Staff

Susan Mernit, Editor/Publisher

Susan is Oakland Local’s volunteer editor and publisher. She assigns stories, raises money, writes blogs & articles, and works with nonprofits and community organizations. A former arts activist, and then VP at Netscape and Yahoo! Senior Director, she lives in North Oakland, and is passionate about food access & permaculture issues. Her long time personal blog is susanmernit.com and susanmernit.tumblr.com  Contact Susan at susan@oaklandlocal.com, follow her on twitter at oaklandlocal and susanmernit.

Kwan Booth, Lead, Oakland Local Academy

OL co-founder Kwan handles much of our Oakland Local Academy community outreach and training, both in Oakland and for programs we do around the region and online. Kwan is passionate about poetry, art, beats, music and empowering others, especially around the digital divide. His personal blog is Boothism. Contact Kwan at kwan@oaklandlocal.com, follow him at oaklandlocal and boothism.

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig, Managing Editor

“MFC” is an award-winning journalist who is co-owner of ZM Productions, Editor-in-Chief of shades Magazine and Region VI Director for the National Association of Black Journalists. Her publication credits include co-author of “Living in the Moment: A Guide to Living a Full and Spiritual Life” and contributor to “Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul.” Her awards and recognitions include first place for investigative reporting for her work with the Chauncey Bailey Project and an Associated Press Managing Editors Award for column writing. Contact Michelle at mfc@oaklandlocal.com; follow her on Twitter at shadesmagazine1 and mfcnews.

Jennifer Inez Ward, Contributing Editor

Lake Merritt writer and photographer Jennifer has documented Oakland and the Bay Area for more than a decade. As a contributing editor at Oakland Local, Jennifer writes and blogs on a variety of subjects, including the arts, public safety, and city redevelopment issues. She is also executive senior manager of Freelance Café, a networking and resource center for writers, artists, contractors and other independents. Her blog, a funny and passionate look at city life, is oaklandscene.blogspot.com. Contact her at jennifer.wrd@gmail.com and follow her on twitter at Oaklandscene.

CB Smith-Dahl, Community Media Manager

CB Smith-Dahl (aka Ms. Smitty B) is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer, and educator who has always put the community at the center of her work. In 1997, she founded Community Bridge Video, which produces educational and promotional films in partnership with nonprofits and community based organizations. She has an MFA in Film & Television Production from the University of Southern California and a BA in Spanish and Education from Spelman College. Some of the programs  CB has  taught for are Inner City Filmmakers, Streetside Productions/The East Bay Asian Youth Center, and Horizons/The DJ Project.   As Oakland Local's Community Media Manager, she creates new media content for the site. Her work with Oakland Local Academy teaches and engages youth, community members and organizations in useful media skills.

Debi Mason, Marketing & Partnerships

Debi Mason is the Promotions and Marketing Manager for Oakland Local.  She is also a member of the Bay Area Black Journalist Association, the National Association of Black Storytellers, the National Storytelling Network, the National Association of Community Theatres and is the founder and artistic director of Spoken Word Ministries. Her published works include a book of poems and essays, Speaking Boldly, As I Ought To Speak, Vol. 1, two published plays, Granny’s Porch and Keys to The Kingdom and a personal testimony, Arizona Clay which won The 2011 Best Autobiographical Self-help Book Award from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association.

Core contributers include:

Amy Gahran, Co-founder

OL co-founder and volunteer, Amy focuses on mobile development, multimedia, environment, transportation, development and, of course, the emerging Zombie beat. A mobile news guru, Amy is passionate about training and speaking truth to power.

Andrew Hoerner, Planning & Strategy

A strategic consultant and expert on climate change policy issues, volunteer Andy helps guide the strategy and development of Oakland Local. A long-time Oaklander (first Lake Merritt and now near Children’s Hospital), Andrew is committed to cross-movement dialogue in the interest of reform.

Barbara Grady, Reporter

Barbara Grady is a freelance reporter who often writes for Oakland Local. Before her current stint of writing about social issues for various news and non-profit organizations, Barbara was on staff at the Oakland Tribune and, earlier, at Reuters. She's a recipient of a Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists for a series published in 2008.

Curtis Jermany, Photographer

Fashion, portraiture, glamour, fine art & commercial photographer skilled in various lighting techniques with a personal style that favors creative use of shadows.Currently working on 1st book, MooDy-ism™, a collection of urban imagery taken around the city of Oakland CA. See GZ PhotoZ.com

Eric K Arnold, Writer & Photographer

Eric K. Arnold has been writing about urban music culture since the mid-1990s, when he was the Managing Editor of now-defunct 4080 Magazine. Since then, he’s been a columnist for such publications as The Source, XXL, Murder Dog, Africana.com, and the East Bay Express; his work has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Vibe, Wax Poetics, SF Weekly, XLR8R, the Village Voice and Jamrock, as well as the academic anthologies Total Chaos and The Vinyl Ain’t Final.

Irene Florez, Associate Editor

Irene Florez is a sustainable development enthusiast and an Oakland resident of seven years. She writes on issues related to East Oakland and Latinas/os in California.

Paula Wirth, Contributing photographer

Paula Wirth was born in 1971, in Oakland, California. An accomplished photographer, she  now spends a lot of time photodocumenting vintage neon signs and architecture, street art and graffiti, as well as covering music events and taking candid portraiture. Her work investigates the role of the flâneur/flâneuse in the practice of observing and documenting daily modern life through drawing and photography.

Reginald James, Contributing editor

Reginald James is currently studying at UC Berkeley. He hosts the internet radio show, The Black Hour. Reginald is an Aries and enjoys walking, running, rowing and biking Lake Merritt. 

Tehea Robie, Associate Editor

Tehea Robie is a contributing writer to OL, as well as a novelist and performance poet. She was a finalist for the 2005 Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers, and has been published in Five Fingers Review and Controlled Burn. She has been a featured poet at venues all around the Bay.

 

Mariah Carle, Writer & Photographer

Mariah has lived in the Jingletown district of Oakland for the past two years, running a full time Oakland Photography Studio as well as writing for Oakland Local and Jingletown. She is an award winning & published photographer and artist. 

 

Current interns: Juan Martinez, Vanessa Rancano.

We're looking for additional interns; email editor@oakandlocal.com if you're interested in interning at OL.

We also have a great group of writers--get in touch if you'd like to write, blog, post or do multimedia for OL!

Also:

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  • Would you like to work with us? Want to volunteer, outreach, write? Get in touch at editor@oaklandlocal.com