Outlier Media is a Detroit-based service journalism organization. We identify, report, and deliver valuable information to empower residents to hold landlords, municipal government and elected officials accountable for longstanding problems. By keeping residents first, we hope to give more than we take and leave people with the information they need to create change in their own communities.
Candice Fortman (she/her), Executive Director
Candice Fortman is the Executive Director of Outlier Media, a Detroit-based service journalism organization. Before joining Outlier, Candice was the Marketing & Engagement Manager for WDET 101.9-Detroit’s NPR station. Candice led the effort to build WDET’s audience and grow the station’s digital communities and content by engaging listeners around news, music, and culture. Prior to joining WDET, Candice served as Promotions Director at Clear Channel Radio (now iHeart Media), where she led promotional and engagement strategy.
Fortman is an alum of the John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford and the Poynter Women in Digital Leadership program. As the host of News Guest, a podcast that explores local newsroom sustainability, Fortman examines local newsrooms’ challenges and teachable business strategies across the country.
Currently, Candice serves on The Village of Bethany Manor’s board- a senior living community, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Classical Roots Steering Committee, and Cityside, which operates The Oaklanside and Berkeleyside. Fortman is also a board advisor to OpenNews.
If you’re interested in helping Outlier decrease information gaps and increase accountability in your community reach out to candice@outliermedia.org.
Sarah Alvarez (she/her), Founder and Editor
Sarah started her career in civil rights law in New York, but is much happier as a journalist than she ever was as a lawyer. Before founding Outlier Media, she worked as a senior producer and reporter at Michigan Radio, the statewide NPR affiliate.
In that role, she covered issues important to low-income families, child welfare and disability. Her work has been featured on NPR, Marketplace, The Center for Investigative Reporting, Bridge Magazine, The Detroit News, and The New York Times. Sarah believes journalism is a service and should be responsive to the needs of all people.
She developed Outlier’s model after years of trying to figure out how journalists could do a better job filling information gaps and increasing accountability to low-income news consumers. She launched Outlier in 2016, during her year as John S. Knight (JSK) Fellow at Stanford University. She lives in northwest Detroit. To get in touch with Sarah, please contact her at sarah@outliermedia.org or 313-643-5508.
Erin Perry (she/her), Managing Editor
Detroit native Erin Perry is a veteran journalist, editor and media manager. Her experience includes stints with the Scripps Howard News Service in Washington D.C.; Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia; The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk; Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio; and most recently, the Detroit Free Press, as a writer and editor.
In her six years at the Free Press, she directed more than 1,000 students in Michigan’s largest scholastic journalism program of its kind. She trained high school journalists from Detroit public schools, leading them in producing a monthly citywide student publication during the school year.
She returns each summer to continue in her decade-long role directing the Detroit Free Press Summer Apprentice Program for high school students and graduates – the program that helped launch her career some 20 years ago. She has trained more than 100 students to be reporters at this major market daily publication.
Perry is an adjunct instructor in Wayne State University’s journalism program. She uses her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Hampton University’s esteemed Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications and her master’s degree in teaching from the University of Michigan-Dearborn to teach news editing, news reporting, journalistic grammar and style, and public speaking. She serves on the university’s Student Publications Board which selects and advises the editors of the official student newspaper, The South End. Get in touch at erin@outliermedia.org.
Chelsea Brown (she/her), Development Director
Chelsea Brown aspired to be a journalist, but along her career journey, she found her passion in the field of development. Before starting her work in the non-profit sector, she enjoyed internships in broadcast and editorial positions. As journalism changed, Chelsea decided to use her talent in communication to work for a non-profit where she believed in the mission.
Chelsea first discovered her interest in non-profits and affordable housing through her experience at Habitat. First, she served as an AmeriCorps Advocacy Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity-New York City. Brown engaged college students in Habitat’s mission and advanced housing legislation on the federal, state, and local levels. Next, she worked at SOS Community Services (SOS), a social service agency that prevents and ends homelessness for families in Washtenaw County. As the community relations coordinator at SOS, Chelsea helped community members get involved in the mission of SOS through volunteering, donating, and learning about the housing, food, utility relief, and other resources the agency provided. Chelsea was promoted to Development Director at SOS, and she gained expertise in raising funds through individuals, corporations, and foundations. Also, she managed the organization’s website, social media, and the development of promotional materials. Most recently, Chelsea worked at the University of Michigan-Dearborn as a Relationship Manager. She helped to build relationships with companies bringing in new partners and increasing engagement with existing partners, which resulted in increased funding.
Chelsea is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a dual bachelor’s degree in English and Communication Studies. She recently received a master’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing from Eastern Michigan University.
Are you interested in getting involved with Outlier Media Email chelsea@outliermedia.org or call (313) 903-1633.
Kim Clayson (she/her), Operations + Development
Kim Clayson joins Outlier Media with 15 years of experience in the field of business and financial restructuring law. In her previous two law firm roles, Kim led firm operations in addition to a portfolio of small business clients. She is now principal attorney of her solo practice law firm. Kim has nonprofit leadership experience as a former board member and treasurer of the Detroit Waldorf School and former president and board member of the Villages of Detroit Community Development Corporation. Her nonprofit experience spans work in strategic planning, fiscal management and grant compliance. Currently, Kim is the finance director on the board of Womens’ Law Association of Michigan-Wayne Region and a board member of the Economic Development Corporation for the City of Detroit. She is one of the inaugural small business trustees appointed in the Eastern District of Michigan under the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 in which she facilitates financial restructuring of small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Kim graduated from James Madison College at Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations, emphasis on economics and she graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law with a Juris Doctorate degree.
Are you interested in getting involved with Outlier Media? Email Kim, Kim@outliermedia.org.
Joey Horan (he/him), Reporter
Joey began his reporting career as a freelancer in Toledo, Ohio. He then worked on Michigan Radio’s daily show, Stateside, where he got connected to Outlier Media. With Outlier, Joey has reported on water access and affordability in Detroit, utility pricing in southeast Michigan, and Michigan’s criminal justice system. Prior to working as a journalist, Joey worked in education and legal aid. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese. Tips and questions at joey@outliermedia.org.
Miriam Marini (she/her), Reporter
Miriam is a breaking news reporter at the Detroit Free Press where she covers a wide range of topics. She graduated from Wayne State University in May 2020 with a degree in journalism and was a member of the Journalism Institute for Media Diversity. She has worked with the Detroit Metro Times, WDIV-TV 4, Metro Parent Magazine, and Newsday in Long Island, New York. When she’s not handcuffed to her laptop, Miriam can be found rollerskating through the streets of Dearborn where she lives with her family and beloved cat, Pop Pop. Tips and questions at miriam@outliermedia.org or mmarini@gannett.com.
Aaron Mondry (he/him), Reporter, The Dig
Aaron Mondry is a reporter and editor who writes about housing, development and real estate in Detroit. He’s been the managing editor of Curbed Detroit and Model D, and his articles have appeared in Splinter, the Detroit News, Crain’s Detroit Business, Bridge Magazine, among others. Get in touch at aaron@outliermedia.org or 313-403-7221.
Lynelle Herndon (she/her) Detroit Documenters Coordinator
Lynelle is originally from Washington, DC but she has been living permanently in Detroit since 2017 where she has been a barista and a low-level paper pusher in the Wayne County government. She has been a Detroit Documenter since 2019. Her interests are in development, both of people and community, and she has just started a neighborhood garden on the west side of Detroit. She has her BA in political science from NC State and has worked as a transcriber and editor for over a decade. She is happy to work with a service-based journalism organization and especially with Detroit Documenters because she thinks it is important to share our news in our voices with our networks. Get in touch at lynelle@outliermedia.org.
Noah Kincade (he/him) Detroit Documenters Coordinator
Noah is a socially-minded sound engineer with an interest in government and journalism. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University and lived in San Francisco for over two decades working in music production and as a partner in the all-ages concert venue, Rickshaw Stop. Always civically engaged, he volunteered on mayoral and presidential campaigns, produced videos of City Council meetings, spent two years pursuing tenant claims before the San Francisco Rent Board.
In 2020, Noah returned to Michigan, made Detroit his permanent home, and began working as a Detroit Documenter. Noah seeks to increase citizen involvement in government accountability while continuing to serve the information needs of his fellow Detroiters. Get in touch at noah@outliermedia.org.
Our community – public service-minded journalists
Most importantly, we work to serve and learn alongside our news consumers in Detroit.
Our work would not be possible without the help, support, and brainpower of public service-minded journalists like those at City Bureau, Hearken, Free Press, Project Facet, Flint Beat, Tyler Loop, VT Digger, Spaceship Media and so many more!
Outlier Media is fiscally sponsored by MuckRock. We are grateful for the generous grant support from the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, News Integrity Initiative, Democracy Fund, The Facebook Journalism Project, the Dodge Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. This project was initially supported by a pilot grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Outlier owes a particular debt of gratitude to the JSK Fellowship at Stanford University, Kimberly Springer, James Hamilton, Dawn Garcia, Jim Bettinger, Aaron Glantz, Andrew Haeg, Jennifer Brandel, and former colleagues at Michigan Radio; in particular Tamar Charney, Sarah Hulett, Vince Duffy, Jennifer Guerra, Dustin Dwyer, and Brittany Bartkoviak.