Wendi C. Thomas is the founder of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, an award-winning nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power and policy. Launched in 2017 with $3,000, MLK50 has grown to an $2M+, 12-person organization making a difference in Memphis. A 2016 Harvard Nieman fellow, Thomas has worked at the daily papers in Memphis,

Charlotte, Nashville and Indianapolis. Her 2019 investigation into a hospital’s aggressive debt collection practices led the hospital to erase nearly $12 million in debt for more than 5,300 defendants. For this she received the 2020 Selden Ring Award, among other honors.

Thomas is the 2023 winner of the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence and the 2022 recipient of the Freedom of the Press Local Champion Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.