David Zelski, Co-Anchor

Zelski returns for his ninth season as part of the award winning Lawmakers reporting team. This is his second year as the show’s co-anchor. Zelski joined GPB in 2001 as a full-time staff producer and reporter. He has worked with Georgia Business Report, Georgia Week in Review and Prep Sports Plus. His reports have aired nationally on Nightly Business Report and he has garnered several awards including an Emmy for his Public Affairs Program on Methamphetamine, a Telly award for Telemarketing, It's a Crime, and a Green Eyeshade Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Zelski currently co-hosts GPB's newest weekly program, Georgia Traveler. Another of his current projects is a documentary on Gangs in Georgia and their recent infiltration of cyberspace. A native Georgian, Zelski holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a minor in Broadcasting and Cinema Studies.

Nwandi Lawson, Co-Anchor

Emmy Award-winning Lawson returns for her ninth season on Lawmakers and her fifth as the show’s co-anchor. Her work for Georgia Public Broadcasting includes reporting for Georgia Business Report, producing the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards from 1999 through 2005, and serving as coordinating producer for Irasshai, an award-winning Japanese language series. Lawson has worked for CNN as Associate Producer for three prime-time news broadcasts and was also Associate Producer for the TBS children's series Feed Your Mind. Her radio work includes hosting the nationally syndicated Black College Football Report. She serves on the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and was named Television Journalist of the year in 2000 by CHARGE, the Coalition for a Healthy and Responsible Georgia. Nwandi Lawson is a magna cum laude graduate of Howard University.

Sandra Parrish, Reporter

Sandra Parrish returns for her second season on Lawmakers. She continues her work as a reporter for WSB Radio where she covers political, legislative, transportation, and educational news. This will be her tenth session covering the Georgia Legislature. She graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism in 1989 and worked as an anchor/news director for WPLO in Lawrenceville, an anchor/assistant news director for WNGC in Athens and an anchor/reporter for WDUN in Gainesville before joining the WSB news team in 1995. Over the years, she has received ten Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards including "Best Use of Sound", "Best Series", and "Best Sports Reporting". She's also received numerous awards from the Associated Press including Best Reporter/Anchor and won the 2006 Georgia Association of Broadcaster’s GABBY Award for “Best Series” for her coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Sandra is currently a member of the board of the Georgia Associated Press Broadcast Association.

Bridget Snapp, Reporter

Bridget Snapp returns for her second season as a part of the Lawmakers team, her first as a Reporter. Snapp graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in May of 2006 and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia the following November. During her third year at Georgetown she worked as a Producer’s Assistant for a local independent film company. She is also a graduate of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting and is the Associate Producer and Co-Host of the GolfForeGeorgia Radio Show, which airs on 1160 am, WCFO. Snapp holds a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Romance Languages (Spanish and Italian) and a Minor in Theater from the University of Georgia, where she graduated with highest honors.

Ashlie Wilson, Managing Editor and Executive Producer

Georgia native Ashlie Wilson returns for her eleventh season as part of the Lawmakers team and second as the show's Managing Editor and Executive Producer. She produced the program from 1999 through 2006. During her tenure at GPB, Wilson has also written and produced This Old Movie Palace: Fixing the Fox, Michelangelo at the High, the Read to Succeed 2001 documentary and the Georgia Week Voters Guide 2004. She has produced five Job Fair programs, three Georgia Reads Literacy Volunteer-a-Thon specials and Monet at the High. Wilson has co-produced The Fabulous Fox documentary, the Georgia's Civil War documentary series and Student Voices 2000. She has also been a segment producer for the State of the Arts program and the Success Track business series as well as an Associate Producer for Peachtree Street: Take Another Look and Speaker of the House: The Thomas B. Murphy Story. Most recently, Wilson has executive produced the second season of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s new travel and tourism series, Georgia Traveler. Wilson was one of 14 participants nationwide selected for the inaugural WETA News Producers Academy in 2006. Programs that Wilson has produced at GPB have won four regional Emmy Awards, three Green Eyeshade Awards, two Telly Awards, two Gabby Awards and a History in the Media Award from the Georgia Historical Society. She holds a Bachelor of Science cum laude in Communication from Kennesaw State University, where she was also recognized as an Outstanding Alumna by the Department of Communication in 2000. Wilson is also a proud High Honor graduate of the public city school system of Marietta, Georgia.

John Matheos, Director

John Matheos returns for his second season as Director of Lawmakers this year. He has previously served for six seasons as the show's Assistant Director and Chief Editor. John first participated in the Lawmakers program as an intern in 2000 and joined Georgia Public Broadcasting's staff full time as a Videographer/ Editor that same year. During his tenure at GPB, he has worked on public affairs programs Georgia's Business, Georgia Weekly and Lawmakers as well as long form documentary projects More Georgia Backroads and Sites to Behold: The History of Georgia's State Parks. His handiwork can also be seen on the Georgia Weekly set, which he designed and constructed. John also brings his considerable skills to the Georgia Traveler program as a Producer/Director. He is a graduate of Full Sail: School of Film, Art, Design, Music & Media Production in Orlando, FL.

Sammy Jones, Associate Producer

Sammy Jones returns for his third season as a part of the Lawmakers team and his second season as Associate Producer. Jones first joined GPB as a Lawmakers intern in 2006. During his tenure at GPB, he has worked in various roles on Client Productions with the Georgia Department of Labor (Job Fair), Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Most recently, Jones joined the staff of the Georgia Traveler program. He served as a Production Assistant in that program’s second season and in coming year, he will be the Associate Producer of the third season. Jones is a native Georgian and a 2005 graduate of the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at UGA.

2008 Georgia Public Broadcasting Lawmakers Interns

Dana J Abercrombie

Dana is a graduate of Tennessee State University where she obtained her BS degree in Speech Communication and Theater, with an emphasis in Mass Communications. While at TSU, Dana worked with her campus news station, Tiger News, on several projects. Dana has previous internship experience with NBC affiliate Channel 4 News in Nashville and CMT (Country Music Television). While at CMT, Dana interned in the Radio Networks Department and produced one show for their Studio 330 Sessions broadcast. Dana looks forward to working with GPB and the 2008 Lawmakers program.
Hometown: Decatur, GA

Andrea Dixon

Andi attended Emory University, and graduated in fall of 2006. She graduated with a B.A. Political Science, and after graduating at 18 years of age, is among the youngest graduates in the university's history. Lawmakers will be Andi's second internship at Georgia Public Broadcasting, immediately following her first internship in GPB's Radio Division at the news desk. Andi plans to pursue a career in public media, metadata, and multi-platform content.
Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Kyle Hood

Kyle Hood is a graduate of Clayton State University, where he earned a BA in Communication and Media Studies. Kyle has had a strong passion to pursue a career in television and radio broadcasting after his experience as the lead anchor for his high school's news station. Kyle has previous internship experience at Atlanta's Six Degrees magazine.
Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Minoo Hosseini

Minoo Hosseini is a French and Journalism co-major at Emory University. She is trilingual in Farsi, English, and French. Minoo hopes to work in broadcast journalism in the very near future, and until then she wants to absorb everything and anything she can during this internship. Minoo is proficient in video editing, experienced in web design, and loves blogging. Minoo's resume website is minoohosseini.com.
Hometown: Duluth, GA

Keocia Jackson

Keocia is currently a senior at Georgia State University studying broadcast journalism. In 2006, she founded a journalism organization called "the Network" which merged with the Georgia State chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for which Keocia served as President from 2006 to 2007. During the 2005-2007 school years she was also a newscaster for the Georgia State radio station, WRAS Atlanta. After graduation, Keocia aspires to work on-camera for a local television station and her ultimate goal is to become a news anchor.
Hometown: Decatur, GA

Caroline Nyagah

Caroline is a currently at Chattahoochee Technical College studying Television Production. She is also a graduated from Kennesaw State University with a BA in Theatre and Performing Arts. She has worked in Theatre as a Production Assistant, Performer, Stage Manager, Board Op, Wardrobe, among other duties. She has also had the pleasure of working as a Production Coordinator and an Actor for a heartfelt Independent Short Film called ‘Red 772’. She aspires to one day be an Independent Filmmaker (among other achievements). Caroline is thrilled to be a part of the Georgia Public Broadcasting family and is looking forward to contributing towards the 2008 Lawmakers.
Hometown: Caroline is originally from Kenya

Akym Syms

Akym Sims graduated from The Art Institute of Atlanta with an Associate of Fine Art in the Video Production program. Akym has had a passion for film and broadcast since middle school, which makes him proud to be a member of the “Internship of Lawmakers 2008”. Being the first in his family to graduate from college, he sets out to make them, and most importantly himself, proud.
Hometown: A self-proclaimed Army Brat, Akym was born in Frankfurt, Germany