How to Contact Us
Please note, we are not affiliated with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which can be found at splcenter.org.
- Legal help: Student journalists or their educators seeking an answer to a legal question should fill out our Legal Hotline form.
- Media inquiries: Journalists can direct requests for interviews, comment or background information to media@splc.org. Please include your deadline in your inquiry.
- Donations: For information about supporting the Student Press Law Center, visit our Ways to Give & FAQs page or email us at giving@splc.org.
- New Voices: To get involved with advocating for student press freedom in your state, email us at newvoices@splc.org.
- Student Press Freedom Day: For questions about the annual Day, visit studentpressfreedom.org or email us at studentpressfreedomday@splc.org.
- Generally: For other inquiries for the Student Press Law Center, please email us at admin@splc.org. Inquiries for the Southern Poverty Law Center should be directed here.
Staff
GARY GREEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Gary Green joined SPLC as executive director in April 2023 after leading the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University in metropolitan Atlanta since 2020. In that role, Green served as executive director and publisher of Youth Today and the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange and launched in 2021 Fresh Take Georgia, a student-driven, digital news service that covers the Georgia Legislature and other issues of statewide, regional and national interest. For six years prior, Green served as digital director of University of Florida’s student-driven Innovation News Center and deputy news director for WUFT, the NPR and PBS affiliate for north central Florida. Learn more about Gary
JOSH MOORE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Josh Moore rejoined SPLC in 2022 after twice serving as an intern in 2010 and 2015. Josh previously spent five years at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, where he helped launch several new programs, oversaw the organization’s data efforts, and worked with journalists as an attorney. Earlier in his career, he was a newspaper copy desk chief. Josh’s passion for journalism began in the fifth grade when he published a family newsletter, and it was cemented as a high school junior when he started a student newspaper. During college, he served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, and he led an effort — with SPLC’s support — that advocated for legislation protecting the free press rights of student journalists in Kentucky. As a first-generation college student, Josh earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Western Kentucky University and his J.D. from American University Washington College of Law. Josh lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his husband, dog and two cats.
MIKE HIESTAND, SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL
Mike Hiestand has been integral to SPLC’s success since 1989. He was an SPLC intern, its first legal fellow and then served as full-time staff attorney from 1991-2003. Over the years, he has assisted over 18,000 student journalists and advisers. As the SPLC’s Senior Legal Counsel, he currently works from the west coast on the SPLC hotline and related projects. In 2013-14, Hiestand traveled around the country with free speech icon Mary Beth Tinker, teaching and speaking out on behalf of student press rights and free expression. “Tinker Tour USA” kicked off on Constitution Day at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and logged just under 25,000 miles while speaking at schools, colleges, churches, a youth detention facility, courts and several national conventions. Hiestand, who grew up in Alaska, graduated from Bartlett High School in Anchorage and went on to Marquette University’s College of Journalism and Cornell Law School.
ELIZABETH DICKSON, DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Elizabeth Dickson, CFRE (she/her), oversees SPLC’s fundraising efforts. Prior to joining the team in July 2024, Elizabeth was the Associate Director of Development & External Affairs at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a nonprofit organization that fights to advance civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age. For the majority of her fundraising career, Elizabeth was with the Freedom Forum, a nonprofit focused on fostering First Amendment freedoms for all. She obtained her Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) certification in 2021. Elizabeth holds a Bachelors of Science in Journalism from Ohio University, and spent her first year out of college as a news reporter for a local daily newspaper covering everything from crime to human interest stories. Born and raised in Medina, Ohio, just outside of Akron and Cleveland, she has called the Washington, D.C., area home since 2015. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with loved ones, baking and curling up with her Scottish Terrier Cocoa, while reading a good book. Learn more about Elizabeth.
JONATHAN GASTON-FALK, STAFF ATTORNEY
Jonathan Gaston-Falk is an Education Law attorney with broad experience spanning almost a decade representing both school district and student clients. Jonathan was a high school student journalist for the inaugural class of contributors for the York High School newspaper The Talon in Yorktown, Virginia. He subsequently earned a Bachelor’s from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor and Master of Urban Planning from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Jonathan joined SPLC in March 2022 following a five year tenure with the Legal Aid Society of Rochester, New York as Program Director of the Education Law Unit, during which time he advocated for the free speech rights of students before countless boards of education and the Commissioner of Education in Albany.
ALEXIS MASON, OUTREACH AND OPERATIONS MANAGER
Alexis Mason joined the SPLC staff in April 2019 from the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County in Fayetteville, N.C. Mason interned at Action for Children, where she designed and developed a newsletter for the AFC’s community engagement initiative in North Carolina, and lobbied to raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 16 to 18. Mason has a paralegal certificate from Meredith College, and volunteered for Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Lawyer on the Line program. A journalism graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Mason was the wires editor of the A&T Register and has written for Carolina Peacemaker, Sophisticate’s Black Hair Styles and Care Guide, and the Urban Call.
GRAYSON MARLOW, ADVOCACY ASSOCIATE
Grayson graduated with a BA from NYU Gallatin, studying journalistic ethics and minoring in Law and Society. While in college, he joined SPLC as the advocacy intern, helping to develop new resources for the New Voices program. After graduating, Grayson rejoined the staff as SPLC’s first Advocacy Associate in June 2023.
MYESHA PHUKAN, ADVOCACY INTERN
Myesha Phukan joined SPLC as an intern in October 2025. A current freshman at UC Berkeley majoring in legal studies with a minor in journalism and a reporter for The Daily Californian, Myesha is an alum of SPLC’s New Voices Student Leadership Institute. Previously, she served as the editor-in-chief of her high school student newspaper, the Oracle, where she experienced censorship at the hands of her principal. She was the winner of SPLC’s 2024 Courage in Student Journalism Award and hopes to continue working to protect student press freedom across the country.