Will Brown Reporter email

Will Brown is a Report for America corps member focusing on race, poverty and inequality for Jacksonville Today.

He previously reported for the Jacksonville Business Journal. And before that, he spent more than a decade as a sports reporter at The St. Augustine Record, Victoria (Texas) Advocate and the Tallahassee Democrat.

Over his 15-year career, Brown has won awards for breaking news, social media and photography. And in 2020, he contributed photographs for WFSU News/Health News Florida’s national Murrow Award-winning series “Committed: How and Why Children Became the Fastest Growing Group Under Florida’s Baker Act.”

Brown has an undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University and a master’s from the University of South Florida. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and soccer. He lives in Clay County with his wife and son.

Featured image for “Jacksonville Longshoremen demonstrate amid national work stoppage”
Dale Walker has been a member of the International Longshoremen's Association Local 1408 for more than 20 years. He was among union members who picketed along Heckscher Drive on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, during the ILA's first work stoppage since 1977. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
October 1, 2024

Jacksonville Longshoremen demonstrate amid national work stoppage

More than 1,800 people are demonstrating as the International Longshoremen’s Association strikes across the Eastern Seaboard.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Thousands of Baptist Health patients will keep coverage under Florida Blue deal”
October 1, 2024

Thousands of Baptist Health patients will keep coverage under Florida Blue deal

With just hours to spare, Baptist Health and Florida Blue reached an agreement early Tuesday over health care reimbursements.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Nonprofits boost homeownership through Ameris redlining settlement”
Ameris Bank Director of Community Lending, Clyde Anderson, left, greets LISC Jacksonville Executive Director Irvin "PeDro" Cohen during a reception Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Ameris awarded LISC Jacksonville $50,000 for its Project Boots program. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 27, 2024

Nonprofits boost homeownership through Ameris redlining settlement

LISC Jacksonville and LIFT Jax are using a settlement with Ameris Bank to help foster homeownership in predominantly Black neighborhoods.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “City Council approves money for inactive voter outreach”
Voters trickled into the Legends Center in Northwest Jacksonville throughout primary Election Day on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 24, 2024

City Council approves money for inactive voter outreach

Jacksonville Today was first to report that more than 90,000 Duval voters were inactive, and activists have pressured the elections…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Hispanic voter turnout, historically low in Duval, targeted ahead of November”
Joel Gonzalez receives an overview of the ExpressVote machines used by the Duval County Supervisor of Elections from Halley Kunda, the education and community outreach specialist for the Duval County Supervisor of Elections, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 22, 2024

Hispanic voter turnout, historically low in Duval, targeted ahead of November

Jacksonville’s Hispanic population is underrepresented at the polls, and both parties are trying to change that ahead of November.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Hispanic Heritage Month celebration highlights Jacksonville’s increased outreach efforts”
Maria Kellermann performs during the city of Jacksonville's Hispanic Heritage Month kickoff on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 17, 2024

Hispanic Heritage Month celebration highlights Jacksonville’s increased outreach efforts

Maria Kellermann is executive director of the Venezuela Marka Foundation, a nonprofit that celebrates Venezuelan heritage and provides vocational training…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Florida Blue, Baptist negotiations stall as deadline approaches”
Baptist Health and Florida Blue are Northeast Florida's largest health care system and health insurance provider. The two have served Jacksonville for a combined 149 years. | Florida Blue; Baptist Health
September 15, 2024

Florida Blue, Baptist negotiations stall as deadline approaches

With two weeks left before their current contract expires, the two appear no closer to reaching an agreement.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “15% of registered Duval voters are inactive, a huge rise since state law changed”
The Duval County Supervisor of Elections building. | Claire Heddles, Jacksonville Today
September 15, 2024

15% of registered Duval voters are inactive, a huge rise since state law changed

The number of voters who are one missed election away from being removed from the rolls has risen sharply since…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Black historical society creates Freedom School to close knowledge gaps in Jacksonville”
Christina McNair will serve as one of the educators for the James Weldon Johnson ASALH chapter's Freedom School. McNair is a retired science teacher and educator who has lived in Jacksonville for nearly 50 years. | Will Brown, Jacaksonville Today
September 6, 2024

Black historical society creates Freedom School to close knowledge gaps in Jacksonville

Freedom School is designed to help school-aged children, and their families, learn about Black history.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “NUMBER OF THE WEEK | Jacksonville Jaguars fun facts”
Josh Hines-Allen (41) and Roy Robertson Harris (95) lead the Jaguars onto the field during a Monday Night Football game on Monday, Dec. 4, 2024. The Jaguars lost in overtime to the Cincinnati Bengals. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 6, 2024

NUMBER OF THE WEEK | Jacksonville Jaguars fun facts

Add up all of Trevor Lawrence’s passing yards and you get roughly the distance from EverBank Stadium to the jaguar…

By Megan Mallicoat and Will Brown

Featured image for “Eastside Debs Store reopens with credit union and career center”
September 3, 2024

Eastside Debs Store reopens with credit union and career center

Joe Debs leaned against the counter on Tuesday between a pair of registers and the memories returned. A smile did…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “New lawsuits and a scholarship: Families reflect one year after Dollar General shooting”
Brother Quan Laguerre and grandmothers Cheryl Joachin and Eva Mobley hold the posthumous associate's degree awarded to AJ Laguerre Jr. on Aug. 26, 2024, the one-year anniversary of his death. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 26, 2024

New lawsuits and a scholarship: Families reflect one year after Dollar General shooting

Three families grieved differently on Monday – the first anniversary of the shooting rampage that targeted Black people at a…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Soil collection ceremony marks 1-year anniversary of Dollar General shooting”
A soil collection ceremony was held in Grand Park on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024, to remember Angela Carr, AJ Laguerre, Jerrald Gallion on the one-year anniversary of their deaths. A white supremacist killed the trio near a Dollar General on Aug. 26, 2023. The Jacksonville Community Remembrance Project says one jar will be presented to the families of the victims, while another will head to the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 25, 2024

Soil collection ceremony marks 1-year anniversary of Dollar General shooting

More than 300 people gathered to remember AJ Laguerre, Angela Carr and Jerrald Gallion with a soil collection ceremony.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “High school football kicks off Friday in Northeast Florida”
St. Augustine scored three second-half touchdowns to pull away from Palatka on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. The Yellow Jackets' 42-10 victory gave them a 57-43-4 advantage in Northeast Florida's oldest high school football rivalry. (Photo by Will Brown)
August 22, 2024

High school football kicks off Friday in Northeast Florida

Here’s the local high school football schedule for the season-opening week across the Jacksonville area.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Nixon trounces Priestly Jackson in House District 13”
Former Jacksonville City Council member Brenda Priestly Jackson challenged state Rep. Angie Nixon. D-Jacksonville, in the Democratic primary. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 20, 2024

Nixon trounces Priestly Jackson in House District 13

With most of the vote counted, state Rep. Angie Nixon amassed more than 80% over Brenda Priestly Jackson in the…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Patients wait as Baptist Health and Florida Blue battle over costs”
Baptist Health and Florida Blue are Northeast Florida's largest health care system and health insurance provider. The two have served Jacksonville for a combined 149 years. | Florida Blue; Baptist Health
August 19, 2024

Patients wait as Baptist Health and Florida Blue battle over costs

If the two do not come to an agreement, as many as 50,000 people will be forced to find new…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Black voter turnout courted ahead of pivotal election”
LaTeisha Reynolds snaps a selfie with Sharon Rashad, back left, and Lucretia McBride before early voting inside the Schell-Sweet Community Resource Wellness Center on the campus of Edward Waters University in Jacksonville's New Town community. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 8, 2024

Black voter turnout courted ahead of pivotal election

Duval County has the highest percentage of Black voters in the state, but the question is how many melanated souls…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Republicans look to shore up support among Black conservatives in Jacksonville”
Former Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll addressed the Duval County Coalition of Black Republicans on Thursday, July 25, 2024 in Jacksonville's San Jose community. Her remarks focused on faith, family and freedom ahead of the 2024 presidential election. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
July 26, 2024

Republicans look to shore up support among Black conservatives in Jacksonville

A Black woman may be leading the presidential ticket of a major political party for the first time, but for…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Highway 17 North Heritage Trail celebrates local icons”
A. Philip Randolph, one of the chairmen for the March On Washington, stands in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial after a parade through the streets of the capital, Aug. 28, 1963.
July 25, 2024

Highway 17 North Heritage Trail celebrates local icons

The trail will preserve the legacies of Augusta Savage, A. Philip Randolph, and brothers James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Jacksonville wants to lure HBCU football to renovated ‘Stadium of the Future’”
Southern defeated Bethune-Cookman 28-18 at EverBank Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
July 2, 2024

Jacksonville wants to lure HBCU football to renovated ‘Stadium of the Future’

The deal with the Jaguars included a stipulation that Jacksonville would work to bring in an annual football game between…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Durkeeville revitalization study a ‘new chapter’ for historic Black community”
Elder Lee Harris is the longtime pastor of Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church in Durkeeville. He holds a revitalization plan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1996 as evidence that some of the promises made to Durkeeville residents have not always been upheld. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
July 1, 2024

Durkeeville revitalization study a ‘new chapter’ for historic Black community

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan signed legislation on Monday to invest $200,000 in studying how to redevelop the Durkeeville neighborhood.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Eastside residents skeptical of getting money promised in stadium deal”
Jaguars owner Shad Khan says everyone should benefit from the renovation of EverBank Stadium. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
June 26, 2024

Eastside residents skeptical of getting money promised in stadium deal

Many residents fear City Council won’t follow through on the Community Benefits Agreement with the Jaguars.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “MLK’s nephew preaches at St. Augustine church where King delivered sermon 60 years ago”
The Rev. Derek Barber King preaches from inside the pulpit at St. Paul AME Church in St. Augustine on the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement. He is joined in the pulpit by St. Paul AME pastor the Rev. Alesia Ford-Burse, left; the Rev. Cerita Battles, and Beverly Troutman. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
June 16, 2024

MLK’s nephew preaches at St. Augustine church where King delivered sermon 60 years ago

The younger King started his remarks by referencing his uncle’s most famous words.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Thousands expected at Melanin Market for Juneteenth festival”
The Jacksonville Melanin Market held its Black History 365 Parade and Celebration on March 3, 2024, along A. Philip Randolph Boulevard on Jacksonville’s Eastside. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
June 13, 2024

Thousands expected at Melanin Market for Juneteenth festival

The Eastside-based nonprofit will award 15 $1,000 microgrants to businesses that participate.…

By Will Brown