The Beacon team is dedicated to our mission of creating engaged and informed communities through accessible and trustworthy journalism. Learn more about The Beacon.
Leadership
STEPHANIE CAMPBELL is The Beacon’s CEO. Campbell brings deep experience in nonprofit leadership roles spanning the education, startup, philanthropy, technology and performing arts industries, as well as skills in budget management, venture philanthropy, strategic planning and employee engagement. Campbell previously served as vice president of operations and communications at Kansas City-based nonprofit Leanlab Education, a nonprofit working towards equity in K-12 education, and associate director of the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Missouri Kansas City. In her free time she enjoys unwinding on the tennis court and spending time with her three kids.
CHRIS LESTER is The Beacon’s interim editor-in-chief. He previously served as managing editor at Kansas City PBS/Flatland. Lester was a reporter, columnist and editor at The Kansas City Star for nearly 24 years, ultimately serving as assistant managing editor-business. During his career at the newspaper, Lester was recognized as a Pulitzer Prize Finalist as co-writer of “Divided We Sprawl” and won the Gerald Loeb Award as co-writer of “Frank’s Town.” During his time as business editor, the Star twice earned the best in business section award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
AMANDA JACKSON is The Beacon’s chief advancement officer. She brings more than 16 years of nonprofit leadership experience, helping raise millions of dollars and expand programs and services that serve thousands of individuals across the Greater Kansas City metro, her hometown. Her background includes leadership roles with Kansas City–area organizations, such as CAPACares and the Love Fund for Children, where she led innovative fundraising and marketing initiatives that drove record-breaking revenue growth and strengthened community partnerships. A longtime supporter of The Beacon, Amanda is energized by the opportunity to help guide the organization’s next chapter of growth. Outside of work, she enjoys live music, reading, roller skating and spending time with her husband and two dogs.
Editorial
MARIA BENEVENTO is The Beacon’s education reporter in Kansas City. Previously, she reported on Missouri state government with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, attended graduate school at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and was an editorial intern at the National Catholic Reporter in Kansas City. She enjoys covering education because it can overlap with almost any other topic she’s interested in exploring, whether child development, government accountability, religion, immigration or history. She especially loves empowering voters, parents and students to make informed decisions and get involved in their communities.
MEG CUNNINGHAM covers rural health in Missouri for the Beacon. Her work focuses on what drives health outcomes in Missouri. Prior to covering rural health, she covered state government for The Beacon. A Kansas City native, Meg graduated from the University of Missouri. Her work is funded by the Missouri Foundation for Health.
CEILIDH KERN is The Beacon’s Missouri statehouse reporter. She came to The Beacon from the Jefferson City News Tribune, where she covered state and county government. Before that, she covered a variety of beats for the Columbia Missourian, Kansas City Flatland and Euractiv. A Maryland native, she came to Missouri to attend the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she studied journalism, political science and environmental health and graduated in 2024.
SUZANNE KING is The Beacon’s health care reporter in Kansas City. During her journalism career, she has covered education, local government and business. At The Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Business Journal she wrote about the telecommunications industry. Covering health care is an opportunity to help readers make sense of an industry that touches everyone.
JOSH MERCHANT is The Beacon’s local government reporter in Kansas City. After graduating from Seattle University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, they attended Columbia Journalism School, earning a master’s degree in investigative journalism. Josh aims to go beyond writing the news of the day to help community members understand how government works, why it matters and how to get involved. Josh is originally from Colorado, and in their free time, they enjoy nail art, history and drag shows. They were a Fall 2021 intern at The Beacon.
BLAISE MESA is the Kansas Statehouse reporter for The Beacon. Before joining The Beacon, Blaise covered social services and criminal justice for the Kansas News Service and was a local government reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in multimedia journalism with a concentration in radio.
THOMAS WHITE covers workforce and economic impact for The Beacon, reporting on policies, programs, and systems that help or hinder everyday people’s pursuit of the American Dream. White is an emerging reporter with previous experience at The Community Voice and The Pitch Magazine. The KC-area native spent over a decade in hospitality before earning his journalism degree from the University of Missouri Kansas City as a first-generation college graduate from a working-class family.
Business
HILARY BECKER is the director of product for The Beacon. She graduated from the University of Missouri – Kansas City with a bachelor’s degree in business with an emphasis in marketing. Since then, she has worked at nonprofits and in newsrooms on social media strategy, audience building and product development. She’s passionate about local journalism and designing products that bring readers to The Beacon.
ESTRELLA GONZALEZ is The Beacon’s community engagement manager in Kansas City. She is a Texas Native from El Paso. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a B.A. in Broadcasting and moved to Kansas City in 2019. Since her time in KC she has built connections with other non-profits and previously worked as a Lead for the Social Media team at H&R Block. She believes that the power of community voice as a joint force can bring a change to KC and help shape the impact of reporting.
RACHEL KRAUSE is The Beacon’s Director of Civic Partnerships & Engagement in Kansas City. She brings more than 12 years of experience in public engagement, strategic communications and community-focused storytelling with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, businesses and cooperatives around the country. Before joining The Beacon, Rachel coordinated the WAY TO GO program at the Mid-America Regional Council, where they led initiatives to promote sustainable transportation options and strengthen public understanding of and engagement in regional planning issues. Rachel is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism.
About Our Founder
KELSEY RYAN is a highly accomplished journalist and nonprofit manager who has made significant contributions to the field of journalism in Kansas and Missouri. She founded The Beacon, a nonprofit news network that serves Kansas and Missouri. Under her leadership, The Beacon gained a reputation for high-quality, local journalism and reporting, and received numerous awards and accolades.
Prior to founding The Beacon, Ryan worked as a data and investigative journalist at The Kansas City Star, where she was part of an investigative team that was named a 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist in Public Service for its series on government secrecy in Kansas. She also worked at The Joplin Globe and The Wichita Eagle, where she covered health care, city government, and conducted investigations.
In September 2022, Ryan joined the Association of Health Care Journalists as its executive director, where she is responsible for leading the organization’s efforts to promote and support quality healthcare journalism.