18 years. He became interested in electronic delivery of news in 1981 after reading about Knight-Ridder's videotext experiment in Miami.
Pittman has served as president of both the Mississippi Association of Grantmakers and the Mississippi Press Association. He currently serves on the boards for Entergy Mississippi and Southern Bancorp Community Partners. He has previously served on the boards of the Mississippi Economic Council, North Mississippi Health Foundation, Mississippi's Kids Count and Excel By 5. Pittman was a charter board member for the DeSoto Arts Council and the DeSoto Health and Wellness Center.
A native Mississippian, he earned degrees from the University of Mississippi in sociology and Emory University in theology.
Tray Hairston is an attorney at Butler Snow LLP and is a member of the firm's public finance and incentives practice group. Hairston focuses on bond transactions and economic development projects. He has served as bond counsel for various cities and counties throughout the state of Mississippi.
Hairston is former counsel and policy advisor to Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and was the governor's liaison to the Mississippi Development Authority, which is the state's economic development arm, the State Bond Commission, the Mississippi Home Corporation, where affordable housing tax credits are allocated, and minority contracting.
As counsel to the governor, he helped assist the state in 2012 before Moody's, Fitch, and Standard & Poor's in New York pursuant to the state's $300 million variable rate demand obligation restructuring and advance refunding of approximately $240 million in debt and in 2013 when the rating agencies toured the state visiting various existing industries such as Nissan, Toyota, and General Atomics. As a member of the governor's staff, he also helped draft the Mississippi Health Care Industry Zone Act of 2012 in addition to drafting sections of the Mississippi Home Corporation's allocation plan for administering affordable housing tax credits for health care industry zone developments for workforce housing. Since leaving the governor's office, he has continued to assist the state in its rating agency preparations both in 2014 and 2015.
Prior to joining the office of the governor, Tray was an attorney at Balch & Bingham LLP where he practiced in the firm's corporate, public finance and economic development incentives sections. Before Balch, Tray also served as a year-long federal law clerk to the Honorable Henry T. Wingate, District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi from 2009-2010.
Prior to beginning his legal career, Hairston was a member of the Global Business Division at the Mississippi Development Authority, where he provided project management assistance to companies and consultants looking to locate new businesses in Mississippi. In this capacity, Hairston helped companies obtain economic development incentives. He was also a legal extern to MDA's legal counsel during his third year of law school.
Tray received dual degrees from Tougaloo College in English and Humanities with an emphasis in Philosophy (magna cum laude). He also spent an extra year as a student at Tougaloo (i.e., one year as an exchange student) attending Brown University in Providence, R.I. during the fall semester and New York University in New York City during the spring semester. Tray received his MBA in 2006 from Belhaven College in Jackson and is a 2009 graduate of Mississippi College School of Law, where he received American Jurisprudence awards for Corporate Finance and Counseling and Negotiations.
Hairston regularly publishes scholarly legal articles and is an adjunct law professor at Mississippi College School of Law. He is a member of the Mississippi Economic Development Council and the National Association of Bond Lawyers. Tray was recognized as "Young Lawyer of the Year" by Mississippi College School of Law in 2012 and "Top 40 under 40" by the Mississippi Business Journal 2012-2013. He most recently gave a TEDx Talk on "How to Make Health Care an Economic Driver" at Jackson's first ever TED Talk forum.
Attorney Vangela M. Wade has a long-standing connection to Mississippi Center for Justice, having joined the Board of Directors in 2016 and served as Secretary/Treasurer, Chair of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Board of Directors. She currently serves as MCJ's president and CEO. Wade began The Wade Law Firm, PLLC, after building a diverse and distinguished resume as a lawyer. Her background also includes working as a law clerk with the Mississippi Court of Appeals, a special prosecutor with the Madison/Rankin County District Attorney's Office and as a corporate defense attorney with local and national employment law firms. She has also served as an adjunct law professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law. In addition to her legal experience, she advised public and private employers and organizations as a consultant in matters involving diversity and fair employment practices. Wade currently serves on the board of Mississippi Today and served on the board of St. Andrew's Episcopal School for eight years. With more than 23 years of experience in Mississippi Law, Wade is dedicated to the fight against Mississippi's culture of injustice by seeking systemic solutions to ensure equity in the lives of all Mississippians.
Vickie King has experience as a professional photographer spanning 35 years- from childhood purchasing her first camera by selling flower seeds to neighbors, as a stringer for Associated Press in Des Moines, Iowa, a freelancer shooting an album cover to your loved one's wedding, and your kids and pets at a J.C. Penney portrait studio. She joins the Mississippi Today team as a photojournalist.
A native Mississippian and resident of Jackson, Vickie was born in Laurel.
You know her work from years as a staff photographer for the Clarion-Ledger. Her award-winning photography has appeared in such publications as the New York Times, Editor & Publisher Magazine, People Magazine, in national news broadcasts, and books depicting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to the glory of Ole Miss football.
Most recently, she is the former photographer, Special Projects Officer IV, Staff Officer I, videographer, and online content producer for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. She is also a Pulitzer Prize nominee for Spot News.
Vickie is a graduate of Simpson College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Relations.
"I've always, always had a curiosity about this big blue marble we call home. But how to keep it close, and how to share it with those who can't be there. I take you with me, and I put you there. The viewer is now in-the-know. When I first witnessed a photograph come to life in a darkroom, it was magic. Click, and for the viewer, for posterity, that one magic moment in time is forever ours. It's what I love about photography. Mississippi is a grand state, rich in culture and history. Mississippi Today provides me an opportunity to take her people with me as I document their lives and stories through my lens."
Job Titles:
- HEALTHCARE & BREAKING NEWS Reporter
Will, a native of Vicksburg, covers all things public health in Mississippi with a specific focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. He looks closely at public health trends and challenges across the state, with a keen eye toward reproductive justice and women and girls' health.