It is nearly March and just about the time when we start thinking about spring. Appropriately, we’ve just hit the ground running with our spring term Urban Leaders Fellow: Jori Lewis. If the name sounds familiar, Jori was a runner-up last time we called for applications to the fellowship. Jori won us over this time with articles for E Magazine, Miller McCune and other publications, not to mention her work for Public Radio International. With her background as a multimedia reporter, we expect Jori will not only turn in some great writing for the magazine but some multimedia content for the Web.

So what’s her area of focus? Jori is going to look at the Mississippi River and commonalities among cities, such as New Memphis, St. Louis, New Orleans and others, and explore the problems and innovations these cities share. First up: Memphis and a number of health issues that women in particular face in that city.

We’d also like to mention a runner-up: Sushma Sheth. Based out of Miami, Sushma has worked at the Miami Workers Center, which helps working class people develop their leadership potential and take on issues such as welfare reform, affordable housing and gentrification. She also was a Ford Foundation New Voices fellow.

Congrats to both women!

Diana Lind is the former executive director and editor in chief of Next City.

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