Topher Sanders reports on racial injustice and inequality in the legal system for ProPublica. His work focuses on how the second Trump administration will impact justice in America, along with under-covered stories that affect everyday folks.

In 2023, Sanders was part of a team of reporters that exposed the challenges communities face when freight trains block railroad crossings for days, endangering schoolchildren. Before that, Sanders and colleagues produced the multipart investigation “Walking While Black,” which explored how jaywalking citations are disproportionately given to Black pedestrians, and was part of a team that probed President Trump’s family separation policy. The former won the Al Nakkula award while the latter won Peabody and George Polk awards and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

In 2016 Sanders co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit working to increase the number of investigative reporters and editors of color. He is a graduate of Tuskegee University and started his journalism career at the Montgomery Advertiser in Alabama.

Sanders briefed National Press Foundation fellows in June 2025: Unlocking Powerful Stories Through Freedom Of Information Act Requests.