Tyler Foster is a Memphis-based law student, community organizer, and formerly incarcerated advocate working at the intersection of criminal legal reform and broader social justice movements. He serves as vice president of the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) and as board president of the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network (FICGN). His commentary has appeared in USA Today, Yahoo News, The Tennessean, Tennessee Lookout, The Daily Memphian, The Commercial Appeal, the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and other publications.
Shelby Smith is a graduate student at the University of Memphis studying open-source investigative reporting. Shelby is a first-generation college student pursuing a career in journalism.
Luke Lawson is a graduate student in open-source investigative reporting at the University of Memphis. He is from Hohenwald, Tennessee, and aims for a career in investigative journalism.
Mel Eleftheriou is a junior journalism major at the University of Memphis. In addition to serving as an intern for The Institute, they cover social justice, public transportation and road safety issues for The Daily Helmsman, the student newspaper at the UofM. Mel was a recipient of the 2025 Saul Brown/Memphis Press Scimitar Award.
Ephie Johnson is president and CEO of Neighborhood Christian Centers, Inc., in Memphis. She also owns several businesses, including Pop-A-Roos gourmet popcorn and Touchstone Enterprises, LLC.
Rev. Marlon Foster is founder and CEO of Knowledge Quest, a community development organization founded in South Memphis in 1995. He also is founding pastor of Christ Quest Community Church.
Rev. Dr. G. Scott Morris, a physician and ordained United Methodist minister, is founding director of Church Health in Memphis.
Rev. Dr. Rosalyn Nichols is founding pastor of Freedom’s Chapel Christian Church (DOC). She is a founding member and past president of MICAH (Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope).
Rev. Lisa Anderson is ordained in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She is founding executive director of Room in the Inn-Memphis.
