Since childhood, local R&B crooner and songwriter Carlton Rashad has been inspired to be as great as his role models.

Simone Garza
Simone Garza is a reporter in our Kansas City office. In addition to general reporting on Kansas City’s African-American community, she reports on economic inclusion for the African American community. She also maintains our community calendar. A recent graduate of the University of Iowa with a major in Mass Communications and Journalism, Simone joins our team as a member of the Report for America 2022-23 Corps. In addition to journalism, she enjoys writing poetry, cooking, freelance modeling, skating, reading and hip-hop dancing.