The Current GA is a not-for-profit, independent newsroom with a dedicated staff of professional journalists with experience in the community, state, nation and world.
MARGARET COKER, EDITOR IN CHIEF
Margaret Coker, the editor-in-chief, started her two-decade career in journalism at Cox Newspapers before going to work at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In that time she covered stories from 32 countries on four continents.
Margaret has won numerous national journalism prizes for investigative, business and diplomatic reporting as well as feature writing. She led a team of Wall Street Journal reporters named as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting in 2017. She is the author of “The Spymaster of Baghdad,” a nonfiction book of Iraqi patriotism in the battle against Isis.
Margaret’s journalism has led to criminal trials and regulatory investigations of global banks and financiers, the dismissal of 14 corrupt police officers, and freedom for three people wrongly convicted and incarcerated. She speaks Arabic and Russian.
She came home to Savannah in 2019 to launch The Current, to revive an investigative news culture in Coastal Georgia, and to mentor a new generation of journalists in our region. Contact her at margaret.coker@thecurrentga.org
SUSAN CATRON, MANAGING EDITOR
Susan Catron, managing editor, has nearly three decades of experience in Georgia newspapers.
From November 2005 until May 2020, Susan served as executive editor of the Savannah Morning News. During her time there, she supervised news content, staffing and budgets for Coastal Georgia’s largest daily newspaper and several weekly newspapers, along with other monthly and special publications. The paper was named best in the state eight times under her leadership.
A native of North Carolina, she came to Georgia in 1998 as managing editor for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. The news staff won the Georgia Associated Press Freedom of Information Award in 2005 for its coverage and ensuing state Supreme Court litigation of a case involving the shooting after an unarmed Black man by a law enforcement officer. She’s also worked at daily newspapers in Louisiana, Missouri, Florida and Kentucky.
She is an adjunct instructor at Savannah State University, the owner of Catron Content Services, board chair for the Georgia Press Educational Foundation and serves on the board for Savannah Council on World Affairs. She is a lapsed Georgia Master Gardener, has two dachshunds, a cat and a great husband. Contact her at susan.catron@thecurrentga.org
JOURNALISTS
MARY LANDERS
Mary Landers covers Coastal Georgia’s environment for The Current, a topic she covered for nearly 24 years at the Savannah Morning News, where she began and ended her time there writing about health, including most recently focusing on the pandemic. She’s adept at telling the stories of everyone from jellyfish fishers to pipeline protesters.
Mary is a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, where she taught environmental science at Lake Malawi National Park. She also speaks Chichewa and basic Spanish. As a reporter in Georgia, she’s won numerous investigative reporting awards as well as the Larry Peterson Investigative Journalism Award. Contact her at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
ROBIN KEMP
Robin was the founder of The Clayton Crescent, a nonprofit news site where she published independent, accountability news for her neighbors for more than 3 years. Her work is a continuation of a family tradition. Born in New Orleans on Mardi Gras, Robin grew up in her father’s newsroom, then worked for the weekly paper, Gambit. As a reporter there, she covered the environment, politics, small business, and culture before coming to Georgia to work at CNN. After graduate school and a period of teaching and freelance writing, Robin worked at The Weather Channel, where she innovated the power outage map, before returning to newspaper reporting in Clayton County. She was named the 2021 Media Changemaker by the Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism. Robin loves coastal culture, dogs, the blues, photography, and good people. Send Liberty County news tips to her at: robin.kemp@thecurrentga.org
JABARI GIBBS
Jabari Gibbs is an accountability reporter for Glynn County. He is a Report for America Fellow. He is from Atlanta, Georgia and is a graduate of Georgia Southern University-Armstrong Campus. He was a 2023 summer fellow at The Current, sponsored by the Emma Bowen Foundation. At Georgia Southern, he majored in communications, and served as the Editor-in-Chief for The George-Anne Inkwell. His investigative pieces have led to change at the university. In his free time he enjoys playing video games and working out. Contact him at jabari.gibbs@thecurrentga.org
MAGGIE LEE
Maggie Lee is a data reporter for The Current. She has been covering Georgia and metro Atlanta government and politics since 2008, contributing writing and data journalism over the years to Creative Loafing, SaportaReport, Reporter Newspapers, The Telegraph (Macon) and others. Find her online at maggielee.net.
CRAIG NELSON
Craig Nelson is a former international correspondent for The Associated Press, the Sydney (Australia) Morning-Herald, Cox Newspapers and The Wall Street Journal. He also served as foreign editor for The National (Abu Dhabi) and as the Journal’s Kabul bureau chief and London-based Africa and Middle East editor. He speaks Spanish. He lives and works in Savannah as a freelance writer. Contact him at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com
JUSTIN TAYLOR
Justin Taylor is a full-time visual journalist for The Current GA and Report for America/Catchlight Local. If his name is familiar, he was a freelance photographer before that working regularly for The Current, as well as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His versatile style blends elements of fine art, photojournalism, and drone photography.
A Savannah native, Justin is committed to documenting the changing life in surrounding Coastal Georgia. Often focusing on environmental issues and disappearing regional communities, Justin’s photography has a true sense of story that illuminates the every day from new angles.
Justin’s obsession with photography started in 2003 while documenting his experience as a U.S. Marine during the Iraq War, and he remains inspired by creating images that tell a story and capture the feeling of a moment. During his 15 years piloting tug boats on the Savannah River, he used his off time to travel the country, exploring and documenting the landscapes of the American West. When not traveling the country, Justin can be found en route to a new adventure with camera in hand and dog, Miles, in tow. Contact him at justin.taylor@thecurrentga.org
SARAH HARWELL
Sarah Harwell is social media editor. She is a Florida native and 2024 graduate of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She has served as editor and brand engagement manager for Centric magazine and beat reporter for NSM Today, both student-run publications at UCF, as well as interned at i4 business magazine. Sarah came to The Current as a Dow Jones News Fund audience engagement intern in 2023. She came back to The Current for Election 2024 work leading 3 college interns for social media presentations for 6 weeks. Contact her at sarah.harwell@thecurrentga.org
COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT
HOLLY ELLIOTT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Holly Elliott works to grow revenue for The Current GA. She has more than 15 years of experience as a strategic communicator and impact-driven storyteller, delivering engagement, brand-building, fundraising, and visibility for non-profit organizations ranging from large global NGOs to regional coalition-building teams. Her work at StrongMinds, a global health organization, won a Gold Anthem Award for Awareness & Media Building for demonstrating impact through social change. A native of Atlanta, she has lived in Savannah for the past 16 years, where she resides with her husband, son, and daughter. In her free time, she enjoys reading, trying new restaurants, and spending time outdoors and in Savannah’s beautiful parks and squares. Contact her at holly.elliott@thecurrentga.org.
CHRISTOPHER SWEAT
Chris Sweat shepherds marketing and community engagement for The Current Ga. He has a wealth of experience in Coastal Georgia in the for-profit and non-profit worlds, mostly recently at the Coastal Georgia YMCA. He has worked in marketing for SMG Facilities, the Savannah Morning News, Ghost Coast Distillery and events management for Playbook, Inc. He’s a journalism graduate of the University of Georgia and president of the Savannah alumni chapter. He has a master’s degree in professional communication from Georgia Southern. Contact him at christopher.sweat@thecurrentga.org.
KIMBERLY GRIFFIN
Kimberly Griffin is a revenue and leadership strategist with more than two decades of experience in nonprofit media, fundraising, marketing, and sales. She helps mission-driven organizations build the systems, strategy, and leadership capacity they need to grow with clarity and discipline. Her work includes fundraising coaching, board training, strategic planning, executive coaching, and revenue system design. She trains teams to move beyond one-off fundraising efforts and build repeatable practices that make growth more predictable.
Kimberly co-founded the Mississippi Free Press, a nonprofit newsroom, where she served as publisher and led the development of the organization’s revenue infrastructure from the ground up. She coaches executives and emerging leaders across roles, trains nonprofit boards on governance and fundraising, and facilitates strategic planning sessions that turn mission into a measurable operating plan.
Her industry recognition includes being named a LION Revenue Growth Fellow, the Institute for Nonprofit News 2022 Emerging Nonprofit News Leader of the Year, and a top ten finalist for the 2023 Mississippi Business Journal Businesswoman of the Year. She serves on the Lenfest Statewide News Collective Advisory Board and the Association of Alternative Newsmedia board. She’s a lifetime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, sustaining member of the Junior League, a decent cook, an excellent baker and a better-than-average spades player.
COLLEGIATE REPORTING STAFF
2026
DANEEN KHAN
Daneen is The Current‘s summer 2026 Dow Jones News Fund audience engagement intern. She is a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying journalism and information science. She was a managing editor at The Daily Tar Heel, interned at the Southern Environmental Law Center and has written for North Carolina publications including the INDY Week and The Durham VOICE. Daneen cares deeply about transparent, accessible news media. When she isn’t in the newsroom, you can find her journaling, buying too many books and likely craving an ice-cold Thai tea. Contact her at daneen.thecurrentga@gmail.com
KELLEY LU
Kelley is from Alpharetta, Georgia, and a senior at Northwestern University studying journalism and economics. She has served as an editor and reporter for The Daily Northwestern, overseeing multimedia coverage and taking on university administration and student activism beats. Kelley is interning with The Current through the Scripps Howard Fund’s partnership with the Institute for Nonprofit News. Contact her at kelley.thecurrentga@gmail.com
GRACIE NELSON
Gracie is a senior at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong campus studying political science and writing. During her time at Georgia Southern, she has taken on the role of both a reporter and photographer at The Inkwell, documenting campus and Savannah culture. Originally from Florida, Gracie moved to Savannah three years ago and has grown passionate about the green spaces, marshes and the tight-knit community that exists here in the Coastal Empire. Contact her at gracienelson.thecurrentga@gmail.com
GIULIO GNASH
Giulio is a documentary filmmaker and freelance videographer who’s worked out of New York City since 2017. He’s a student in the documentary program ant the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where he focuses on reporting through video and his work centers on civic life. He has a particular interest in covering protests and grassroots organizing. Before this career turn he served as a C-130 aircraft mechanic in the U.S. Air Force. The experience helped shape his approach to fieldwork, preparation and working under pressure for clear, fact-driven visual reporting. Contact him at giulio.thecurrentga@gmail.com
2025
Tyler Davis of Jacksonville, Fla., American University; Ellen Hunter of Jacksonville, Fla., and a graduate of Liberty County’s Bradwell Institute and Savannah State University; Domonique King of Hinesville and a graduate of Bradwell Institute and Mercer University; Lily Belle Poling of Montgomery, Ala., Yale University; Jasmine Wright is a graduate of Indiana University.
2024
Gillian Goodman of New York, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism; Julia Gentin of Mountain View Calif., Amherst College; Catherine Goodman of Savannah, Emory University; Brianna Leonard of Okeechobee, Fla., and Florida A&M University; Amira McKee, Columbia University; Serra Sowers of University of Florida.
ELECTION 2024 SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNS
University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism students Audrey Hamm, Bridget Goodman, Emily Laycock, led by 2023 summer staffer Sarah Harwell.
2023
Kailey Cota, University of South Carolina; Sarah Harwell of Tampa, Fla., University of Central Florida; Audrey Gibbs of Davidson, N.C., Columbia University; Caelin McQuilkin of Lee Vining, Calif., Amherst University; Jabari Gibbs of Atlanta, Georgia Southern University.
2022
Kate Griem of Brooklyn, N.Y., Harvard College; Jeffrey Glover, Savannah State University; Sonia Chajet Wides of Brooklyn, N.Y., Amherst College; Olivia Scott of Savannah, Mercer University; Nick Sullivan, University of South Carolina; William Daughtry, University of Georgia.
2021
Jacqueline Ganun of Savannah, University of Georgia; Kayla Guilliams from western North Carolina, University of North Carolina; Jasmine Freeman of Macon, Savannah State University; Liz Richards, City University of New York Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism
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