EMontWrites

Elizabeth Montgomery is a resilient award-winning multimedia journalist, social media maven, public speaker and author.

Elizabeth’s journalism career began while she was homeless. After high school, she lived in her car while going to college, working odd jobs, interning at newspapers then freelancing for several media outlets nationwide.

Currently, she is the Community Relations and Events producer for the Arizona Republic of the USA Today Network. There, she oversees the Arizona Storytellers, a monthly live storytelling event that showcases true stories from real people. She also reports on cultural and philanthropic news.

She is also tired of talking in third person…

The purpose of this blog is just like anything else I do, to inspire. I’ve seen some really dark days but I chased the light at the end of the tunnel and come out on the other side.

Being in the light, gives me a greater appreciation for living life the way I want to live it. As you will see on this blog, I encourage you to do the same.

When I’m not working on the next event or story, I’ve been outspoken about my past experience with homelessness, speaking to students in multiple cities and hosting events across the country to spread awareness.

I am author of several columns and personal essays that aim to inspire and educate, from being a homeless college student, to my relationship with my mother and my journey to healing from trauma.

What I’m is most proud of is being Cultural Issues Reporter in Wilmington, North Carolina. While at the newspaper I launched a Black Issues forum that connected journalists with the black community. We held the event twice and it lead to several story ideas and new insight on issues that affected the black community.

While in Wilmington, I filmed several documentaries and launched the #JournalDrive that gave more than 300 students in underserved communities a journal to write in.

As Vice President of the Arizona Association of Black Journalists and Vice Chair of the Arizona Republic’s Diversity Committee, I am passionate about diversity in newsrooms and in news coverage. It was that disparity of diverse coverage I saw that lead to my role as Cultural Issues reporter.

I have a passion for shedding light on people and issues that would otherwise go untold. From the gentrification of Wilmington’s Northside community, a forgotten Boys and Girls club, to the harmful effects of blackface and a group of brothers who attend NASCAR races to promote diversity in NASCAR, I cover it all.

I am also Communications Chair for the Greater Phoenix Urban League Young Professionals and was recently a nominee for a 2019 Phoenix Chamber Young Professional ATHENA Award.

I’m just getting started.