Institute for Southern Studies Staff

Chris Kromm - Executive Director and Publisher of Facing South

Chris joined the staff of the Institute in 1997. From 1997 to 2000, he was the editor of Southern Exposure magazine, the Institute's award-winning journal of politics and culture. He was appointed executive director in 2000. He is also publisher of Facing South, the Institute's online magazine.

A frequently-sought commentator on Southern politics and current issues, Chris has appeared on over 300 TV and radio broadcasts including American Public Media's "Marketplace," CNN "Live," C-SPAN, Democracy Now, KCRW California's "To the Point," Mississippi Public Radio, MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes," NPR's "All Things Considered," Pacifica Radio, WUNC's "The State of Things," and Sirius XM Radio. Kromm's writing has appeared in The Herald-Sun, The Hill, The Huffington Post, The Independent Weekly, The Nation, The News & Observer, Salon, and other publications.

Chris is the author or co-author of more than 60 Institute reports on topics ranging from the changing demographic and political landscape in the South to money in politics, labor, voting rights, and disaster recovery in the Gulf Coast. Kromm's reports have been covered in more than 350 media outlets, including ABC News, Associated Press, BBC World, Bloomberg News, CNN News, NPR, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Reuters, The Washington Post, and USA Today.

Under Chris' leadership, the Institute and its media programs have been recognized with several prestigious honors and awards, including the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting, a North Carolina Justice Center Defenders of Justice Award for Policy Research and Advocacy, a Harry Chapin Media Award for coverage of poverty issues, an Investigative Reporting award from the North Carolina Press Association, and honors from the National Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists, and the White House Correspondents' Association.

Read Chris' latest Facing South articles here.

 

Sue Sturgis - Editorial Director

Sue joined the Institute in November 2005 as director of Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch, a project to document and investigate the post-Katrina recovery. A former staff writer for The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Independent Weekly in Durham, North Carolina, Sue directs and writes for the Institute's online magazine, Facing South, with a focus on energy and environmental issues. She was the first journalist to be awarded the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters' Catalyst Award for her commitment to educating the public about important environmental issues.

Sue has authored or co-authored numerous Institute reports, including "Life After BP" (2011), "Faith in the Gulf" (2008), "Hurricane Katrina and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement" (2008) and "Blueprint for Gulf Renewal" (2007). Her work has also appeared in other publications including The American Prospect, The Progressive, and Salon. Sue holds a master's in journalism from New York University and a bachelor's in social work from Penn State.

Read Sue's latest Facing South articles here.

 

Dana Webb-Randall – Assistant Director

Dana joined the Institute for Southern Studies in August 2016 as the office coordinator and became assistant director in September 2017. Dana brings to the Institute 18 years of experience in administering nonprofit organizations, programs and projects, especially in the field of public health. She has served as a director, project coordinator/manager, reviewer or trainer for various organizations including the American Red Cross, Adequate Housing for Missourians, the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Wichita Mountains Prevention Network. She holds bachelor's degrees in African-American Studies and English from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.

 

Billy Corriher - Senior Researcher

Billy joined the Institute in January 2018 as senior researcher, where his work includes a focus on judicial selection, voting rights, and the courts in North Carolina. Billy has written about these issues for ThinkProgress, The Hill, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, and the News and Observer. He has been interviewed by NPR’s "Fresh Air" and other media outlets. Before attending law school, he was a reporter for the Clayton News-Daily in Georgia. Billy received his bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in journalism from the UNC-Chapel Hill, as well as a law degree and master's in business administration from Georgia State University.

Read Billy's latest Facing South articles here.

 

Rebekah Barber - Research Associate

Rebekah is a research associate at Facing South/Institute for Southern Studies focusing on racial justice, democracy and Southern history. As a student activist she organized around issues including voting rights, the Fight for $15 and Medicaid expansion. She is a graduate of N.C. Central University in Durham, North Carolina, with bachelor's degrees in English and history.

Read Rebekah's latest Facing South articles here.

 

Allie Yee - Research Fellow

Allie joined Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies in July 2014 and became associate director in September 2016. Working with executive director Chris Kromm, Allie launched the Institute's Southern Strategies Program in 2014, which has provided research and analysis about Southern trends and social justice infrastructure for partners including the Democracy Alliance, Ford Foundation, Grantmakers for Southern Progress, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, National Committee on Responsive Philanthropy, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and others. She transitioned to the research fellow position in 2017.

Her research focuses on demographic change, immigration, voting and civic engagement in the South and has been featured in AlterNet, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The News & Observer (Raleigh), The News & Record (Greensboro) and North Carolina Public Radio.

Prior to joining the Institute, Allie was a fellow at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation where she assisted in grantmaking to nonprofit organizations in North Carolina working on a range of issues. She holds a bachelor's degree from Duke University in public policy studies and is working toward a master's degree at Yale.

Read Allie's latest Facing South articles here.

 

Ethan Clauset - Web Director

Ethan Clauset directs the Institute's website development and online publishing strategy. He is a former volunteer and board member of Internationalist Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and co-founded the Internationalist Prison Books Collective, which sends free books to prisoners in Mississippi and Alabama. He provides internet advice and consulting for nonprofit organizations, including the Institute for Southern Studies, WXYC-FM and Daylight Magazine. Ethan is a graduate of the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.