Meet Our Team
STEERING COMMITTEE
Kate McQueen
Kate McQueen is the editorial director at Pollen Initiative
Anne Ray
Anne Ray is a writer, editor, digital archivist
Jesse Vasquez
Jesse Vasquez is the executive director
Kate McQueen is the editorial director at Pollen Initiative
Anne Ray is a writer, editor, digital archivist
Jesse Vasquez is the executive director
Kate McQueen is the editorial director at Pollen Initiative She previously served as an editorial advisor for San Quentin News and as the managing editor for Prison Journalism Project’s newspaper, PJP Inside. She also writes and researches on the history of the press. Her work on prison journalism and with prison journalists has appeared in Alta Journal, Next City, JSTOR Daily, Journalism History, and Literary Journalism Studies.
Anne Ray is a writer, editor, digital archivist, and budding oral historian. Her fiction has appeared in more than 10 literary magazines and has been awarded a Pushcart Prize. She served the Managing Editor at Reveal Digital, a project of JSTOR, where she oversaw several digital archives of radical and historical press materials, including the American Prison Newspaper Archive
Jesse Vasquez is the executive director of the Pollen Initiative. He was editor in chief of San Quentin News from 2017 until he paroled in 2019. He serves as the strategic advisor for San Quentin News, ForwardThis Productions and Change Talk podcast, and sits on the Governor’s advisory council to transform San Quentin into an innovative rehabilitation center.
Jesse Carson is the editor-in-chief of the prisoner-run newspaper Mule Creek Post, in California, and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. He recently earned a bachelor's degree in communication studies from Sacramento Starts University. Jesse has been published by Prison Journalism Project, Central California Catholic Life, and California Prison Focus, as well as the anthology Perspectives from the Cell Block.
Kevin M. Lerner is an Associate Professor of Journalism and Chair of the Department of Communication at Marist College. His research focuses on the intellectual history of journalism through press criticism, satire, and magazines. Lerner has judged the National Magazine Awards, the ASME Next Awards, and the Columbia Scholastic Press Awards. He was the founding editor of the website for Architectural Record magazine—where he was part of a team that won a National Magazine Award—and has published journalism in The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York magazine, Slate, The Columbia Journalism Review, Boston Review, The Conversation, and The Nieman Lab.
Ryan M. Moser is an award-winning author and journalist with lived experience who was published in over 200 literary journals and media outlets while he was incarcerated. Since his release in 2023, Moser has joined the board of directors of three nonprofits, completed two reporting fellowships, founded the Reentry Business Network, and has appeared on many TV and radio shows, as well as podcasts. He is currently a freelance journalist living in Philadelphia.
JoyBelle Phelan is the executive director of Unbound Authors. She also serves as writer relations manager at Prison Journalism Project and as a citizen member of the Arapahoe County Community Corrections Board. She is the former managing editor of Colorado's The Inside Report, a statewide prison newspaper.
Robert Taliaferro is a formerly incarcerated journalist who, from 1985 until 1989, was the editor of The Prison Mirror at Stillwater, MN. During his tenure, The Prison Mirror won three Best Newspaper Awards (1985, 1986, 1988) and the Charles C. Clayton Award (1987). Robert served 38 and a half years of confinement and was released in 2022. He holds B.A. in Independent Studies and M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies (Correctional Curriculum Development) and a Certificate in Adult Education (C.A.E.) from Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN. Robert works closely with the University of Wisconsin, Madison's Odyssey Beyond Bars (OBB) program and was a co-planner and co-presenter for the first ever National Humanities Council convening session addressing Mass Incarceration.