Boyzell Hosey on the power of storytelling
Boyzell Hosey knows storytelling . . . winning national recognition as a visual-communication leader and team builder.
For Hosey, a senior editor at ProPublica , his community work in Florida is an extension of storytelling.
In 2017, Hosey co-founded a nonprofit to celebrate culture and healthier living through the storytelling power of collard greens, launching a startup festival the next year. Since then, “we’ve seen explosive growth,” says Hosey.
On February 15, the eighth annual Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival attracted 200 vendors and an estimated crowd of 15,000. Click here to learn more.
“Collards are the star,” says Hosey, “but the festival emanates from storytelling . . . shared experiences about food, and gardening, and family and community. It’s really cool to see people sharing stories and connecting.”
Award-winning media leader/community champion
Hosey joined ProPublica in June of 2022 as Senior Editor of Visual Storytelling, after nearly 24 years at the Pulitzer Prize winning Tampa Bay Times (formerly St. Petersburg Times).
In 2024, Hosey and spouse Andrida McCall Hosey received the Gwen Reese Lifetime Achievement Award for “their selfless commitment” to the local community.
Recent media-industry recognition for Hosey includes awards/honors from:
In 2022, Hosey spoke about team-building at The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar , recalling his longstanding connection to Ohio University .
Chuck Scott, co-founder of Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication, recruited Hosey to Ohio University from Pittsburgh, where Hosey was teaching photography. He was nearly 30 years old when he enrolled at Ohio University.
Still teaching
Today, Hosey continues to teach and mentor. He brought ProPublica’s visual communications team to the National Geographic Storytellers Summit in Washington, DC (February 12-13).
The day before the summit, Hosey was reviewing photo portfolios submitted by attendees.
Twenty-plus Ohio University alumni and faculty attended the invitation-only summit, said Professor Stan Alost . Hosey left frigid Washington, DC for the warmer-weather Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival held on February 15.
At the festival — featuring a cook off, recipes, health screenings, live entertainment, and more — Hosey was pleased to witness an outcome inspired by collard greens: “endless stories.”
Exhausted, Hosey noticed something about the calendar for next year: the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival is scheduled February 14, 2026, which is Valentine’s Day on President’s Day weekend . . . a triple win.
Stay in the loop @tampacgf