The people who work at and with Shoresides put service at the center of what we do. We use our work to fill information, uplift solutions, and create accountability and connection in coastal North Carolina. More about Shoresides→
Rend Smith
Editor-in-Chief and cofounder
Rend is a communicator and content producer who has focused on using technology to amplify diverse voices across communities. Through initiatives like podcasts highlighting underrepresented stories, online campaigns addressing social justice issues, and projects giving a platform to incarcerated writers, Rend focuses on journalism that has an impact. His investigative journalism confronting issues like police violence and surveillance has been supported by grants from organizations like Type Investigations, The Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting, Flashlight and other journalism funders. With bylines in publications like The New York Times, Washington City Paper, and Colorlines, Rend brings marginalized narratives to the forefront through deeply reported storytelling.
Akshay Gokul
Contributing Multimedia Journalist & Host
Gokul is a multimedia journalist, empowered to use media as a mechanism for engaging communities in communal transformation. Throughout his journey, he has unpacked complex local issues, including youth voting behavior, labor movements, and educational inequity, within his media works
Natalia Sanchez Loayza
Contributing Multimedia Journalist & Host
Natalia is a journalist, editor, and writer. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish from NYU and an MA in Bilingual Journalism from CUNY. Her work focuses on gender inequality and labor rights issues. She has worked for Radio Ambulante and Etiqueta Negra magazine and was the co-founder and co-editor of Malquerida magazine. In 2021, she won the Aura Estrada Literary Prize. She was born in Lima, Peru and lives on the east coast.
Terrill Williams
Director of Community Engagement
Terrill was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, He is a graduate of East Carolina University with a degree in Vocal Performance and Music Education. Some of his performance credits include Dreamgirls (Curtis Taylor Jr.), Once on This Island (Agwe), Hairspray, Smokey Joe’s Café, and Five Guys Named Moe (Big Moe). He was also a performer on the cruise ship, Palm Beach Princess, for three years and was in the National Tour of Lost in the Fifties in 2007. He hopes his passion for community and narrative will find a place among and engage a larger network of enthusiastic community builders and storytellers.
Kevin Lee-Y Green
Arts and Culture Editor of Shoresides
Green is a dancer, choreographer, and theater director who was born and raised in Bolivia, North Carolina. Kevin has recently done residency work with youth in nine coastal Carolina counties in response to the impact of Hurricane Florence. New England Foundation for the Arts, Alternate ROOTS, Arts Council of Wilmington, and International Association of Blacks in Dance have supported his work.
Nicolas Magrino
Contributing Reporter
Nicolas Magrino is a multimedia journalist and writer. He holds a MA in Journalism from CUNY. Born and raised in suburban New York, his work has primarily focused on poverty, hunger and homelessness at both a local and national level.
Day Camposeco
Media Producer
Camposeco is a COM student at UNCW and a native North Carolina multimedia storyteller who has documented cultural changes in the American South. Overall, their work focuses on creating content that amplifies the voices of North Carolina’s diverse communities, with a particular focus on traditionally underrepresented groups.
