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Selected Work

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My work lives at the intersection of storytelling, design, journalism, technology, and community. Across newsrooms, nonprofit communications, publishing, photography, web design, and multimedia production, I’ve used words and visuals to make information clearer, stories more visible, and ideas more engaging.

This selected portfolio highlights work across editorial and visual journalism, publication design, digital communications, web development, photography, and multimedia. Each project reflects a different part of a career built around thoughtful storytelling, strong visual communication, and creating work that connects with real people.

Black Alphabet Film Festival — Windy City Times

Reporter + Photographer

Reported culture feature covering the Black Alphabet Film Festival, with interviews, event reporting, and original photography focused on Black LGBTQ filmmakers and community storytelling.

Chicago Volunteer Doulas Website & Digital Communications

Communications + Web + Content Architecture

Designed and continue to manage the organization’s website, including content structure, public-facing language, digital resources, forms, fundraising tools, and ongoing updates.

Poetry at Unity Temple: Haki Madhubuti & Kevin Coval — Patch.com

Reporter + Photographer

Reported arts and culture feature on Haki Madhubuti and Kevin Coval, exploring poetry, social activism, race, youth engagement, and the role of art in community life.

The Independent — Northeastern Illinois University

Editor-in-Chief + Publication Design + Newsroom Leadership

Led editorial strategy, newsroom operations, publication design, production, staff coordination, deadlines, distribution, and audience engagement for NEIU’s student newspaper.

Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom

Website + Brand + Content Strategy

Designed the coalition’s original website and built its navigation, visual identity, content structure, advocacy pathways, membership information, mutual-aid presentation, and fundraising flow.

Urban Matrix Magazine & Multimedia Projects

Founder + Editor + Designer + Producer

Founded, edited, designed, and published a four-issue magazine, while also developing interview, video, and documentary projects highlighting creatives, entrepreneurs, and community stories.

  • Facebook
  • Jai on Instagram
  • Jai on TikTok
  • Janean on YouTube

 

© 2025-27 Author Janean L. Watkins,

InkNectar Studio. 

 

Land Acknowledgement

I gratefully acknowledge that I live, create, and build community in Pueblo, Colorado, on the ancestral and traditional homelands of Indigenous peoples, including the Ute, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Apache, and Comanche Nations.

I honor the generations of Indigenous people who have cared for this land, its waters, and its communities since time immemorial. I also recognize that Indigenous peoples are not only part of this land’s history; they remain present, living, and sovereign communities.

As a writer, storyteller, and community builder, I accept the responsibility to keep learning, to care for the land on which I live and work, and to let gratitude be reflected not only in my words, but also in my actions.

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