Judges

Cheriss may

Cheriss May is a lauded portrait and editorial photographer based in Washington, D.C. She is on the board of directors of Focus on the Story, is the past president of Women Photojournalists of Washington (WPOW), co-chair of the photography committee at The National Press Club, an Adobe Education Leader, and an adjunct professor at Howard University, her alma mater. She is often commissioned to speak about inclusive storytelling, and she trains and speaks to educators across the country. Cheriss’s work has appeared in O Magazine, The White House Historical Association, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Time, ABC News, The Today Show, and MSNBC. Her work is featured in a permanent exhibit: MFON’s In Conversation: Visual Meditations on Black Masculinity at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Originally from Kansas City, MO, Cheriss is an independent photographer whose passion radiates through her aptitude to connect to the soul of those she photographs.

karen dias

Karen Dias, 2020 MMEG grant recipient, is a photographer and multidisciplinary artist from India. Her work has been published in Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, BBC, The Guardian and National Geographic among others. Her work focuses on social justice and human rights issues. She has been an International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) Grantee and has exhibited her work in France, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

katie jett walls

Katie Jett Walls is a documentary photographer, creating visual stories for families in the Washington DC area, as well shooting documentary projects that give voice to those in marginalized communities and witness to the human experience. Katie’s work has crossed the boundary between documentary and fine art, when in 2018 she was selected to exhibit her family documentary work in a three-person show at Glen Echo Photoworks, and more recently at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in an international exhibit with photographers from around the world. She is also founder and editor of Confluence magazine, which launched in September 2018 to highlight the documentary projects of emerging photo storytellers.

molly roberts

Molly Roberts is a photography editor, curator, photographer, and photo educator. She is currently a Knight Fellow in Visual Communications at Ohio University. She recently worked at National Geographic magazine as a Senior Photography Editor after directing the photography at Smithsonian Magazine for 15 years. She is an advocate for powerful visual storytelling and human rights and is creative director of the non-profit HumanEyesUSA, which presents documentary photography projects in public spaces to help illuminate complex issues facing America.