Executive Director, GCJT

An award-winning reporter on human rights, criminal justice and politics, Bruce 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 has taught journalism at Yale University and Columbia University, where he directed the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma from 2009-2025. Shapiro's books include Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America and Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America's Future. He is the recipient of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Public Advocacy Award for "outstanding and fundamental contributions to the social understanding of trauma."

GCJT Consulting Psychologist & JTSN Program Director

Dr. Emily Sachs is a clinical psychologist who has provided trauma treatment for refugees, veterans, survivors of sexual abuse and assault, and crisis management professionals, and held staff positions at the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. She has coordinated research programs in India and in U.S. immigration detention centers, and has created clinical curricula for VA medical professionals and doctoral students at the Wright Institute. Dr. Sachs provides self-care trainings for newsrooms and other journalism organizations. She has been treating journalists in her private practice since 2015.

GCJT Research Director & JTSN Consulting Psychologist

Dr. Elana Newman is a McFarlin Professor of Psychology at the University of Tulsa and past president of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies. Her scholarly work in journalism and trauma focuses on understanding the occupational health of journalists who cover traumatic events, evaluating training needs, analyzing trauma-related news, and examining the effects of journalistic practice on consumers and individuals covered in the news. She directed the development of a bibliographic database to help teachers and scholars access information about trauma and journalism. She trains journalists in trauma science, best practice for interviewing survivors, self-care and best practices within newsrooms. She also trains clinicians and researchers on how they can better collaborate with journalists.

GCJT Senior Psychologist & JTSN Consulting Psychologist

Dr. Katherine Porterfield is a clinical psychologist who has provided clinical care to adults, children and families impacted by war, refugee trauma and torture for over 25 years. She has written numerous publications on the care and evaluation of survivors of trauma, and provided expert testimony in cases at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, U.S. federal and state courts, and the International Criminal Court. She has worked extensively with journalists, attorneys, and human rights organizations on managing secondary traumatic stress and building well-being practices, including at The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Committee to Protect Journalists, NPR, and Major League Baseball. She trained at the legendary Second City theater and was a founding instructor in the Second City Training Centers.

GCJT Associate Director

Kate Black oversees the GCJT’s programs and activities worldwide, including fellowships and the Early Childhood Journalism Initiative, as well as specialized workshops, trainings, and public events. Prior to the Global Center, she was the longtime program director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and a program officer at the Open Society Foundations, where she directed the Soros Justice Fellowships and founded and directed the Katrina Media Fellowships, each $1 million grantmaking programs.

GCJT Senior Producer, Content and Programs & JTSN Content Producer

Ariel Ritchin directs all editorial content, leads strategic and digital initiatives, and oversees implementation of infrastructure projects, while managing specialized programs for reporters around the world. Ariel is also a multimedia journalist and documentary filmmaker whose audio and video work has appeared on Life of the Law, NBC News and PBS Newshour. He previously worked in the multimedia department at the ACLU and as a video editor for Lucky Tiger Productions. He is a Logan Nonfiction Fellow, a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow and a Posse Foundation Scholar.