Malachi Barrett
Reporter
@PolarBarret
Malachi Barrett is a mission-oriented journalist trying to do good and stir up some trouble.
Barrett previously worked at MLive in a variety of roles in Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Detroit. Most recently, he led MLive’s statewide coverage of the 2020 presidential election, tracked political extremism and covered social movements. His coverage of Michigan’s connection to the January 6 riot was cited by Congress and federal investigators.
Barrett has won Associated Press awards for his reporting on housing and environmental pollution. He was named Michigan’s 2019 Newspaper Rising Star by the Associated Press. He was also included on The Washington Post’s 2020 list of “outstanding politics reporters to follow” on social media (@PolarBarrett). Barrett graduated from Central Michigan University in 2016, where he proudly served as editor-in-chief of the student-operated newspaper.
Barrett lives in the Jefferson Corridor. He grew up in Southwest Michigan but has also spent his childhood years in California, Wisconsin, Virginia, South Carolina and Japan. His inbox is always open for news tips and pictures of Spider-Man.
Contact: mbarrett@bridgedetroit.com
Jena Brooker
Reporter
Jena Brooker is a Detroit-based journalist committed to reporting on inequalities and injustice. Before joining Bridge Detroit, she brought critical coverage of the environmental issues Midwest communities face to the forefront of national attention as the Midwest Fellow at Grist.
She began her career in journalism as a freelancer and a regular contributor to Planet Detroit where she covered air pollution, food and agriculture, and environmental justice. Her byline has appeared in national publications Slate and Mother Jones, local publications Chalkbeat Detroit and Detour Detroit, and many more. In addition to the environment, she has reported on education, housing, business, and food.
Before becoming a journalist she earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies at the University of Michigan.
Contact: jbrooker@bridgedetroit.com
Orlando Bailey
Engagement Director
@OrlandoPBailey
Orlando Bailey is a lifelong Detroiter. He launched his professional career at Eastside Community Network, where he most recently served as Chief Development Officer. Orlando is co-host and producer of the podcast, Authentically Detroit. Orlando is also the host of Urban Consulate; a space where people gather to have critical conversations about cities. He has been a regular contributor to 105.9 KISS/FM on the “Mildred Gaddis Show” with his own segment titled “The Millennial Moment.”
Orlando has values rooted in his faith and in his belief that residents are experts in their lived experience. He constantly advocates for the co-creation of projects, plans, and development efforts with existing residents and partners for sustainable and equitable neighborhoods. Orlando believes that practical application of lived experience coupled with technical expertise could be advantageous to Detroiters if properly facilitated.
Orlando has been the recipient of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Knight Foundation Fellowship in their Emerging City Champions program with 880 Cities in Toronto. Orlando was also the recipient of the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Eastern Michigan University. Orlando serves as Chairman of the Board for One Detroit Credit Union and serves on other boards and committees throughout southeastern Michigan. Orlando received a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Eastern Michigan University.
Contact: obailey@bridgedetroit.com
Christine Ferretti
Associate Editor
@cferretti_Det
Christine Ferretti is an award-winning journalist with nearly 20 years of reporting and editing experience at one of Michigan’s largest daily newspapers.
Prior to joining BridgeDetroit, she spent close to a decade heading up Detroit City Hall coverage for The Detroit News. Ferretti joined the Detroit office amid the city’s financial crisis and was a key contributor to the team reporting on the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the nation.
She worked to hold elected officials accountable, amplify the issues that matter to Detroiters and give a voice to residents in the city’s most underserved communities.
Ferretti started her career at The Detroit News in 2003 as an editorial assistant. She later held a dual role as a reporter and an editor before being named an assistant city editor in 2021. In that role, she led the reporting team for Detroit City Hall, Wayne County government as well as Macomb, Oakland and Macomb counties.
She has been recognized by the Society of American Business Writers and Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting contributions on Detroit’s bankruptcy. She also was recognized by the Michigan Press Association for “Second Chance Granted,” a 12-story series on former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s decision to grant clemency for nearly a dozen convicted murderers as one of his last acts in office.
Ferretti earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations from Madonna University. She was a National Press Foundation fellow on public and private pensions and took part in a fellowship program through Michigan State University’s Great Lakes Environmental Journalism Training Institute.
Contact: cferretti@bridgedetroit.com
Stephen Henderson
Executive Advisor
@SHDetroit
Henderson is a native Detroiter who has nearly 30 years of journalism experience as a writer and editor, and a deep-rooted connection with the city that birthed him.
A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and a two-time winner of both the Scripps Howard and ASNE national awards for opinion writing, Henderson has also won more than two dozen national awards for writing and editing. He was honored in 2014 as Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Henderson’s wide-ranging career includes stints at the Chicago Tribune, where he was part of the team that built ChicagoTribune.com, at the Knight Ridder Washington bureau, where he covered the five terms at the U.S. Supreme Court, and at the Baltimore Sun, where his editorials won clemency in 2000 for a death row prisoner. Henderson also spent more than a decade at the Detroit Free Press, where he was the first African American to lead the paper’s editorial page and its first black Pulitzer winner.
Henderson is also the founder of The Tuxedo Project, a literary arts and community center located in the home where Henderson’s family lived when he was born.
He hosts a daily radio show on WDET 101.9FM, Detroit’s public radio station, and two weekly shows on Detroit Public Television.
Contact: SHDetroit@bridgedetroit.com
Olivia Lewis
Contributing Reporter
@TheWrittenPeace
Olivia Lewis is a former Gannett news reporter. She covered social justice and opportunity for the Battle Creek Enquirer before transitioning to the Indianapolis Star to cover Hamilton County. Her byline has appeared in the Houston Chronicle and the Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia, among other publications.
Lewis joins the BridgeDetroit team following a stint in the charitable sector. She has worked with Direct Relief International, the Kresge Foundation, and most recently the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF). While at CMF, Lewis created the first Policy Brief publication in partnership with the Office of Foundation Liaison.
Lewis is a graduate of Hampton University and received her master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan.
Though a North Carolina native, Lewis has strong family ties to the Great Lakes State and is proud to call Detroit her home.
Contact: olewis@bridgedetroit.com
Nushrat Rahman
Reporter
@NushratR
Nushrat Rahman covers issues and obstacles that influence economic mobility, primarily in Detroit, for the Detroit Free Press and BridgeDetroit, as a corps member with Report for America, a national service program placing journalists in local newsrooms across the country.
Her beat includes coverage of housing, water affordability and issues important to small business owners – all areas she’s passionate about as a lifelong Detroiter. She has written for Hour Detroit, Model D and Tostada Magazine.
In 2018, Rahman was selected as one of 13 contributors for The Edit, a New York Times newsletter for college students and recent graduates. Rahman is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School, where she dived into narrative and investigative reporting, and Wayne State University.
Contact: nrahman@freepress.com
Micah Walker
Reporter
@Micah_walker701
Micah Walker joins the BridgeDetroit team covering the arts and culture and education in the city.
Originally from the metro Detroit area, she is back in her home state after two years in Ohio. Micah was previously a trending/ general assignment reporter at The Columbus Dispatch, where she covered a wide range of areas such as the arts, child care and the homeless population. She was also a general assignment reporter for The Marion Star, covering the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as education and business.
Micah is a graduate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, receiving her bachelor’s degree in journalism.
In 2022, Micah was selected as a fellow for the National Press Foundation’s Widening the Pipeline fellowship, a year-long program that offers multimedia and leadership training to early career journalists of color.
Contact: mwalker@bridgedetroit.com