Michael Zajakowski is the former director of photography at CHICAGO magazine and a cofounder of the Prism Photo Workshop, an organization created to provide resources and support for young photographers of diverse backgrounds to tell the stories of underrepresented people and communities with dignity.

Michael has been a photo editor, director of photography, photojournalist and photography educator for more than 30 years, including 20 years as a photo and video editor at the Chicago Tribune.

Michael taught visual communication in the graduate journalism program at DePaul University and digital storytelling at Columbia College Chicago. He is on the advisory board of FreshLens Chicago, a program that provides educational arts programming to students from under-resourced areas in Chicago. He has been a mentor and advisor to many emerging photojournalists.