AL.com has hired a new reporter to contribute to ongoing coverage of community violence prevention in Birmingham.

Alaina Bookman will contribute to the “Beyond the Violence” project, a collaboration between AL.com, The Birmingham Times and CBS42.

Her role will be crucial as the newsroom continues to cover homicides, assaults and violence in Birmingham – and the many ways that families, communities and government organizations are fighting violence in the metro.

Bookman was born and raised in Dallas and is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She has experience working as a journalist for the Houston Defender and as an archivist at the University of Texas.

Bookman said her desire to see better representation of all communities in newsrooms across the country has pushed her to report on underserved and misrepresented communities and explore how these citizens are finding solutions to some of the world’s most pressing social and political problems.

Her role is supported by Report for America, a nonprofit that aids local newsrooms.

“We’re grateful for the support from Report for America to help us report and lead this conversation in Alabama,” said Kelly Ann Scott, vice president of content for Alabama Media Group.

AL.com already hosts two other Report for America journalists, Rebecca Griesbach and Savannah-Tryens-Fernandes, who are on the Education Lab team. They are entering their third year with AL.com. Sarah Swetlik, a gender and politics reporter, is finishing her first year at AL.com.

Bookman will join AL.com in July.

Her role is partially grant- and donor-supported. Readers can support Bookman’s work and the AL.com newsroom by contributing financially. Contributions to AL.com are partially matched by Report for America.

Support her work and the future of sustainable, local journalism here.

Sign up to read future coverage through AL.com’s free newsletter, “Beyond the Violence.”