Prism Photo Workshop co-founder and co-director Michelle Kanaar has fifteen years of experience in photojournalism and five years as a newsroom leader, which places her in a unique position to understand the needs of both newsrooms and visual freelancers and what each has to offer the other. As a newsroom leader, Michelle draws on her work securing grant funding for visuals and utilizing them to increase engagement and raise revenue. As cofounder and former associate director of visual storytelling and partnerships at Borderless Magazine, Michelle was behind several award-winning projects, including a non-fiction comic book on the youth-led campaign against General Iron which has now been incorporated into Chicago Public Schools curriculum and Chicago Parks District curriculum. 

As a fierce advocate for equity and accessibility in the industry, Michelle mentored countless emerging journalists of color in Borderless’ Pathways program. She also helped make Borderless’ work more accessible by leading translation efforts and outreach to Spanish-speaking communities. 

Email: michelle@prismphotoworkshop.org