Who We Are
Our staff and volunteers train the incarcerated in journalistic tools and platforms to tell their stories, build professional skills, and highlight the real impact of public policy on their lives and communities.
Our Team
Jesse Vasquez, Executive Director
Jesse Vasquez is the executive director of Pollen Initiative. He was editor in chief of San Quentin News from 2017 until he was paroled in 2019. Since then he has served as the strategic advisor for San Quentin News, ForwardThis Productions and Change Talk podcast. Jesse sits on the Governor’s advisory council to transform San Quentin into an innovative rehabilitation center.
Kate McQueen, Editorial Director
Kate is a writer and editor who specializes in literary journalism, with a focus on narratives of crime and justice. She holds a Ph.D. in literature from Stanford University and a master's degree in journalism from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining Pollen, Kate served as an editorial advisor for San Quentin News’s magazine, Wall City, and as the managing editor for Prison Journalism Project’s newspaper, PJP Inside. Her writing on criminal justice issues and prison journalism has appeared in Alta Journal, Next City, JSTOR Daily, Journalism History, and Literary Journalism Studies.
María Pachón, Public Fellow
María Pachón is a Colombian writer. She was awarded the 2021 Rosario Castellanos Short Novel Award for her novel Sobre Tierra Quemada. She is currently a Ph.D. student at UC Santa Cruz in the Literature Department’s creative/critical writing concentration. Her research focuses on the creative nonfiction of Latin American women writers who live and produce their work in the United States. She also serves as a UC Santa Cruz Humanities Insitute Public Fellow at Pollen Initiative.
Veronica Roseborough, Communications Coordinator
Veronica Roseborough is a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, where she studied media, the legal system and their intertwinement. A journalist in her own right, Veronica has served in varying capacities as both a writer and an editor for the Los Angeles Times, The Hill, the San Francisco Examiner, The Daily Californian and the San Mateo Daily Journal. Veronica has been volunteering with Pollen Initiative for three years and is excited to join the team in their mission to rewrite the narrative of incarceration from the perspective of those experiencing it.
Alyssa Torres, Editorial Intern
Alyssa Torres is an editorial intern at Pollen Initiative. She is currently studying statistics at the University of California, Davis. Before interning at Pollen Initiative, she worked as a freelance reporter and served in AmeriCorps NCCC.
Board of Directors
Jon Spurlock, President
Jon is the founder and former director of the Friends of San Quentin News and continues to serve as an advisor to FoSQN and its new parent organization, Pollen Initiative. Jon is a US Navy veteran and has since held various roles in business and technology management.
Richard "Bonaru" Richardson, Vice President
Richard Bonaru Richardson served on the San Quentin News staff from 2008 to 2021, holding many positions including the role of editor-in-chief. He graduated from Mount Tamalpais College in 2012. Bonaru currently works as communications associate at Mount Tamalpais College.
Amanda Weitman, Secretary
Amanda Weitman has been in the financial services industry for 40 years primarily in Wealth Management. She has a passion for the philanthropic sector. She is currently in a doctoral program at the Lilly Family School focusing on the impact that non-profit programs inside and outside of prison have on recidivism rates.
Gregg Smith, Treasurer
After graduating UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Accounting, Gregg went to work in SF for the Big 8 CPA firm of Ernst & Ernst. In 1986 Gregg’s interest in financial planning lead him to investment advisory as well as public accounting.