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Lauren Peace - Enterprise Reporter, Equity

Enterprise Reporter, Equity

I’m an enterprise reporter who writes stories about equity and inclusion for the Tampa Bay Times. My job is to amplify the voices of people who are working to make our neighborhoods better. I also shine light on the systems and practices that hold marginalized people back. Human narratives are at the center of my work. I’m a reporter because of my desire to understand and connect with our community. I’m a storyteller because I want to help others feel closer to it, too. Want to chat, offer tips on where to find the best egg-and-cheese sandwich in town or gush about West Virginia (my home state)? Reach out. I’m here to listen.

  1. Kiersten Evans and Natavion Isom have fun sliding in socks over the smooth wood floors during LGBTQ+ Youth Pride Prom, Friday, May 5, 2023 in Riverview.
  2. Kimme Heller lost most of her teeth after she developed severe infections after pregnancy. Now, her bone is deteriorating. Her face shape is changing. Florida is one of the worst states in the country for access to dental care. That has major implications for people's overall health and for their social well-being.
  3. The United Way Suncoast serves Pinellas, Hillsborough, Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto Counties.
  4. Miss Koro, 28, of St. Petersburg, displays a sign and attends the Drag Queen’s March at Cascades Park on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Tallahassee.
  5. Drag queen Brianna Summers is seen watching performances during a fundraiser at CitySide Lounge on April 13 in Tampa. “We were forced into activism,” Summers said.
  6. Victor McCleskey of New Port Richey, left, uses a ladder to look over a privacy fence outside of Bread and Roses Woman's Health Center in Clearwater on Saturday. Less than 48 hours earlier, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to ban abortion at six weeks.
  7. Tina Reneé, 50, of Orlando walks in the Trans Pride Parade in St. Petersburg on Saturday, June, 25, 2022.
  8. Ramy Sadig, left, Amalia Richardson and Calandra Peterkin at a Black Leadership Network event at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
  9. People dance and sing to gospel music during FAST’s annual Nehemiah Action assembly which gathers hundreds of congregants from various religious groups together to call on public officials for social justice reforms, at Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Largo on Monday.
  10. Volunteer dentist Shazia Malik examines the mouth of new patient Roosevelt Jones at the Community Dental Clinic in Clearwater on Jan. 18, 2018. Low-income adult patients aren't charged for the services. The nonprofit organization just asks for a donation. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD   |   Times ]
  11. NAACP Hillsborough County Branch President Yvette Lewis is pictured at a news conference outside Tampa Park Plaza on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. The NAACP may consider issuing a travel advisory for tourists to Florida.
  12. Sydney Aitcheson, 21, is the President of the FAMU chapter of the NAACP. The Times spoke with Aitcheson and other FAMU students about the tension of balancing fear of repercussions with their commitment to resistance as the legislature attacks diversity initiatives in education.
  13. Calandra Peterkin, a member of the University of South Florida Chapter of the NAACP, participates in a hybrid meeting at USF’s Marshall Student Center in Tampa on Sunday. The students planned for a Black History Month event during their meeting.
  14. Anti-abortion protesters and patient escort volunteers are pictured outside of Bread and Roses Woman's Health Center in Clearwater on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023.
  15. A Human Rights Watch report found more than half the abortion requests were denied in Hillsborough County.
  16. Feeding Tampa Bay’s President and CEO Thomas Mantz shared a tweet in which Bruce Springsteen gave a shoutout to Feeding Tampa Bay during his concert Wednesday night in Tampa.
  17. Stephanie Calvert, with Sunstar Paramedics, left, pauses to visit with St. Petersburg Fire Rescue firefighter-paramedic Josh Burch and his 7-month-old son, Kane, on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, at the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County in Clearwater. That's where officials gathered to announce the expansion of locally-born Sleep Baby Safely campaign to eight counties across the state.
  18. Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday.
  19. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, which is run by the IRS, is one of the main providers of free tax-prep services for low-income residents across Tampa Bay, many of whom are seniors.
  20. Roslyn Clark Artis, the president of Benedict College, spoke at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Breakfast in Tampa on Monday.
  21. William Graveley, 64, stands near Gate 7 at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, where a dry cleaning business he once owned was razed in the 1980s to make way for the stadium’s 1.1 million square foot structure in the Gas Plant district in St. Petersburg.
  22. In 2004, then-Florida State Rep. Ed Jennings, left, hugs Rosewood survivor Robie Mortin after the unveiling of a monument to a Black community destroyed in an act of racial violence in 1923.
  23. A St. Petersburg man was killed when he was hit by a Publix semi-truck on Saturday night.