CLAUDIA MELENDEZ SALINAS | Founding Editor | claudia@vomb.org
JULIE REYNOLDS | Founding Editor | julie@vomb.org
VOICES OF MONTEREY BAY | PO Box 547, Salinas CA 93902
CONTACT US | admin@vomb.org
Our collective
Claudia Meléndez Salinas
A little over a year ago, by pure chance I stumbled into the book “The Children of Soledad” which tells the story of how a group of Soledad parents fought to end discriminatory practices in California schools that classified Spanish speaking children as dumb. The feeling I had when I read was both rage, when learning about the education condition these children had to live with, and exultation, when the story resolved in their favor. Most importantly, the peace and serenity I felt when I was reading about local people was indescribable. It was as if the mountains were whispering their secrets in my ears, as if the sun was shining on my face and these lands were blessing my steps.
Stories have the power to connect us to one another, to remind us of our humanity and our collective purpose. Stories can inspire us into action, move us into creating a better world. I really believe in the power of storytelling, and I believe mainstream media is doing a poor job of bringing forth those stories that help us develop a thriving democracy, a strong sense of connection among neighbors, and ultimately, a strong fabric for our society.
In this day and age of racial turmoil, I also know voices of people of color are needed more than ever. Latinos and Blacks and Asians have failed to see accurate representations of who they are for centuries, and Voices is well positioned to improve on that representation.
Julie Reynolds
I was part of a group in Salinas that met over the years to drink and complain about local media. We were all journalists, all trying to find or create something better. Someplace where we could do the kinds of stories our former bosses always said took too much time or too many inches — or maybe should be in another language (like Spanish). We also wanted to see and hear from the voices that hardly made it into the dailies or TV news — high school kids, people in prison and jail, service workers, the homeless, Indigenous people and more.
I’ve always been very cynical about for-profit media, even more so in this era of hedge fund ownership. I love that Voices is nonprofit, because as critical sources of news and information, we serve our readers, not shareholders. I’ve always seen Voices as a kind of mini New Yorker for the Monterey Bay Area — but bilingual, bicultural, and more grassroots and irreverent. I love that we function as a collective and that I get to work with this passionate and talented group.
About Voices
Voices of Monterey Bay (VOMB) is a not-for-profit bilingual news organization serving Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. It was launched in 2017 by veteran local journalists who believe the region needs a new journalistic vision, while providing a central location for people who have been ignored by the traditional media to express themselves or to report news from their neighborhoods.
Uniquely, VOMB includes an instructional initiative that includes ongoing journalism training by veteran reporters and editors. The training is available free to interested youth, with the expectation that the work they produce will be featured here.
Our Mission: Voices of Monterey Bay seeks to amplify and celebrate the diverse peoples of the Monterey Bay Crescent. By providing a forum where new ideas are debated, Voices serves as a catalyst to improve its readers’ quality of life.
Our Funding: As a not-for-profit organization, Voices of Monterey Bay has obtained temporary fiscal sponsorship and nonprofit status under the Institute for Nonprofit News. We are also funded by individual members, major charitable gifts, foundations and community partnerships. We depend on these contributions to continue our mission, and individual contributions to VOMB are tax deductible under IRS’s 501(c)(3) regulation.
Our Organization: Receiving independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit status is a priority of VOMB’s founders. Until then, the operations of VOMB will be administered by its core staff, including Julie Reynolds Martinez, Claudia Melendez Salinas, Kathryn McKenzie of North Monterey County and Joe Livernois of Monterey. Marcos Cabrera is director of the Monterey County Youth Media Project.
Our Advisory Committee: Voices of Monterey Bay has benefitted from the kind advice and support of many people in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. See our advisory board here.
Our Financial Support: In the interest of transparency and to avoid the appearance of conflict, Voices of Monterey Bay will list its donors online. Please see our Editorial Independence & Donor Policies here.
Voices launched with the help of two contributions of a combined $15,000 from Tony Dann, a businessman from Carmel Valley, and from Morley Brown and Ron Weitzman, philanthropists and activists from Carmel Valley. Significant funding — up to $25,000 a year — is received from national foundations, including the Democracy Fund and the Knight Foundation, during the annual NewsMatch campaign.
Other contributors include:
$40,000 — The Claire Giannini Fund*
$11,500 — Penelope Karas Lockhart, in honor of Edie and Sam Karas.
$5,000 — Franklin Legacy Fund, The Fred Terman and Nan Borreson Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County*.
* To support Voices’ Youth Journalism Project
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