Our Team
Andrew Mercado
Andrew was born on July 19, 1993 in Monticello Minnesota and adopted by the Mercado family where he was raised in Oakdale Minnesota. He graduated from North St. Paul high school in 2011 and joined the US Army in 2012. In 2013, he was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska for four years active duty with one tour in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to the Middle East.
In 2016, when Andrew got out of active-duty Army and went into the Army Reserves he struggled with battling addiction.
In 2019, he began treatment at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge in Minneapolis. Upon graduation he applied to school to become a licensed alcohol and drug counselor at Minneapolis College. His goal was to give back to addicts like himself with an emphasis on veterans.
In 2020, school was put on hold due to the pandemic and during this time Andrew found his true calling.
After George Floyd’s murder he has been recording and documenting current events through mainly live stream media traveling to multiple cities including; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Kenosha, Wisconsin; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Houston, Texas; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Washington DC; Elizabeth City, North Carolina; Louisville, Kentucky and Cedar Rapids Iowa.
Andrew has also been providing trial coverage of cases that he has a personal connection to through his live streams (The State of Minnesota V. Derek Chauvin and The State of Wisconsin V. Kyle Rittenhouse). This provides a very unique perspective as the viewers are able to watch Andrews live footage along with what is being presented in court.
In addition to providing a live stream of current events, he has started focusing on making various voices heard. He has done personal interviews focused on addiction and recovery, breast cancer and most recently Minneapolis mayoral candidates.
Kenny Erickson
His hard work and determination is incredible, every single time. Kenny’s ability to capture raw emotions and events through his lens can make one feel present within the photo upon viewing. He has been all over the Twin Cities, Kenosha WI & Washington DC within the last year alone. He has had his photos featured in MANY big mainstream magazines and newspaper articles and we are so proud to have him and his talent as a part of our team.
Chris Juhn
Chris works incredibly hard and his talents as a photojournalist are outstanding. His work has been credited in local, national and world news in print and digital media.
Chris is also the founder of ABLE Press.
From Chris' interview with the Minneapolis Interview Project: “ABLE Press is a disability-focused news outlet created by and for people with disabilities. Our mission is to create compelling journalism that shows the reality of our communities, informs us about issues affecting us, and creates a conversation around these issues. Through covering our own communities, we will create a space where disabled voices are heard and amplified.” ... “In most newsrooms across the country, there aren’t many openly disabled reporters. With the numerous articles published around disability, rarely is the reporter for those articles someone with a disability. This creates a disconnect with readers and shifts power away from our communities, creating the impression that we aren’t capable of telling our stories.”
Whenever we add an artist to the team it is our mission to ensure they still remain as independent as possible. While Chris will be contributing to Mercado Media he will be able to contribute elsewhere & operate ABLE press as he sees fit.
Mod Team
The professional moderator team behind the scenes at Mercado Media Productions is the backbone of all our content. Setting up streams, editing the streams, moderating the chat; HOURS of volunteer time spent to assist Andrew while he’s out reporting or streaming video games at home. The work could truly not be accomplished without our incredible mod team!