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 “Duval’s next superintendent must help spell out literacy solutions”
Duval County third graders have reading proficiency scores below the statewide average and below Florida's six, large, urban school districts. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
October 4, 2023

Duval’s next superintendent must help spell out literacy solutions

In the most recent academic year, just 46% of Duval County third-graders were proficient at reading.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Video of Le’Keian Woods’ arrest by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office sparks outrage”
Natassia Woods says her 24-year-old son, LeKeian, sustained a concussion following his Sept. 29, 2023 arrest where video appears to show a JSO officer kicked Woods while he was handcuffed and on the ground. More than 50 people protested JSO's the actions on the steps of the Police Memorial Building on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
October 1, 2023

Video of Le’Keian Woods’ arrest by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office sparks outrage

Community members are protesting the beating of a man in Jacksonville police custody.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Conference brings Black resistance to Jacksonville”
Diana Greene, left, speaks with Johnnetta Betsch Cole after a reading of banned and restricted books in James Weldon Johnson Park in Jacksonville. Cole, an anthropologist and former president of Spelman College and Bennett College, is a Jacksonville native. Greene, CEO of the Children's Literacy Initiative, is the former superintendent of Duval County Public Schools. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 25, 2023

Conference brings Black resistance to Jacksonville

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History read from the works of Black authors whose writings…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “City plans to buy proposed Brentwood liquor store”
A proposed liquor store at the corner of Golfair Boulevard and Davis Street is less than 200 feet away from KIPP Voice Academy. When a zoning execption for the store was approved in 2020 the school had yet to be built. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 25, 2023

City plans to buy proposed Brentwood liquor store

City Council Member Ju’Coby Pittman has told residents the city will buy the property, which sits less than 200 feet…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “100 new voices sought for ‘Voces de Hispanos’ project, with Jax City Hall exhibit opening Monday”
The River Runners are a pair of statutes sculpted by Jacksonville-based artist and art educator Derby Ulloa. He was one of nearly 70 people who participated in an oral history project featuring Hispanic residents from across Northeast Florida. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 14, 2023

100 new voices sought for ‘Voces de Hispanos’ project, with Jax City Hall exhibit opening Monday

An oral history project with a City Hall exhibit is looking for 100 more Hispanic community members in the Jacksonville…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Duval School Board hears how parents answered superintendent search survey”
Andrea Messina is the CEO of the Florida School Boards Association that is helping Duval County Public Schools faciliate its superintendent search. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 12, 2023

Duval School Board hears how parents answered superintendent search survey

Duval County Public Schools will have a new, permanent, superintendent by January. The Duval County School Board briefly considered delaying…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Dollar General shooting victims remembered alongside calls for change”
Chayvaughn Payne, left, tells mourners at The Bethel Church that his mother, Angela Carr, was a hard working woman who "did what she had to do "for her kids, her grandkids (and) hell, she even did it for her friends." Carr was joined in the pulpit by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Bishop Rudolph McKissick Jr. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 10, 2023

Dollar General shooting victims remembered alongside calls for change

This weekend, pastors at funerals for the victims of the racially motivated shooting on Aug. 26 in Jacksonville challenged the…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “DeSantis fumes over question linking him to racist murders”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has over 40 ethics violations to sign off on, according to a report from the Florida Commission on Ethics. The oldest case dates back over seven years. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 7, 2023

DeSantis fumes over question linking him to racist murders

Gov. Ron DeSantis erupted when a Black military veteran blamed him for the mass shooting at Dollar General in Jacksonville.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Northside residents seek fairness from superintendent”
Janee White Sapp and her sons identify the top qualities they would like to see in the next Duval County Schools superintendent. They attended a community forum Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, at Raines High School. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 7, 2023

Northside residents seek fairness from superintendent

The crowd at a community forum said the school district has ignored the needs of Jacksonville’s Black community.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Big Cat Classic gives Edward Waters community chance to count its blessings”
Edward Waters defensive back Kamren Thomas (10) celebrates his interception with linebacker Sky Louis during the second half of the Big Cat Classic. Florida Memorial defeated Edward Waters 38-21 in The Big Cat Classic on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023 in Jacksonville. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 4, 2023

PHOTO ESSAY | Big Cat Classic gives Edward Waters community chance to count its blessings

When the Edward Waters University football team kicked off its 2023 season on Saturday afternoon at Nathaniel Glover Community Field…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Black joy in Jacksonville ”
Martinique Lewis is president of the Black Travel Alliance, a nonprofit that focuses on diversity in travel marketing and travel storytelling. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 31, 2023

PHOTO ESSAY | Black joy in Jacksonville 

This photo essay is a head nod to the nuance and the full lives of the more than 300,000 Black…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Relief fund activated to help community heal after racist mass shooting ”
August 30, 2023

Relief fund activated to help community heal after racist mass shooting 

A relief fund that’s helped Jacksonville recover from past hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic has been reactivated in response to…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Duval Schools will resume classes Friday”
The Duval Schools administration building. | Claire Heddles, Jacksonville Today
August 30, 2023

Duval Schools will resume classes Friday

Duval Schools will remain closed Thursday. Clay County and St. Johns County schools plan to return to class.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Power outages spread across Jacksonville area”
August 30, 2023

Power outages spread across Jacksonville area

Although Hurricane Idalia was causing limited damage Wednesday in Northeast Florida, power outages were spreading across the region.…

By Will Brown and Steven Ponson

Featured image for “Jacksonville demonstrators decry white supremacy, point fingers at DeSantis ”
Jacksonville teacher and activist Neil Jefferson was among the speakers during a demonstration decrying white supremacy on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. The incident was slated to celebrate the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, but shifted into a demonstration following racial violence in Jacksonville's Grand Park neighborhood on Aug. 26. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 29, 2023

Jacksonville demonstrators decry white supremacy, point fingers at DeSantis 

A rally in James Weldon Johnson Park changed into a demonstration against white supremacy after Saturday’s racist shooting.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Dollar General shooter may have targeted another store”
This is the Dollar General store in Jacksonville where three people were shot to death Aug. 26, 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 28, 2023

Dollar General shooter may have targeted another store

Ryan Christopher Palmeter drove first to a Family Dollar store but left when he saw a security guard, the sheriff…

By Will Brown and Dan Scanlan

Featured image for “Dollar General shooting aligns with anniversary of racist violence of Ax Handle Saturday”
Paula Findlay was among the hundreds who attended a prayer vigil on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023 following a mass shooting fueled by racial animus toward Black people at a Dollar General in the Grand Park neighborhood. Findlay is a lifelong Jaxon who is the principal at Arlington Elementary. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 28, 2023

Dollar General shooting aligns with anniversary of racist violence of Ax Handle Saturday

Sunday’s vigils for the racially motivated shooting occurred on the 63rd anniversary of Ax Handle Saturday.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Jacksonville labor leaders, March on Washington attendee reflect, 60 years on”
Sandra Thompson is one of the few Jaxons who attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963. She was a senior at Florida A&M University at the time who was active in the NAACP and viewed attending the march the next step in her activism. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 27, 2023

Jacksonville labor leaders, March on Washington attendee reflect, 60 years on

Jacksonville’s own A. Philip Randolph’s activism and mastery of mobilization helped make the March on Washington a reality.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “William may need a form for his teacher to call him Bill”
A parent walks his child into orientation at R.V. Daniels Elementary School in Jacksonville on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 16, 2023

William may need a form for his teacher to call him Bill

A new Florida law requires a parent’s permission for students to use alternative names and pronouns. In some districts, that…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Jax nonprofits ensure students have the means to succeed”
Alethea Butler has worked with Jennifer Smith, right, at The Giving Closet Project this summer to ensure more children on Jacksonville's Northside have access to clothes that fit ahead of the 2023-24 academic year. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 11, 2023

Jax nonprofits ensure students have the means to succeed

A number of organizations are making sure students in poorer neighborhoods have the equipment and supplies they need to start…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “1619 Project founder denounces Florida’s social studies standards”
Nikole Hannah-Jones is the founder of the 1619 Project and the founder of the Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard University. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 10, 2023

1619 Project founder denounces Florida’s social studies standards

As school starts this week in Northeast Florida, Nikole Hannah-Jones says students are getting a whitewashed version of African American…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Jacksonville teacher who resigned over African American history standards is leading a charge to change them ”
R.L. Gundy is the pastor of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield. He also taught at Ribault Middle School before resigning his position following the Florida Department of Education's social studies standards that were released on July 19, 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 1, 2023

Jacksonville teacher who resigned over African American history standards is leading a charge to change them 

Teacher/pastor R.L. Gundy is leading a protest movement against the state’s new Black history standards.…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “Disagreement blows up between Democratic Reps. Daniels and Nixon”
State Rep. Kimberly Daniels (D-Jacksonville) accused fellow Democrat Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville) of defamation on July 27 after the two disagreed, to different degrees, with the Florida Department of Education's social studies standards for the 2023-24 academic year. | Will Brown
July 28, 2023

Disagreement blows up between Democratic Reps. Daniels and Nixon

Rep. Kimberly Daniels called a news conference to accuse Rep. Angie Nixon of defamation. Nixon called the discord “just pettiness.”…

By Will Brown

Featured image for “On housing, homelessness and health care, Jax committee passes learnings to new Council ”
July 25, 2023

On housing, homelessness and health care, Jax committee passes learnings to new Council 

Jacksonville’s Critical Quality of Life Committee has presented its final report to guide policy for helping low-income people.…

By Will Brown