YES! Magazine

12/30/2025

As 2025 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on how profoundly challenging this year has been. We deeply hope that you and your loved ones are safe, and are managing as well as possible in these tumultuous times.

In order to chart a course out of this era of far-right authoritarian violence, we are drawing on lessons from the past to help build new pathways forward.

YES! Magazine’s archive of solutions journalism curated over nearly three decades remains an essential platform for telling the stories of people striving for real, meaningful change.

The need for YES! in 2026 and beyond is clear. This is why Truthout stepped up to keep YES! alive this year. Like you, we recognize how invaluable YES! is to building a more just world. And to keep this project going, we need your support.

Can you make an end-of-year gift to solidify YES!’s financial foundation in this moment of transition?

support.truthout.org/page/yesmedia

If we can rebuild YES!’s financial health, we commit to the following in 2026:

- maintaining and hosting YES!’s archive so its decades of work are accessible to the public;

- publishing a monthly newsletter that highlights archived YES! stories and new solutions journalism from other publications;

- continuing distribution of YES! by uplifting archived stories and new solutions journalism stories across YES!'s social media platforms and beyond;

- exploring new possibilities, such as new co-published solutions journalism series, as our capacity grows.

Thank you for all that you have done to support YES! throughout the years. With your help, we will continue this vital journalistic work and create new possibilities for transformative media in 2026.

You can make your tax-deductible gift here: support.truthout.org/page/yesmedia

Or you can send us a check to PO Box 276414, Sacramento, CA, 95827. (Please make the check out to Truthout, and note in the memo line that the donation is for YES!)

Gratefully,

Maya Schenwar and Ziggy West Jeffery

Co-Chairs of the YES! Media Board of Directors

The monthly YES! newsletter provides crucial solutions-oriented context for our times: It uplifts relevant pieces from the YES! Magazine archives and new solutions journalism from other publications. You can support these ongoing efforts with a tax-deductible donation. (You'll receive your donation....

12/30/2025

The US may be on a path toward war, but it’s crucial to remember that what we do next matters – the worst is only guaranteed if we do nothing. When we connect through solidarity, we make a world without war a possibility.

Discover insightful articles on We All Have a Responsibility to End War. Join us in exploring solutions for a just, sustainable, and compassionate world. All Have a Responsibility to End War

11/03/2025

Relentless kidnapping of immigrants by ICE. Universities handing over names to the state for investigation. Steps toward US military intervention in Venezuela. Prosecution of Trump’s political opponents. Looming military deployment to cities across the country. Threats of mass state repression against the left in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Thousands of workers fired from federal agencies (so far) amid a government shutdown with no clear end in sight.

The latest newsletter from the YES! digital archives, asks: Amid these authoritarian times, at what risk will we resist?

09/29/2025

Earlier this year, YES! Magazine ceased regular publication after nearly 3 decades. We deeply mourn our magazine! Yet its incredible legacy will live on. On that note, we have an exciting announcement: The Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism, which is stewarding YES!’s digital archives, has launched a monthly YES! Newsletter. Each month, the newsletter will deliver relevant stories from the YES! digital archives, surfacing pieces that are particularly pertinent to the current moment, as well as new solutions journalism from a variety of publications.

This newsletter will keep alive YES!'s insights for organizers, change makers, and readers new and old striving for a better world. As Sarah van Gelder, co-founder of YES! Magazine, recently, “The visionaries and practitioners featured in YES! explored what was possible then, and much of what they contributed suggests ways forward now.”

06/13/2025

💛 After nearly 30 years, today we say farewell. 💛

Since our founding, YES! Media has sought to amplify voices too often unheard, spotlight solutions too rarely seen, and offer a vision of what’s possible even in the most challenging times.

As we officially close this chapter, we do so with full hearts — and with profound gratitude for every reader, contributor, supporter, and staff member who helped build and sustain this movement. YOU made YES! what it was.

While YES! Media sunsets, we are thrilled to be able to share that our stories will continue to have an impact. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our staff, board, and partners, nearly three decades of YES! content will be preserved and remain accessible through our friends at Truthout — ensuring this archive of solutions journalism continues to inspire future changemakers. ❤️

We invite you to keep supporting Truthout as well as other independent media and storytellers who carry this work forward — including our own Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar and her show Rising Up with Sonali.

Finally, thank you for walking alongside us these many years even as the work continues.

Keep raising your voice. Keep seeking solutions. Keep saying YES!

Click here to read our full farewell statement: https://www.yesmagazine.org/farewell-and-thank-you-from-yes-media

06/11/2025

✨ As we approach our final days, we’re honored to share one of our most personal reflections. ✨

In this beautiful farewell essay, YES! Magazine’s Founding Editor, Sarah van Gelder reflects on nearly 30 years of bold, solutions-driven journalism — and the vision, values, and imagination that shaped YES! into the publication and community so many of you have known and loved.

Our final message will come this Friday, June 13 — but today, we invite you to join us in celebrating the legacy you helped build. 💛

📖 Read Sarah’s full farewell essay here: https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2025/06/11/the-world-is-burning-does-the-yes-approach-still-matter

05/15/2025

For our sixth staff spotlight, we're honoring Sunnivie Brydum, former managing editor at YES!

Sunnivie is an award-winning journalist and editorial leader with more than 15 years of experience writing, editing, and directing journalism in service of social change.

Sunnivie was hired in 2019 as editorial director to solidify YES! Media’s embrace of solutions journalism, and spent the next six years building and supporting the team that boldly demanded justice, equity, and unflinching honesty in our coverage of the greatest challenges of our time.

A veteran of q***r and independent media, Sunnivie is at their best working alongside colleagues who share the belief that journalism is an essential tool in the fight for collective liberation. They have held nearly every position on the masthead, but editing is their true calling.

Sunnivie is open to all types of editorial work. They are especially seeking opportunities to be part of another team that fearlessly speaks truth to power and lifts up the voices of those often excluded from mainstream coverage.

Swipe to read Sunnivie's message to YES! readers and learn how to get in touch.

05/15/2025

For our eighth and final staff spotlight, we're honoring Kimi Mehlinger, donor support specialist at YES!

Kimi’s professional background is in customer service, executive administration, and mortgage lending. She started working at 13 with a family business, where she helped with manufacturing, sales, and accounting. As a mother, she felt the need to be a part of something greater than herself.

Kimi seeks to do work that impacts the world in a positive way, especially when there is “so much going on that threatens to destroy the America I once knew, the world I once wanted to explore and the quality of life that is quickly becoming more and more difficult for the next generation to enjoy.”

As the donor support specialist at YES! Media, Kimi connected and supported our incredible readers and donors—sometimes just through a phone call or email—but always with a sense of shared values and vision. She viewed YES! as a crucial resource to inspire, reach, and teach others how to maintain, sustain, and heal our world on a daily basis.

Swipe to read Kimi's message to YES! readers and learn how to get in touch.

05/15/2025

For our seventh staff spotlight, we're honoring Doug Indrick, director of operations and technology at YES!

Doug is a nonprofit technology and database expert, an operations and systems strategist, and a musician. Since starting at YES! Media in 2018, he has been the owner of all internal and external-facing systems, managed teams and contractors, co-built organizational budgets, and collaborated with staff at every level to build and improve YES!’s operational systems to help maximize organizational impact.

Doug has a depth of experience in nonprofit leadership and planning, administering fundraising databases and technology, and bottom-lining essential legal, HR and financial requirements for organizations. He is passionate about helping organizations become more efficient and effective while taking care of their most important asset—their employees.

Doug is open to full-time and contract roles supporting organizations with their database, operations and technology needs.

Swipe to read Doug's message to YES! readers and learn how to get in touch.

05/15/2025

For our fifth staff spotlight, we're honoring Michael Luong, associate art director at YES!

Michael joined YES! Media in the autumn of 2021, and has always had a penchant for working for independent journalistic outlets that cover topics that resonate with his own personal values—and uses that fuel to tell visual stories.

As the associate art director, Michael used visual storytelling to highlight the voices and perspectives of others. He believes there is such power and healing to be had when we let people tell their own stories for themselves.

You may have seen some of his illustrations in YES!’s popular columns, including: Murmurations with adrienne maree brown, Apocalypse Chow with Arun Gupta, and Reckoning with Raquel Willis. He has also designed and branded special editorial initiatives like Building the Block, Realizing Reparations, and Progress 2025.

Michael also created data driven infographics for the print issue, designed visuals for our online stories, and tailored stories for social media. He is interested in art director and designer roles.

Swipe to read Michael's message to YES! readers and learn how to get in touch.

05/15/2025

For our fourth staff spotlight, we're honoring Natalie Pryor, art director at YES!

Natalie is a purpose-driven designer and art director with deep expertise in visual storytelling and brand clarity.

Since 2021, Natalie has helped reshape YES! Media’s visual identity to reflect its evolving focus during a time of rising misinformation, socio-political division, and organizational transformation.

From executing a full magazine redesign to developing cross-team workflows and creating brand-aligned marketing and promotional materials, she collaborated across teams to elevate and unify the brand.

Natalie’s covers and spreads have been praised for their emotional resonance. Her art direction prioritized commissioning BIPOC, q***r, and disabled creatives, and collaborating with solutions-oriented organizations with lived connections to the stories YES! publishes.

Natalie is open to new collaborations in visual storytelling, creative direction, and purpose-driven spaces—whether activist-driven, movement-centered, or healing-focused.

Swipe to read Natalie's message to YES! readers and learn how to get in touch.

05/14/2025

For our third staff spotlight, we're honoring Julia Luz Betancourt, associate editor at YES!

Julia is a multimedia journalist, editor, and audience engagement professional who believes journalism has a duty to bring about justice.

Since joining YES! Media in 2023, Julia worked on fundraising, newsletters, social media, and reported original solutions stories for YES!’s activism beat. Her work redefined YES!’s voice, engaged new audiences, and protected the organization’s independence from corporate influence by raising $100,000 in reader donations.

Julia is most proud of her reportage; she covered the struggle to end sexual violence in the era following , the art and culture arm of the movement for Palestinian liberation, and how student activists are resisting repression from the Trump administration.

Regardless of what her next role brings, Julia is committed to providing solutions and accountability journalism. She will soon launch her own newsletter on Substack, and is open to work in reporting, social media production, audience engagement, and editing roles.

Swipe to read Julia's message to YES! readers and learn how to get in touch.