Nicole Schilit

Nicole Schilit is the Coordinator of the Journalist Assistance program within CPJ’s Emergencies Department. She is responsible for providing direct support to journalists in distress and advocates on behalf of exiled journalists who have been forced to flee their home countries after being targeted in response to their work. Nicole works with a global network of partner organizations to coordinate and implement assistance strategies for journalists around the world and is one of the leads in a multi-organization initiative aimed at providing more comprehensive trauma support for journalists.

Bruce Shapiro

Bruce Shapiro is Executive Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a project of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, encouraging innovative reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy worldwide. An award-winning reporter on human rights, criminal justice and politics, Shapiro is a contributing editor at The Nation and U.S. correspondent for Late Night Live on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National. He is also Senior Advisor for Academic Affairs at Columbia Journalism School, where he teaches ethics. His books include “Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America” and “Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America’s Future.” He is a recipient of the International Society for Traumatic Stress’ Public Advocacy Award for “outstanding and fundamental contributions to the social understanding of trauma.”

Ashley Gilbertson

Ashley Gilbertson (b. 1978) is an Australian photographer and writer living in New York City recognized for his critical eye and unique approach to social issues. He is a frequent contributor to major media outlets and a collaborator with the United Nations. For over twenty years, Gilbertson’s work focused on refugees and conflict, an interest that in 2002, led him to Iraq. His work from that country was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal, and in 2007, Gilbertson’s first book, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, was released. Post Iraq, Gilbertson shifted his focus to the home front, drawing public attention to post traumatic stress disorder and suicide. Gilbertson’s second book, Bedrooms Of The Fallen, a collection of photographs depicting the intact bedrooms of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, was released in 2014. That work received a prestigious Ellie award.

Today, Gilbertson documents social issues facing The United States. In 2021, his January 6 work from the Capitol insurrection, specifically an image of Officer Eugene Goodman, was part of a NY Times group entry that was a finalist for The Pulitzer Prize.

Cengiz Yar

Cengiz Yar is an American documentary photographer who spent the past two years working in Iraq. His photography and writing is focused on mass displacement, religious and ethnic minorities, and the fight against the Islamic State. Cengiz’s editorial clients include Vanity Fair, WIRED UK, Google, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Policy Magazine, among others. His humanitarian clients include organizations such as UNHCR, UNICEF, UNMAS, and Mercy Corps. He was awarded ONA’s inaugural 2015 James W. Foley Award for Conflict Freelancers and was listed by Getty Images Reportage Emerging Talent. He was part of the Associated Press photography team listed as 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalists and served for the past three years as a board member of the Frontline Freelancer Registry.

Alison Baskerville

Alison Baskerville is a British documentary photographer and military veteran. She explores themes of conflict centered around gender stereotypes. Informed by a military career including tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, she is currently exploring the relationship to the often compartmentalised approach to war and the invisible effects on veterans and citizens involved in modern conflict. Alison’s first major piece of work, entitled “The White Picture,” looks at the role of women in the British Army. As a supporter of a more intersectional approach to gender, Alison is now looking at themes of masculinity and hypermasculinity. In addition to her photographic work, she has recently set up a movement to deliver training to female journalists in relation to sexual and gender-based violence.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. CPJ provides comprehensive support to journalists and media support staff working around the world through up-to-date safety and security information and rapid response assistance.

The ACOS Alliance

The ACOS (A Culture of Safety) Alliance is a unique global coalition of 150+ news organizations, journalist associations and press freedom NGOs working together to champion safe and responsible journalism practices, with a focus on freelance and local journalists. ACOS leverages the expertise and resources of its stakeholders to democratize access to safety expertise and training for under-resourced journalists and newsrooms; raises safety standards through the Freelance Journalist Safety Principles; and advances safety best practice, innovation and collaboration among news organizations, NGOs and journalists.