Katie G. Nelson is an Emmy-nominated journalist, photographer, and filmmaker specializing in human rights, racial justice, and global health.

For more than 15 years, she has reported from the frontlines of conflict, public health crises, and protest movements across the United States and East Africa, publishing stories that expose injustice and fight for meaningful change.

Her work has been published in The New York Times, National Geographic, BBC, Al Jazeera, Frontline PBS, Associated Press, The Guardian, Telegraph, Center for Public Integrity, Public Radio International / The World, VOX, Quartz, and Huffington Post.

Trained as an investigative journalist, Katie cut her teeth at the Minnesota Star Tribune before moving to East Africa, where she was based for more than a decade. Her investigations into healthcare corruption, human rights abuses, and political finance loopholes sparked policy reform at home and abroad.

In 2013, she was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition that made writing nearly impossible. Faced with leaving journalism or adapting, she picked up a camera and taught herself photography and filmmaking. A decade later, she is considered a triple-threat in the newsroom — writing, photographing, filming, and publishing stories that bring a human voice to history-changing moments.

Katie is best known for her visual coverage of George Floyd’s murder for The New York Times, including the Emmy-nominated visual investigation How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody. Her team’s reporting on the racial justice protests also earned widespread recognition from Pictures of the Year International, the National Press Photographers Association, the Rory Peck Awards, and the News Leaders Association.

As co-owner of Far on Foot Productions, she plans, produces, shoots, and packages documentary stories for global health organizations, humanitarian groups, and newsrooms.

She is certified in Hostile Environment and Emergency First Aid Training by RISC, with additional education from The Wall Street Journal and the International Women’s Media Foundation. She is trained in infectious disease prevention and medical PPE best practices.

Prior to working in journalism, Katie developed HIV/AIDS education programs for internally displaced people in Mt. Elgon, Kenya, and co-founded The Nafula Foundation to support vulnerable families in western Kenya.

She earned a Master of Public Health in Community Health Promotion and a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies from the University of Minnesota.