Our Team

Chauncey Alcorn is Capital B Atlanta’s state and local politics reporter. He previously worked as a staff writer at CNN Business, the Daily Mail, and Mic. He has also written for theGrio, Fortune.com, Vice News, Salon, and the New York Daily News, among other major publications.

Javonte Anderson is Capital B Gary’s editor. He started his career at his hometown newspaper, the Post-Tribune, which covers northwest Indiana. After the Post-Tribune, Anderson served as a breaking news and religion reporter at the Chicago Tribune. Most recently, he was the racism and history reporter at USA Today. Anderson is a graduate of Indiana University–Bloomington, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history.

Jenae Barnes is the health and environment reporter for Capital B Gary. Barnes is a 2023 Wake Forest University Environmental and Epistemic Justice Fellow. She has served as a global affairs intern at ABC News and has produced and written pieces featured on Good Morning America, Blavity, and Medium. Barnes earned a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School and a bachelor’s degree in global affairs from George Mason University.

Christina Carrega is the national criminal justice reporter at Capital B. Christina has covered the criminal legal system for the New York Daily News, New York Post, ABC News, and CNN. Away from work, Christina volunteers at Princess Chambers Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting underprivileged youth, and regularly makes guest appearances at university-level journalism classes. She’s a first-generation-born American and was raised in Brooklyn, New York.

Neil Cornish is Capital B’s copy chief. He has been a copy editor, reporter, and page designer over his 30-year journalism career. Neil comes to Capital B from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he was a copy editor and wires editor. Prior to that, he worked at the former St. Petersburg Times in Florida, the News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware, and the Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia.

Jahmaiah Dones, CFRE, is Capital B’s development director. She was formerly the associate director of development at CARE USA, and the development manager at Democracy Now! Dones has worked with Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Eagle Academy Foundation, and the NAACP. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Dones is a proud first generation Trinidadian American. She happily resides in Atlanta.

Adeshina Emmanuel is Capital B’s managing editor of local news. His work over the past 12 years has focused on civic and watchdog journalism. He previously oversaw investigations at Louisville Public Media and is a former editor-in-chief at Injustice Watch. Ade is also a former beat reporter at Chalkbeat, The Chicago Reporter, and DNAinfo. He started his career on the Chicago Sun-Times’ breaking news desk.

Maddy Franklin is the youth and education reporter for Capital B Gary. Franklin is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She served as editor-in-chief for the Bulldogs’ student newspaper, after working in various roles. There, she developed an interest in narrative storytelling and community journalism. Franklin has held internships at Capital B Atlanta and most recently at the Tampa Bay Times.

Tyra Green is Capital B’s development coordinator. She is a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame, with a master’s in nonprofit administration from its Mendoza College of Business. She was as a graduate research assistant and master of development practice intern at the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Green received her undergraduate degree from Spelman College.

Adam Mahoney is Capital B’s national climate and environment reporter. Before joining Capital B, he covered environmental justice on Grist Magazine’s Investigations and Accountability team. His work has also appeared in places such as The Associated Press, Dissent Magazine, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian. He is from Wilmington, a neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Akoto Ofori-Atta is co-founder and chief audience officer of Capital B. She was previously managing editor at The Trace, where she was responsible for the award-winning newsroom’s partnerships, special projects, and editorial operations. She previously held positions as senior editor at Essence magazine and associate editor at The Root, and is a 2015 John S. Knight journalism fellow. 

Dalila-Johari Paul is Capital B’s national editor. She comes from CNN, where she most recently led the race and equality team for the digital team. The veteran journalist also previously oversaw the network’s overnight news coverage for digital. The New York City native loves to build and uplift teams. She’s held multiple editorial positions at the Guardian US, the Star-Ledger in New Jersey, and the Hartford Courant in Connecticut. Her first reporting assignments started as a high school student covering homelessness and race relations in NYC’s five boroughs.

Mahlia Posey is an audience producer for Capital B. She previously worked as a politics video producer/editor at The Washington Post, where she was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for the Post’s Jan. 6 coverage. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, NBCBLK and AJ+.

Charity L. Scott is audience development editor at Capital B. Charity spent the last decade working at The Wall Street Journal, most recently as a corporate reporter. In 2021, she conceived of and co-led the team that developed the Journal’s package commemorating the centennial of the Tulsa race massacre. Previously, she was a senior editor and founding member of the Journal’s social media team.

Sydney Sims is Capital B Atlanta’s general assignment reporter. Sims, an Atlanta native, joins Capital B from the Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus, Georgia, where she was the breaking news reporter. She has bylines in the Macon Telegraph and WABE News. Sims is a graduate of Auburn University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Plainsman, and interned at Heritage Radio Network, The Auburn Villager, and Columbus and The Valley. 

Rob Smith Capital B’s newsletter editor. He previously worked as a senior research editor at TED and as managing director for digital publication The Pudding, where he led the development of experimental stories about culture and data. A former librarian and art historian, he is based in Brooklyn, NY. 

Margo Snipe is Capital B’s national health reporter. Snipe was previously health equity reporter at the Tampa Bay Times, where she reported on racial bias in medicine and health burdens disproportionately affecting communities of color. She joined the Tampa Bay Times after graduating cum laude from Georgetown University, where she was captain of the volleyball team and wrote for the student paper, The Hoya. Snipe has interned at CNN, CBS News, and The Marshall Project.

Brandon Tensley is Capital B’s national politics reporter. Previously, he was a national political writer at CNN, where he covered the intersection of culture, identity, and politics. Prior to that, he was a co-host of Slate’s Outward podcast and a contributing writer at Pacific Standard. Brandon was also a Luce Scholar in Thailand and a Fulbright Scholar in Germany.

Madeline Thigpen is the criminal justice reporter at Capital B Atlanta. Previously, she covered education at The Atlanta Voice as a Report for America corps member. Madeline is a graduate of American University. She has also covered education and local politics for TAPinto SOMA, Elizabeth, and Roselle/Roselle Park.

Alexandra Watts is an audience engagement producer at Capital B. She previously did podcasting and audio at The Arizona Republic. During her time in public radio, she won a Regional Edward R. Murrow award and partnered with a public library system for a community engagement initiative. Her work has been featured on NPR, Sirius XM’s POTUS Politics and in USA Today. She is an alum of NPR’s Next Generation Radio program.

Gillian White is the chief revenue officer at Capital B. Gillian was formerly a managing editor at the Atlantic where she oversaw podcasts, editorial live events, special projects, and interactive storytelling. White has also worked as an editor and columnist at Kiplinger. She’s a member of The Philadelphia Inquirer’s board of directors.

Lauren Williams is chief executive officer and co-founder of Capital B. Before starting Capital B, she was senior vice president and editor-in-chief of Vox, where oversaw all editorial and business operations. She also held the positions of executive editor and managing editor there. Prior to Vox, she was an editor at Mother Jones and The Root. Her first journalism job was in local news at the Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia. She serves on the board of directors for the International Women’s Media Foundation.

Michelle Williams is the growth and partnerships director at Capital B. She was previously the editorial director of TexasMonthly.com, where she oversaw a team that won a 2021 City and Regional Magazine Association Award for Excellence Online. Prior to that, she was an editor and producer on CNN’s Newsource Digital team, and a business and technology editor at The Washington Post.

Aallyah Wright is the national rural issues reporter at Capital B. Previously, Aallyah covered rural affairs for Stateline and reported on education and government for Mississippi Today. She is a 2022 Maynard 200 Fellow, 2020 Mississippi Humanities Council Preserver of Mississippi Culture Award Recipient and 2018 Educating Children in Mississippi Fellow at the Hechinger Report.