Ron Smith, Executive Director
Ronshine comes to us after serving as the managing editor for news at USA TODAY. Before moving to the Washington, D.C., area in 2016, Ron was the deputy managing editor for daily news and production at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he oversaw the breaking news hub, production desks and was the key point person for print story selections and workflow.
He also has worked as an editor at The Oregonian, the Los Angeles Times and Newsday. He is known for championing great journalism and the great journalists who produce great works. He “proceeds until apprehended’ and is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and help others — all while having fun along the way.
Tannette Elie, Managing Editor
Tannette Elie is an award-winning journalist with 20 years of print/digital media experience. She currently serves as vice president of print for the Wisconsin Black Media Association and as a lecturer in communication for Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois. Tannette spent 20 years as a reporter and business columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where she covered a variety of beats before leaving the newsroom in 2009.
Dwayne Burtin, Deputy Editor Digital
Dwayne Burtin is the Ironman of digital media and interactive marketing. He possesses expert knowledge of the tools and technological resources necessary to develop creative and engaging content. His educational background in professional communication allows him to bring inspired storytelling and fresh interactive media together to reach diverse audiences. Dwayne has been working in digital media for 16 years. He is currently the deputy editor of digital news design for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and also an interactive marketing professional for Marquette University in Milwaukee Wisconsin.
Bevin Christie, News414 Project Manager
Bevin Christie joined News414, a collaboration between the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Wisconsin Watch in 2020. Christie is a social entrepreneur and community organizer, with a background in education reform and workforce development. She has partnered with public/private schools, community-based organizations and the Milwaukee community to build upon a belief that healing, equity and inclusion is key to Milwaukee being a better place to thrive not just survive.
Edgar Mendez, Senior Staff Reporter
Raised in a South Side neighborhood where he still lives, Edgar Mendez is a senior staff reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Mendez is a proud graduate of UW-Milwaukee, where he double majored in Journalism and Sociology, and of Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in Communication.
He won a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and 2014, 2017, and 2018 Milwaukee Press Club Awards for his reporting on taverns, marijuana law enforcement, and lead in water service lines. In 2008, he won a Society of Professional Journalists’ regional award for columns dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness and racism. His writing has been published by the Associated Press, Reuters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media. He has also co-authored three articles published in scholarly journals. He is a proud father of a five, eight, 14 and 16-year-old and is an avid fan of all Wisconsin sports teams. Go Pack Go!
PrincessSafiya Byers, Staff Reporter
PrincessSafiya Byers was born and raised in Milwaukee, and is a 2020 graduate of Marquette University, majoring in Journalism and Africana Studies. Her commitment to her community has led her to nonprofit work with local youth and families. She’s also interned with the Milwaukee Community Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and joins Milwaukee NNS as a Staff Reporter looking to serve democracy by covering issues important to the community.
Devin Blake, Staff Reporter
Devin Blake started as a journalist at Patch, writing about the Southern California neighborhoods he grew up in. He focused on local business communities throughout the area and was drawn to stories about unemployment, worker resources, and businesses that were filling unmet needs in their communities.
Watching the homelessness crisis continue to deepen over those years, he began working as a resource and information coordinator for community groups and nonprofits so they could better serve populations without stable housing—populations that included the elderly, developmentally delayed and those with HIV/AIDs, among others.
Blake has contributed to a number of publications, including New York magazine, The Onion, and McSweeney’s. He loves spending time with his wife and negotiating with his 2-year-old son.
Trisha Young, Staff Reporter
Trisha Young grew up in Racine and graduated from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2019 with a degree in film. Since high school, she has organized with student, worker, environmental and immigrant rights groups, something that has remained an integral part of her life. Trisha hopes to further her own as well as the community’s awareness of issues that affect those most ignored and under-served by the current systems in the U.S.
In her free time, Trisha enjoys making and watching films, reading science fiction, making art, traveling and exploring other cultures, kickboxing and engaging in debates (arguing).
Meredith Melland, Report for America corps member and Staff Reporter
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods and community engagement reporter and a Report for America corps member. Report for America is a national service program that embeds journalists into local newsrooms to cover under-covered issues and communities.
As a journalist committed to local news and community service, Melland has experience covering community stories and writing and editing for a variety of mediums. Before returning to her home state of Wisconsin, she served as digital content editor of the Daily Journal in Kankakee, Illinois, where she also reported stories on COVID-19 and other topics.
While earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from DePaul University, she produced multimedia reporting for 14 East, DePaul’s student-run online magazine. Melland previously interned at Chicago magazine, WGN and StreetWise.
Jonathan Perez, Staff Photographer
A Milwaukee native, Jonathan Perez has always had an ambition to explore and create art. He’s been published in online magazines in the United States and internationally and has a bachelor’s of science degree in Digital Arts and Design from Full Sail University.
Chesnie Wardell, Reporting Intern
Chesnie Wardell serves as a reporting intern for NNS. In addition to compiling our popular “5 things to know and do” lists, she also writes features on notable North Side and South Side residents. She is a junior at Marquette University, where she studies journalism and digital media.
Away from the NNS newsroom, Wardell writes for her family’s business in Friars Point, Mississippi. Wardell has volunteered at the student-run Marquette Wire, where she’s reported on weather, sports, anchored the news desk and put together news packages. Along with modeling and acting, Wardell enjoys freelance photography, being a substitute teacher and mentoring teens across Milwaukee.
Sue Vliet, Photographer
Sue Vliet is a volunteer photographer for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. She has been a part of the organization almost since it’s inception in 2011. She is proud to be involved in a number of award winning stories including bronze award for a series “Poverty in Milwaukee “ in 2015.
Vliet works as a freelance photographer specializing in portraits,especially of children and families, locations and art.
She is excited to continue to illuminate and celebrate her home town of Milwaukee.
Cooking and baking, as well as gardening and canning remain favorite past times.
Mark Doremus, Video Content Strategist
Mark Doremus is the video content strategist for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.
Mark grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and spent his high school years hanging out in the campus photo lab. He learned the television trade as a Navy broadcaster in Japan and worked as a television news reporter in Escanaba, Michigan, as well as Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin. He holds a Ph.D. in Journalism and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He worked as an administrator for the University of Wisconsin System for 20 years before he retired in 2015.
Mark considers himself, first and foremost, to be a traditional journalist. He believes there is an objective truth in the world that can be captured and conveyed to an audience. His goal is to tell true stories that expand our understanding of the world in which we live.