Maxayn Gooden is the Credible Messenger Community Manager at the Philadelphia Center Gun for Gun Violence Reporting, where she previously produced and hosted the first documentary created for their Credible Messenger Reporting Project in 2021.
Maxayn also founded two nonprofit organizations: Jah World 18 serves young men through mentorships to lead them to a better future, and Women of Valor 74 creates a platform for young girls to talk about their past traumas and inspire them to celebrate who they are and where they come from. She also works as the executive assistant to the executive director of the City of Philadelphia Office of Violence Prevention.
Maxayn’s son Jahsun Patton became a victim of gun violence in 2017. She produced her documentary “The Lasting Impact” in his memory.
Jim MacMillan is the director of the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting, which he founded in 2020. He also recently joined the Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication as assistant director.
Jim has been a fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University and with the Knight-Wallace Fellows at the University of Michigan, as well as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and Swarthmore College.
Previously, he spent 17 years at the Philadelphia Daily News and photographed the war in Iraq for The Associated Press, after which he and his team were awarded The Pulitzer Prize.
Oronde McClain is the Credible Messenger Newsroom Liaison at the Philadelphia Center Gun for Gun Violence Reporting. He also first joined the team as a participant in the Credible Messenger Reporting Project, through which he produced his first documentary: They Don’t Care About Us, or Do They?
He is also the founder of the McClain Foundation, which provides accommodation for children who are receiving medical care due to gun Violence and suffering from mental illness and PTSD.
Oronde McClain was shot in the head at age 10 in Philadelphia and it took him 12 years to recover from his injuries.