About Us

Unraveled was born out of the collaboration between two independent journalists in Chicago: Steve Held and Raven Geary. 

Steve first experienced the impact of public records requests in 2017 while investigating a Republican-led voter suppression program known as Crosscheck. As a member of the advocacy group Indivisible Chicago, he obtained records that exposed security vulnerabilities in the system. National media outlets reported on the findings, which led to a security audit by the Department of Homeland Security and an ACLU lawsuit that ultimately ended the program. Since then, he has investigated political candidates, public officials, and policing for People’s Fabric. 

Raven has worked as an independent journalist and researcher since 2020. Her freelance reporting spans a variety of publications from alternative media to broadcast news, including her photography and videography. From outing Proud Boys and racist cops to amplifying liberation movements in the streets, her body of work has always had one central focus: the world should be better than we’ve made it to be, and journalism is but one tool we can use to illuminate how. Prior to Unraveled, she produced investigative stories about policing and right-wing extremism with Jinx Press.

The pair joined forces in 2021, when Raven’s reporting on a Chicago Police sergeant collided with Steve’s research on the Northwest Side’s wacky political figures.