Our Mission
Under-Told Stories is a journalism project focused on consequences of poverty and the work of change agents addressing them. We produce content for highly respected news organizations and, in collaboration with educators, engage students on pressing issues of our time.
Our Team
Fred de Sam Lazaro
Fred de Sam Lazaro is executive director of the Under-Told StoriesProject and has served as a correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, since 1985. He also was a regular contributor and substitute anchor for PBS’ Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. Fred also has directed films from India and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the acclaimed documentary series, Wide Angle.
Fred has reported from 70 countries with a focus on the myriad issues that underlie poverty and human suffering which are under-reported in the mainstream U.S. media. He founded the Under-Told Stories Project, now located at the University of St. Thomas, which is building a library of social innovation and entrepreneurship reports, designed to use storytelling to enhance students’ understanding of the pressing global issues of our time.
Fred is the recipient of three honorary doctorates, numerous journalism awards and media fellowships from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of Michigan’ Knight Wallace program. He has served on the board of the College of St. Scholastica, in Duluth, MN, his alma mater, Minnpost, an online non-profit Minnesota news service, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota. Fred was born in Bangalore, India and lives in St. Paul
Simeon Lancaster
Simeon Lancaster produces stories and edits video for the Under-Told Stories Project. Based in the Twin Cities, Simeon has experience reporting from the U.S. Midwest, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. He is a recipient of the Upper Midwest Student Production Award among other awards.
Sarah Clune Hartman
Sarah Clune Hartman is a Peabody and Emmy award-winning television producer with decades of industry experience, many of them spent at the PBS NewsHour and most recently for the Under Told stories project.
In 2019, she traveled to Rwanda and Uganda to work on a series of stories with Fred de Sam Lazaro, including pieces that profiled Team Heart’s medical volunteers in Kigali, Rwanda’s use of medical drones, Uganda’s efforts to keep ebola at bay, and a school in Northern Uganda that helps former child soldiers reintegrate into their communities.
At the NewsHour, Clune produced hundreds of segments on single-day deadlines and supported long-term projects in a variety of roles. As producer of the NewsHour’s Health Unit, Clune covered one of the biggest stories of the past two decades: health care reform. Her reporting spanned a myriad of subjects — from drug shortages to cancer treatment to dental health in far-flung Toksook Bay, Alaska. As a general assignment producer, she traveled to Moscow to report on the state of US-Russian relations (pre-Trump administration) and Berlin, Germany, to tell the story of Germany’s contribution to the war in Afghanistan.
Clune won a George Foster Peabody Award in 2019 for her work on the 5-part PBS NewsHour series, ‘The Plastic Problem’. She received the Walter Cronkite Award for political television coverage and was a media fellow at Harvard Medical School and the National Press Foundation Cancer Program.
The daughter of a Foreign Service Officer, Clune spent many of her childhood years abroad, including Peru and Indonesia. She’s a graduate of Boston College.
Tom Adair
Tom Adair has shot news documentaries, feature films, commercials and all sorts of web content on every continent. He won several awards for his work with Twin Cities Public Television and was voted one of the top 50 television producers by Millimeter magazine. He has shot documentaries and news for the PBS, Discovery Channel, ABC and National Geographic. Tom traveled the world on a bicycle for Quest Network, shooting video and editing pieces for their Internet learning channel and for broadcast. Most recently he has been shooting in the world’s longevity hot spots, known as Blue Zones, locations where an unusual amount of people live past 100. The Blue Zones Project has been featured on Oprah, Anderson Cooper 360, Dateline NBC and in National Geographic Magazine
Rakesh Nagar
Rakesh Nagar shoots many of the stories that Under-Told Stories produces in India. In addition to his 8 years working with PBS, he has been shooting news and documentaries for the Japanese public broadcaster NHK for 18 years. His work can also be seen on various Indian networks, TV Ashai, Fuji Television, Australia’s ABC network and CNN International. Rakesh shot for The Project’s Wide Angle documentary The Dying Fields and recently worked on the CNN Heroes series. Rakesh collects old cameras and unusual umbrellas.
Our Advisers
William F. Baker
Baker is an executive in residence at Columbia University School of Business, journalist in residence at Fordham University and president emeritus of WNET, the public television station in New York City. Over the four decades of his career, Baker has also been a broadcaster, author, sought-after public speaker, academic and explorer.
Gail Chang Bohr
Chang Bohr retired after serving as a judge on the Ramsey County District Court. She is an international consultant with the National Center for State Courts. Prior to her election to the bench, Chang Bohr was the executive director of the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota, which assists children in the foster care system.
Charles Eisendrath
Eisendrath, retired now, served as the director of the Knight Wallace Fellows at the University of Michigan, transforming it into one of the journalism’s most prestigious fellowship programs. He was also a former bureau chief for Time Magazine and founded the Livingston Awards, a general reporting prize for young journalists.
Carol Heen
Heen’s career in university and non-profit settings has focused on the arts, board governance, and organization strategic planning. As a partner operating Heen Century Farms she has expertise in varied and evolving rural issues.
Linda Hoeschler, Chair
Hoeschler is a retired business executive and a past president of Delegation for Friendship Among Women, a non-political organization that nurtures friendship between women from the U.S. and other countries. Hoeschler is also a former director of the American Composers Forum.
Rachael Jarosh
Jarosh is president and chief executive officer of Enactus, a global community of student, academic and business leaders committed to using entrepreneurial action to shape a better, more sustainable world. Earlier, Ms. Jarosh served as president of the Foundation at Pentair plc (NYSE: PNR) after beginning her career as an attorney. She is also a writer whose work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Joel Kramer
Kramer co-founded MinnPost and is the former editor, publisher and president of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Under his leadership the paper won two Pulitzer Prizes. He also ran Growth & Justice, a research and advocacy organization committed to innovative public policy ideas.
Michael O’Donnell
At University of St. Thomas, O’Donnell teaches a wide range of courses and has served as chair of Communications and Journalism Department. He is the co-author of The Editor’s Toolbox (Iowa State University Press) and has written and presented papers on communication ethics and visual communication. O’Donnell previously taught at the Medill School of Journalism and has 25 years of experience as a sports reporter, editor and page designer, including 12 years with the Chicago Tribune.
Patti Parson
As Managing Producer of the PBS NewsHour, Parson is a key member of both the editorial and development teams. She also is very involved in the program’s coverage of social enterprise, health and science. Her numerous awards include those given by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, CINE, Peabody and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Kelly Regan
Regan, a former owner, operator of Restaurant/Club Altavista in Mexico City, and International Trade Specialist, is presently Director and Marketing Officer for locally owned and operated, Premier Banks. Kelly works diligently to better education and opportunities for kids in at-risk situations, through local and international schools and non-profits.
Theresa Ricke-Kiely
Dr. Theresa Ricke-Kiely is the executive director for the Center for the Common Good at the University of St Thomas. Prior to joining the University of St. Thomas, she was the executive director of the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and associate clinical professor teaching nonprofit and NGO leadership for the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Mendoza College of Business.
Stephen Usery
Usery is a former vice president of oneworld Management Company, an airline alliance and service provider. A veteran of the airline industry, he is also a former marketer and strategist at Twin Cities Public Television. He is deeply committed to helping local non-profits and serves on the boards of MinnPost and the American Composers Forum.
Kathryn Vizas
A former cooperate attorney, Kathy is an advocate dedicated to global development efforts to improve the lives of girls and women worldwide. She is also a founding member of Maverick Collective, an advocacy initiative aimed at supporting social investors working to improve women’s health and rights worldwide.
Brenda Wilson
Wilson is a former National Public Radio correspondent specializing in health reporting and is a trusted voice in the global health community. She produced a number of award-winning stories and contributed to the landmark series, AIDS in Black America: Breaking the Silence.