March 30, 2026
I’ve worked as an investigative journalist at the Invisible Institute for more than 7 years. I started at the organization as an intern while in grad school and have been here ever since. It’s where I began my career and the place that has shaped my journalistic values and approach to community-based reporting.
As I prepare to leave my role at the organization and begin the next chapter of my career in Washington, D.C., I am filled with immense gratitude for my incredible colleagues and the many talented collaborators I’ve been fortunate to work with over the years. I have a deep sense of pride for the work we’ve accomplished together, pursuing ambitious investigative projects that highlighted institutional violence and human rights abuses.
The Chicago Police Torture Archive, a human rights documentation of former Commander Jon Burge’s violence against more than 100 Black people from the 1970s to 1990s, is the project that first drew me to the Invisible Institute. For years, I worked with a wide range of colleagues and collaborators to help develop this archive, which features profiles of police torture survivors.
From start to finish, every single project I worked on was entirely collaborative. Each Invisible Institute colleague brought a unique skillset and insight that strengthened the work, informing the thoughtful, patient, and rigorous ways we approached the reporting and publication process.
Together, we’ve produced powerful work that I’m proud to say has led to tangible impact–from policy changes to individuals’ daily lives:
We reported an in-depth investigation into police dogs for the series “Mauled: When Police Dogs Are Weapons” with the IndyStar, The Marshall Project, and AL.com, which led to significant changes both in Indianapolis, where our team first began looking into a pattern of police dog bites, and nationally. In Indianapolis, the local department announced revisions in its use of police dogs shortly after we published the first story. The series received the Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting in 2021.
Our team uncovered new evidence in the wrongful murder conviction of Robert Johnson for an investigation we published in The Daily Beast in 2020. Robert was released from prison in 2025 after nearly 30 years of incarceration.
Our audio team produced the You Didn’t See Nothin podcast with USG Audio, a series that is part investigation and part memoir which follows the incomparable Yohance Lacour as he revisits a 1997 hate crime–the beating of Lenard Clark–and challenges the historical record of the case. In 2024, the series received the Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting and a Peabody Award for Radio/Podcast.
Most recently, I’ve been part of a reporting team that has been investigating sexual assault and misconduct complaints against CPD officers for the series “Accusation Dismissed: Chicago’s Failure to Investigate and Discipline Police for Sexual Misconduct.” In collaboration with ProPublica, we’ve published two stories in this ongoing series.
These are only a few of the projects I’ve been privileged to contribute to over the last 7+ years.
It's from collaborating with this team on this work that I honed my own distinct skillset, insights, and writing voice–a journalistic foundation that I’ve relied on through each new project and one that I will bring with me in my future endeavors.
Thank you to my brilliant colleagues over the years: Erisa, Sam, trina, Maira, Sarah, Yohance, María Inés, Bill, Jamie, chaclyn, Maheen, Ellen, Diana, Audrey, Isabel, Layla, Isra, Anwuli, Brigid, Diamond, Emma, Rajiv, Sukari, Kahari, Patsy, and Stu.
And a special thank you to Andrew and Alison. I would not be the journalist I am today without your guidance, friendship, and support.
While I will greatly miss working with this team, I’m comforted by the fact that no one ever seems to truly leave the Invisible Institute.
I’ve learned more from this group and their unrelenting commitment to this work than I could ever put into words, and I’m excited to see all the impactful work to come.
Thank you,
Dana Brozost-Kelleher
