Dr. Jessica Beard
Director of Research
Dr. Jessica H. Beard, a trauma surgeon at Temple University Hospital and public health researcher at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University joined the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting as director of research in 2021. Thanks to support from her three-year fellowship with the Stoneleigh Foundation, Dr. Beard will work to deepen the media narrative around gun violence, with the goal of increasing support for policies and programs to curb the epidemic and save lives.
Jim MacMillan
Founder and Director
Jim MacMillan is the founder and director of the Philadelphia the Center for Gun Violence Reporting. The Center is a project of the Initiative for Better Gun Violence Reporting, which he launched in 2019, during his residential fellowship at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri.
Janiece Scruggs
Project Editor
Janiece Scruggs is the Project Editor for our Credible Messenger Reporting Project. Her work includes gathering and managing content, supporting our professional reporting partners and helping to plan and execute improvements.
Sheila Hodges
Communications Manager
Sheila Hodges was the communications manager at the Center for Gun Violence Reporting during 2021. Sheila reported on the work of our Credible Messenger Reporting Project teams and produced social media content across our reporting channels.
Maxayn Gooden
Community Engagement Manager
Manager for the Credible Messenger Reporting Project. Her work includes communicating with past, present and future community journalists, helping to meet their reporting needs, gathering community-produced content and helping to plan and execute improvements to the Credible Messenger Reporting.
Charlotte Barron
Project Manager
Charlotte Barron was a project manager at the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting during 2021. Previously, Charlotte worked for Student Voices LLC and collaborated with the Tennessee branch of Students Leading Change. While at the Center, Charlotte focused on network expansion and collaborating with partners to create a centralized directory of gun violence experts.