Our Team - SoulOfAmerica

Jeanette Valentine
Editor-in-Chief
With more than 20 years of journalism experience, Jeanette has written news and features stories for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Black Enterprise, Essence, Heart and Soul, Upscale and Parenting magazines. Her research and writing expertise includes travel and tourism, lifestyle and consumer trends and entrepreneurship. Jeanette holds a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University and an MBA from UC Berkeley. Her travels have taken her to many destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and North America. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lysa Allman-Baldwin
Sr. Travel Writer & Photojournalist
A Freelance Writer, Lysa has 17 years of experience writing feature articles and reviews covering a wide variety of topics including travel and tourism, cuisine/restaurants, events, festivals, business and personality profiles, neighborhoods and community organizations, news reporting and real estate, which appear regularly in numerous print and online publications. A graduate of California State University, Northridge, Lysa holds a BA in Spanish Language and Translation, speaks fluent Spanish, and is a member of the International Association of Black Travel Writers. Lysa resides in Kansas City.

Kalin Thomas
Sr. Travel Writer & Photojournalist
Kalin is also a producer, reporter, writer, public speaker and media consultant. She has been a TV journalist for more than 17 years at CNN Travel. Kalin was producer/correspondent for CNN's weekly travel program, Travel Now, and won numerous awards for her work. Her stories at CNN included travel for the disabled, business travel, travel fraud, and travel trends among African Americans. In her unique position at CNN Travel, Kalin enabled first national exposure to numerous Black-owned businesses affiliated with travel. Kalin's travels have taken her to Antarctica, Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and North America. She is a graduate of Howard University. Kalin is a native of Baltimore who lives in Atlanta.

Ingrid Sturgis
Sr. Travel Writer & Photojournalist
Ingrid is an award-winning journalist with experience as sr. programming manager at AOL BlackVoices and editor at BET Weekend magazine and Essence magazine; a visiting professor at Howard University School of Communications, she developed curriculum and inaugurated undergraduate magazine editing and production course; also teaches news reporting and news design for an online journalism course; she holds a MA in Journalism from NYU and resides in northern New Jersey.

Calvin Young
Sr. Photojournalist & Sr. Travel Writer
A member of the distinctive Circumnavigators Club, Calvin held a number of senior management and analyst jobs in various US government agencies over a 30-year career. His stints at the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration gave him particular insight over a wide range of public transportation modes and sharpened writing skills to address a wide range of audience backgrounds. Calvin received an MBA from George Mason University and a BS from Johns Hopkins University. He resides in Northern Virginia.

Robert Goldston
Photojournalist
Robert studied photography at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and is a graduate of The Chicago Community Film Workshop council. His journeys have taken him to Africa, Chinag, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and France. He was published by Corel Corporation for international scenes in their worldwide screensaver program. One of 18 photographers selected nationwide for the Great Hawaiian shootout by Hawaii Visitors & Conventions Bureau. He resides in Los Angeles.

BLACK CULTURAL TRAVEL MADE EASY