Julia Craven is a lifelong creator, tracing her origins to the days spent creating on her great-grandmother's living room floor. From crafting vision boards to sketching magazine layouts and penning novellas, her innate creativity blossomed early. Today, she remains a passionate and empathetic storyteller, writer, and editor, known for her meticulous attention to detail and willingness to call it like she sees it.
In 2019, Julia merged her personal health experiences with her professional acumen at Slate Magazine. With the first four years of her journalism career dedicated to the complex intersection of racism and politics at HuffPost, she recognized her evolving purpose—to delve thoughtfully into health and well-being, particularly within Black communities. Most recently, she did this work as the senior writer and editor at New America's Better Life Lab.
Her writing and commentary have been published in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Popular Science, HuffPost, Vox, Slate, and more.
Julia's expertise extends beyond her institutional roles. She’s a freelance writer, editor, and consultant, channeling her insights into the multifaceted landscape of health and wellness. Notably, she spearheads Healthy Futures, about wellness culture, and what it really takes to feel well in a world that often works against it. It features research-informed, narrative-driven pieces that connect the dots between health, culture, and power. Alongside original essays, Julia offers curated studies and reporting, interviews with brilliant people changing how we think about well-being, and actionable tools for navigating health in real life.
She is also the founder of the Library of Black Wellness, a living collection dedicated to preserving and amplifying the health wisdom, practices, and stories of Black communities. The Library highlights works that situate Black wellness as both a personal pursuit and a collective tradition. By gathering books that document ancestral practices to contemporary research, the Library of Black Wellness not only celebrates Black resilience and creativity but also challenges erasure by ensuring that these narratives remain accessible for generations to come. When she’s not doing all of this, she writes for elsewhere, briefly, a slow newsletter capturing passing thoughts, stray essays, and brief departures from the main path. Julia continues to carve her path as a luminary in journalism and health advocacy, enriching discourse and championing inclusivity every step of the way.
Professional Accomplishments
Produced a comprehensive interactive report explaining how centuries of systemic racism caused the current Black maternal and child health crisis.
Produced the first comprehensive investigative report into the health consequences of eviction on Black children, alongside actionable solutions to mitigate the crisis.
Authored “It’s Not Too Late to Save Black Lives,” selected for inclusion in the 2021 edition of Best American Science and Nature Writing.
Persuaded the City of Orlando to remove part of a highway with “Even Breathing Is a Risk in One of Orlando’s Poorest Neighborhoods.”
Work featured across national news media, including NPR, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Popular Science, The American Prospect, The New Republic, Mother Jones, Quibi, and Vice. Julia has also been a guest on several podcasts, including Seizing Freedom, Vox’s The Weeds, Slate’s ICYMI, and Gimlet Media’s The Nod.
Finalist for a 2021 Writers Guild Award for “This Week Has Happened Before.”