Meet the people behind OAJ
The Organization for Accessible Journalism formed in late 2023 with the goal of building media products that are accessible to as many people as possible. That includes creating and launching news sites and partnering with other media.
In August 2024, OAJ joined the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation family. ANF is a 501(c)(3) organization supporting independent, watchdog journalism that informs and educates people.
Check out OAJ at a Glance for a quick overview of our organization.
OAJ is powered by people. We draw from a talented pool of individuals with diverse backgrounds.
The team
Stacy Kess
Founder, Chief of editorial and accessibility
Stacy Kess is the founding editor and chief of editorial of OAJ. She is a reporter and editor with more than 25 years of experience and a former registered nurse who has contended with lifelong health issues. She is also a survivor of a head-on car crash in 2017 that left her with a traumatic brain injury, unable to access news in a way to which she was accustomed for nearly two years. She credits this as the beginning of OAJ and its mission to decrease barriers for the 28 percent of Americans who can’t read, hear, see, or understand the news. Kess oversees editorial and media at OAJ.
She currently lives in Boston, Mass., with her husband, two dogs, and cat. She enjoys cooking, reading, and all things Boston.
E. Simone Jenerson
Chief of operations
With almost 20 years of experience in the digital product space, E. Simone Jenerson is a passionate and versatile leader who strives to create inclusive and accessible solutions that meet the needs of diverse users.
As the Head of Product Accessibility and Inclusion for Assessments at Aon, Jenerson oversaw the strategic roadmap, vision, and execution of innovative, user-centered assessment products that help organizations make better talent decisions. She brings that experience to her role overseeing operations at OAJ.
Jenerson leverages her multidisciplinary background as a user experience researcher, technical business analyst, program and project manager, and developer to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams. As publisher, a role equivalent to chief operating officer, she drives action while holding space for vulnerability and exploration.
Ellen J. Meany
Executive director, Alternative Newsweekly Foundation
Ellen J. Meany is the executive director at the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, where she advises independent media outlets, including OAJ, looking for pathways to sustainability by diversifying revenue through fundraising and infrastructure improvements.
A graduate of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Meany worked at community newspapers in New York and Illinois before settling into her longtime role as creative director with Isthmus alt weekly in Madison, Wisconsin. She served on the boards of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN Publishers) and the Society for News Design.
More recently, Meany was the publisher at The American Prospect, a nationally renowned nonprofit public policy magazine, where she built a digital membership model from zero to sustainable in just three years and managed grant relationships with major foundations and individual donors. She lives in Madison.
Olivia Holler
Social media lead
Olivia Holler’s journey into communications and writing started in 2013 when she was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. Writing about her experiences helped her cope and understand the world she was facing. Since then, she has been passionate about disability advocacy, writing, and empowering individuals within the disability community.
Holler graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 2023 with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and an emphasis in Strategic Communications. She runs her own digital marketing business and freelances, bringing experience in social media and marketing to OAJ.
In her free time, she enjoys reading, coloring, and spending time with friends and family.
Brianna Bohling-Hall
Volunteer
Brianna Bohling-Hall is a researcher, award-winning podcast creator, and volunteer for OAJ. An incoming graduate student at the University of Washington in International Studies-East Asia, Bohling-Hall has combined her journalism and religious studies majors to examine how religion and technology intersect, both for the detriment and betterment of society.
Being neurodiverse, Bohling-Hall understands how complicated it can be to navigate a system where you’re expected to be like everybody else. She is passionate about making journalism more accessible to people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and educational barriers.
In her free time, she enjoys watching animation and scary movies, building Lego plants, and relaxing in a weighted blanket burrito.
The board of directors
Ola Ojewumi
Founding director
Ola Ojewumi is an activist, writer, and political commentator who brings years of experience to OAJ as the first director of its board.
After receiving a heart and kidney transplant, she founded Sacred Hearts Children’s Transplant Foundation and Project ASCEND to provide college scholarships to low-income students, fund women’s education programs, support global mentorship and literacy programs, and distribute teddy bears and books to children awaiting organ transplants across the U.S. In 2017, she became a cancer survivor after being treated for a rare post-transplant lymphoma. She now works as a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant and freelancer.
Ojewumi has served on boards for nonprofit organizations created by Gen. Colin Powell and musician Lady Gaga; advised the Obama administration on disability policy; and held internships in the White House, the office of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic National Committee, and former Rep. Albert R. Wynn’s congressional office.
Stephen Sarkar
Director, 2026-2027 board chair
Stephen Sarkar, Ph.D., is an executive leader with expertise in organizational strategy, entrepreneurship, and nonprofit governance. He holds a Doctorate of Philosphoy in Entrepreneurship and a Master of Business in Strategic Management and has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations.
Sarkar brings strategic leadership, governance experience, and a personal understanding of accessibility challenges to the OAJ board. He joined the board with a commitment to advancing OAJ’s mission and helping the organization grow sustainably.
In addition to his professional and board experience, Sarkar volunteers as an adult educator and is currently engaged in ministerial studies.
Shounteé Turner
Director, grants
After a career in the nonprofit sector, Shounteé Turner opened her own small business offering writing and grant research services to nonprofits. She is steeped in nonprofit knowledge and know-how, which she uses to help oversee the grant application and procurement process at OAJ.
Turner is founder and CEO of The Write Narrative, LLC, a professional writing firm specializing in grant writing, fundraising strategy, and business storytelling. Since 2019, she has helped nonprofits and small business owners secure funding to create lasting change.
As a Black woman entrepreneur, she is passionate about economic empowerment, equitable funding, and sustainability for marginalized communities. Turner leverages her expertise to bridge funding gaps and increase access to resources for underrepresented businesses and organizations.
Emilia Ruzicka
Director
Emilia Ruzicka is a freelance data journalist, researcher, and editor. They got hooked on accessibility during their undergraduate cognitive science classes that taught about the intersection of information design and the visual processing system. In 2025, they became officially involved with OAJ to create accessibility trainings for conferences, especially targeting digital and data visualization accessibility.
Ruzicka currently conducts investigative research for MuckRock’s Sunlight Research Desk, manages data for the Trans News Initiative, and teaches Basics of AI Ethics and Policy for Brown University’s Data Science Institute. They have published with the Urban Institute, the Center for News, Technology, and Innovation, DataJournalism.com, Source, and other outlets. Emilia especially enjoys reporting on health, science, technology, queer issues, and public data. They have an Master of Arts from University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Science from Brown University.
When they’re not working on projects new and old, Ruzicka loves to read, travel, and try new cookie recipes.
Charles Hall
Director
With over 40 years in digital design and 18 in accessibility, Charles Hall has expertise in making the web, iOS and Android platforms accessible through material honesty, while making the design process equitable through inclusion.
Hall has deep experience in design systems, standards, guidelines, principles, and policy. He has had a key role in building and tracking the literacy and maturity of accessibility within design and product organizations at large enterprises like CVS Health and large agencies like MRM//McCann.
Hall is an Invited Expert, active participant, and contributor of the W3C Accessibility Guidelines Working Group and Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines Community Group. Hall likes to say his “humble brag” in this work is having created the definition and list of functional needs that advises the FAST (Framework for Accessible Specification of Technologies) and WCAG3 (W3C Accessibility Guidelines).
The overwhelming majority of his portfolio is keeping harm off the web, that is everything you will never see.
E. Simone Jenerson
Director
Stacy Kess
Director, secretary
Olivia Holler
Alternate director
The Backbone
Alternative Newsweekly Foundation
OAJ’s Fiscal sponsor
Founded in 2002 by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN Publishers), the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to the promotion and support of independent journalism.
ANF serves as fiscal sponsor to OAJ, supplying 501(c)(3) status and documentation for grant applications, providing oversight to ensure grant requirements are fulfilled, and receiving donated funds on OAJ’s behalf.
ANF collaborates with the Black Press (National Newspaper Publishers Association), the National Association of Hispanic Publications, and AAN Publishers to advance the mission behind the Fund for Equity in Local News, which supports more than 400 Black and Latino-owned news outlets, local alternative publications, and online news sites.
ANF continues to work side by side with AAN Publishers to support the core principles of the alternative press: speaking truth to power, telling stories that would otherwise go untold, and giving voice to those who would otherwise go unheard.
You
OAJ draws much of its funding from individual donors who support our mission to make news media accessible. Our work would not be possible without you. That is why each and every one of you is a part of the OAJ team. Thank you for helping us bring accessible media to the public sphere.
Not part of our donor team yet? We are ready for you to join!