All Mentors
Andrea González-Ramírez, Senior Writer at The Cut
Andrea is an award-winning Puerto Rican journalist who reports on politics, gender, race, and more. She’s currently a Senior Writer at New York Magazine’s The Cut. Her work has also appeared in The Lily, Insider, GEN by Medium, Refinery29, among others. She is a 2021-2022 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow, a 2021 ASME Next winner, and a 2019-2020 Ida B. Wells fellow at Type Investigations. She holds a Master of Journalism with a concentration on International Reporting from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Andrea can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Fellowship and scholarship applications
Personal branding
Unionizing your newsroom
Lourdes Vazquez, Content Editor at WFAA
Lourdes is a bilingual journalist based in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. She is a content editor for WFAA, an ABC-affiliated television station. She has worked as a reporter for print and digital new outlets, including Univisión and Mundo Hispánico.
Lourdes can coach on:
Internships
Beat development
News and reporting
Changing markets
Ella Cerón, Lifestyle Editor at Apartment Therapy
Ella is a writer and editor from Los Angeles, California, now based in New York City. She is currently the Lifestyle Editor at Apartment Therapy, and has worked at Teen Vogue, MTV News, and The Cut. She specializes in interviews as well as the intersections of pop culture, entertainment, politics, and wellness. You've also seen her work at GQ, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, and other major outlets.
Ella can coach on:
Interviewing
Writing and reporting
Taking edits and feedback
Rachel Hatzipanagos, Multiplatform Editor at The Washington Post
Rachel is a D.C.-based journalist originally from South Florida. She has more than 10 years of experience in reporting, editing, and web production.
Rachel can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Web production and editing
Mobile apps
Internships
Angélica María Casas, Video Journalist at BBC News
Angélica is a Texas-based journalist reporting on immigration, the Latino community and the effects of policy on people. Her work has also appeared on the PBS Newshour, AJ+, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Antonio Express-News. She received her Master of Journalism from the University of California at Berkeley.
Angélica can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Fellowship and scholarship applications
Video production
Earning a raise
Alejandra Salazar, Associate Producer at Latino USA
Alejandra is a multimedia journalist from San Antonio, Texas, and previously worked as a reporter and producer at WNYC, where she contributed to the station’s daily flagship shows Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Her reporting on arts, culture, and politics has appeared on NPR, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, and Refinery29, and she also worked as an advocacy fellow with the National Hispanic Media Coalition. She got her start in radio at her college station at Stanford University.
Alejandra can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Scholarship and internship applications
Radio and podcast production
Virginia Isaad, Lead Editor at Hip Latina
Virginia is a Los Angeles-based culture and lifestyle digital journalist whose work has appeared in HipLatina, Bustle, Fierce by mitú, Shondaland, Los Angeles magazine, Yahoo Lifestyle, and Remezcla, among others. She’s currently the lead editor at HipLatina focused on Latinx culture and lifestyle content. She was previously the assistant editor at Gayot, a restaurant and lifestyle site, and she was a general reporter for the El Paso Times. She has a master’s in mass communication from California State University, Northridge and got her start writing about city life for Los Angeles and Angeleno magazine.
Virginia can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Freelancing
Job hunting
Lifestyle journalism
Bianca Padró Ocasio, Politics and General Assignment Reporter at The Miami Herald
Bianca is a reporter for the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald. She has been a Florida journalist for three years, covering politics and the Hispanic community in Central and South Florida. She previously worked at the Orlando Sentinel and Politico.
Bianca can coach on:
Bilingual reporting
Personal branding
Unionizing your newsroom
Source building
Lillian E. Agosto Maldonado, Freelance Journalist and Digital Strategist
Lillian is a Puerto Rico-based independent journalist, digital strategist, and university professor. Her work has appeared in El Nuevo Día, Primera Hora, Índice, Univision Radio, Hispanic LA, Diálogo, ESPN, and more. Since 2013, she has been teaching at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, offering specialized courses in digital journalism, radio and TV, media writing, media editing, entrepreneurship, and publishing.
Lillian can coach on:
Freelancing
Writing
Academia
Periodismo en español
Jazmine Ulloa, National Political Reporter at The Boston Globe
Jazmine covers national politics and the 2020 presidential election for the Boston Globe. She came to the newspaper from the Los Angeles Times, where she covered state politics and policy and served a brief stint in the Washington bureau. A native of El Paso, she previously reported on state and federal courts for the Austin American-Statesman in the Texas capital. Her work has appeared in Texas Monthly and the Texas Observer. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
Jazmine can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Internship applications
Developing and expanding local beats
How to find mentors and editors in a downsizing print industry
Cristina Silva, National Enterprise Editor at USA TODAY
Cristina is a national enterprise editor for USA TODAY, overseeing a team of national correspondents with beats focused on immigration, race, and identity. Cristina has reported from Mexico, Honduras, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Germany, Italy, and Bahrain, as well as from across the United States. She graduated with honors from New York University, where she studied politics and journalism. She is the daughter of Cuban immigrants, grew up in Miami, and is the president of NAHJ Los Angeles.
Cristina can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Editing
Career management
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, Housing and Social Services Reporter at USA TODAY
From the moment Romina saw the Berlin Wall fall on TV, she was hooked. She just joined USA TODAY to cover housing inequities and social services nationally, by way of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald’s investigative team. She’s moved by stories about everyday people facing extraordinary things. She can parachute anywhere: the middle of a newsroom, an exploding volcano, or an island without internet, and get the story. She has worked in Paris, Cuba, and Israel for France24, El Mundo, and Haaretz. Previously, she was a foreign correspondent out of Central America for CNN and The Associated Press. She fervently believes that we owe ourselves to the public. Truth, nuance, and empathy are part of the job.
Romina can coach on:
Writing and reporting in English and Spanish
Building a coverage plan for your beat
Life as a foreign correspondent
Pitches and nut graphs
Sabrina Moreno, Reporter at The Richmond Times-Dispatch
Sabrina is a Virginia-based journalist from Caracas, Venezuela, who reports on how policy fails Black and Latino neighborhoods while focusing on chronicling the lives of people within these communities and how they look out for one another. Throughout the pandemic, she's covered the racial disparities in health, education, and poverty through a mixture of enterprise reporting and features. She was the point person covering Richmond's protests against police violence.
Sabrina can coach on:
Navigating a predominantly white newsroom
Building sources and relationships on a new beat
People-focused writing and reporting
Handling the first year post-grad in the industry
Joanna Jacobo Rivera, Freelance Bilingual Journalist
Joanna is a bilingual freelance journalist who focuses on Spanish-language print media. Her main areas of focus are writing and editing in Spanish, but is fluent in English as well. Joanna identifies as a U.S.-born Mexican, having been born in Santa Ana, California, but raised well into adulthood in Zacatecas, México. Her work has appeared in U-T San Diego en Español, La Opinión, and Excélsior California. She is also a professor of Spanish-language journalism at Fullerton College.
Joanna can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Editing
Freelance management
Translating and transcribing
Andrea Salcedo, Reporter at The Washington Post
Andrea is a D.C.-based reporter from Panama City, Panama. She recently joined the Washington Post’s Morning Mix desk as a staff writer. Prior to this, she was a member of the New York Times’ inaugural fellowship class where she was a general assignment reporter with the metro desk. Andrea interned with the Chicago Sun-Times and CNN en Español. She was also a reporting fellow with the City Bureau and an Emerging Reporters Fellow with ProPublica Illinois. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College Chicago.
Andrea can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Fellowship, internship, and scholarship applications
Cover letters and resumes
O-1 visas for journalists
Beatriz Bajuelos, Producer at CNBC Digital
Beatriz is a digital video producer based in New York City. She produces, shoots, scripts, and edits video stories for CNBC Make It, focused on personal finance, entrepreneurship, leadership, small business, and self-help. She grew up in Portugal and graduated in Journalism & Film, Television, and Radio from Carlos III University in Madrid.
Beatriz can coach on:
Video production
Building a portfolio
Job hunting
Handling the first year post-grad in the industry
Selymar Colón, Journalist and Digital News Strategist
Selymar is an award-winning journalist and president of Frame ONE Strategies. She spent the 2020 academic year as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Before her fellowship, she served as editor-in-chief of digital news at Univision, where she built a team of multimedia journalists and drove the network’s digital integration. Her honors include Emmy Awards, a Gabo Award for Best Image, and an Edward R. Murrow Award. She also led her team to win several National Press Photographers Association awards and a World Press Photo for best Digital Video, among others.
Selymar can coach on:
Television, digital video, and social media storytelling formats
Web and social media strategies
Negotiation and asking for that promotion
Managing up (talking to the bosses)
Priscella Vega, Reporter at The Los Angeles Times
Priscella is a Los Angeles-based reporter who has covered breaking news, city government, education, courts, and more. Her work has appeared in the Daily Pilot and TimesOC, community publications of the Los Angeles Times; the Daily Breeze; the Long Beach Press-Telegram; OC Weekly; and The Church of England Newspaper. In 2019, she received a first place award from the Los Angeles Press Club for her reporting.
Priscella can coach on:
Writing and reporting, with an emphasis on breaking news
Brainstorming story ideas
Time management
Job applications
Alyssa Morin, Weekend Editor at E! News
Alyssa is a Los Angeles-based journalist, who covers beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and entertainment news. Her work has appeared on E! News, InStyle, HelloGiggles, Complex, and other publications.
Alyssa can coach on:
Writing and editing
Working in the digital space
Beauty, fashion, and entertainment-focused areas of journalism
Cristy Fajardo, Freelance Journalist
Cristy is an award-winning television reporter with 20 years of experience, most of which she has spent based in Los Angeles. She is proudly bilingual. She has reported from Latin American and Europe, including from Mexico, Peru, and Spain.
Cristy can coach on:
TV reporting
Investigative journalism
General assignments
Laura Barros, Journalist at Agencia EFE
Laura is a journalist with more than 15 years of professional experience working as a breaking news reporter and editor for international news agencies based in four different countries: Colombia, El Salvador, the United States, and Venezuela. She’s based in Washington, D.C.
Laura can coach on:
Breaking news
Latin American issues
Spanish-language media
Susanne Ramírez de Arellano, Freelance Journalist and Cultural Critic
Susanne is a New York-based media professional with more than 30 years of experience, who has expanded into digital media and trans-media storytelling. She’s also a social media and streaming content specialist working across multiple bilingual platforms. Her work has appeared on Latino Rebels, The Guardian, Al Día News, Fox News, and NBC News, among other outlets. She’s the former news director of one of the largest Hispanic television markets in the U.S., Univisión Puerto Rico, and a published author.
Susanne can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Newsroom management
Navigate the freelance world
Television producing
Gwen Aviles, Senior Reporter at Insider
Gwen is a senior reporter at Insider where she writes about race and identity. She previously worked at NBCNews.com and has experience writing about a variety of topics, including arts and culture, education, and politics. She holds Master's degrees in Journalism and Communications from Northwestern University and Columbia University.
Gwen can coach on:
Academia
Freelance journalism
Arts and culture reporting
Writing and reporting
Paloma Esquivel, Education Reporter at The Los Angeles Times
Paloma is an education reporter at the Los Angeles Times. She was on the team that won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for public service for investigating corruption in the city of Bell, and the team that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for coverage of the San Bernardino terror attack. She is currently co-chair of the LA Times Guild Latino Caucus.
Paloma can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Narrative storytelling
Advocating for diverse voices in your newsroom
Lorena Arroyo, Multimedia Editor at El País
Lorena is a multimedia editor who reports on Latin America, U.S. immigration, gender, and more for El País. Based in Mexico City, she also has been a correspondent in Brazil and Bolivia for the Spanish news agency EFE. Her experience includes being an editor and reporter for the BBC World Service and Univisión Noticias. Her stories have been awarded with an Emmy, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and a World Press Photo.
Lorena can coach on:
Field reporting in Latin America
Multimedia journalism
Working with immigrant communities
Elvia Malagón, Social Justice and Wage Gap Reporter at The Chicago Sun-Times
Elvia reports on social justice, immigration, and income inequality at the Chicago Sun-Times under a grant from The Chicago Community Trust. She previously worked for the Chicago Tribune, The Times of Northwest Indiana, and The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida. A native of East Chicago, Indiana, she is a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism school.
Elvia can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Feedback on story drafts
Balancing breaking news and enterprise stories
Unions and collective newsroom actions
Iliana Limón Romero, Sports Editor at The Orlando Sentinel
Iliana is a sports editor at the Orlando Sentinel. The El Paso, Texas native previously worked at The Albuquerque Tribune, first as a news reporter and later covering college athletics. Iliana joined the Sentinel in 2007 and covered UCF athletics for four years before moving into editing. She is president of the NAHJ Central Florida chapter, an NAHJ Sports Task Force leader, chair of the Association for Women in Sports Media, and an active member of the Associated Press Sports Editors' diversity committee.
Iliana can coach on:
Editing
Print and digital sports reporting
How to find a mentor
Job hunting
Andrea Asuaje, Podcast Producer at Rococo Punch
Andrea is a producer for Rococo Punch, where she makes "Servant of Pod," Nick Quah's podcast about podcast creators. She was previously a reporter, producer, and co-host of WBUR's radio series and podcast, "Kind World.” She also worked at WGBH on a weekly news-roundtable show called "Under the Radar with Callie Crossley." Before working in podcasts and public radio, Andrea worked for various news organizations in Florida, including the Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post. She got her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida and her master's degree at Boston University.
Andrea can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Podcast production
Interviewing skills
Graduate school
Tess Garcia, eCommerce Writer at Meredith Corporation
Tess is a Brooklyn-based journalist from metropolitan Detroit and recent graduate of the University of Michigan. She produces shopping stories for InStyle, People, Shape, Health, and more. She's also freelanced for publications including Teen Vogue, Bustle, Refinery29, and Repeller (formerly Man Repeller) since her freshman year of college, focusing on fashion, social and political issues, and the intersections between the two.
Tess can coach on:
Internship applications
Pitching
Freelancing as a student
Negotiating freelance rates
Jada Gomez, Senior Platform Editor at Medium
Jada is a New York born and bred editor, with a love of all things music, culture, and sports. She is the senior platform editor for LEVEL at Medium. Prior to Medium, she was executive editor at Bustle, where she led the lifestyle, entertainment, and books teams. Prior to joining Bustle, she served as site director at Latina Magazine, and held additional positions at People, TIME, and HipHopDX. She’s a proud New York University alum.
Jada can coach on:
Career goals
Writing
Editing
Fellowship and scholarship applications
Valeria Aponte, Political Reporter at Telemundo Arizona
Valeria is a political reporter at Telemundo Arizona, as well as the host and producer of their political show Enfoque Arizona. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She attended Syracuse University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism and Fine Arts. Valeria started in the Rio Grand Valley in Texas where she worked for the local CBS station, later moving to Washington D.C., where she worked two years for Telemundo.
Valeria can coach on:
Multimedia journalism
Political reporting
How to build your contact list
Bilingual reporting
Jillian Melero, Associate Digital Editor and Producer at WTTW News
Jillian is a multimedia journalist and the associate digital editor/producer for WTTW News, including “Chicago Tonight.” She’s worked as a science communicator and energy reporter for Climate Central. Her work has also been featured by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Getting her start in South Florida as a student journalist and print editor, Jillian has reported on the environment, infrastructure, climate change, energy technology, and policy in the U.S. and abroad since 2016. She earned her master’s degree in journalism specializing in health, environment, and science reporting from Northwestern University in 2019. She’s also a Board member of the Chicago Journalists Association.
Jillian can coach on:
Freelancing
Work/life balance
Negotiating contracts
Considering grad school
Pamela Avila, Freelance Writer and Social Media Strategist
Pamela is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist and social media strategist. With over five years of experience in the field, Pamela has reported on issues affecting the Latinx community, pop culture, books, and more. Her work has appeared in Los Angeles magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books, E! News, and Shondaland, among others.
Pamela can coach on:
Social media
Local reporting
Freelancing
Entertainment news
Marissa J. Lang, Reporter at The Washington Post
Marissa is an award-winning reporter who covers protests, activism, and local news for the Washington Post. She lives in Washington, D.C., but has previously worked in all four corners of the country — reporting on the tech industry for the San Francisco Chronicle, city government for the Sacramento Bee, criminal justice at the Salt Lake Tribune, and all-things-Florida news at the Tampa Bay Times. Marissa also teaches intermediate journalism courses as an adjunct at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism and regularly mentors student journalists with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. A New York City native, she is a notorious pizza snob, doting dog mom, avid yogi, and unrepentant sinvergüenza.
Marissa can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Advocating for yourself and managing up
Social media and personal branding
Translating journalism for the classroom
Monica Castillo, Arts and Culture Reporter at Colorado Public Radio
Monica is the arts and culture reporter at Colorado Public Radio. Prior to joining public radio, her work appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, NPR, RogerEbert.com, Remezcla, The Wrap, Hyperallergic, and elsewhere. Monica is a former regional director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and a member of the Critics Choice Association.
Monica can coach on:
Freelancing
Early career development
Writing
Social media
Paula Mejía, Culture Editor at Texas Monthly
Paula is a Colombian-American writer and editor hailing from Houston, Texas. She is the culture editor of Texas Monthly, and her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, The Paris Review, and other publications. She is a co-founding editor of Turning the Tables, NPR Music's series about centering women and nonbinary musicians in the musical canon that won a 2018 Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media. In 2017, she was named one of Remezcla's Latinx Music Journalists You Should Be Reading, and was recognized as one of Brooklyn Magazine's 30 Under 30 the previous year.
Paula can coach on:
Interviewing
Freelancing
Writing cover letters and resumes
Pitching
María Sánchez Díez, Operations Editor at The Washington Post
María is a journalist working at the intersection of journalism, audience, and product. Currently, she’s an operations editor at the Washington Post. She has worked at ProPublica, and was a general assignment editor focused on new storytelling formats at Univision. She has also written for Quartz, El País, El Diario, Soitu, and Condé Nast Traveler. María is a Fulbright scholar and a Tow-Knight Center fellow.
María can coach on:
Audience engagement
Digital strategy
Building bilingual and global audiences
Working at a legacy organization
Ileana Najarro, Reporter at The Tampa Bay Times
Ileana is the military affairs and people in business reporter at the Tampa Bay Times. She previously covered race, labor, immigration, and small business at the Houston Chronicle. Her work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.
Ileana can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Developing a beat
Advocating for yourself and managing up
Making the most of an internship
Mayra Báez Jimeno, Comms Lead at Dejusticia
Mayra is a Bogotá-based communications specialist and political scientist who leads a team of journalists and political scientists reporting on social justice issues and human rights in Colombia and the Global South. She co-founded the first Al Jazeera digital media outlet for Latin America, AJ+ Español. As a social media strategist, she also co-created Rise Up, an award-winning solutions journalism media outlet for Univision's Fusion Media Group. Mayra is a Heartfulness meditation certified trainer.
Mayra can coach on:
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Social media
Meditation and general wellness
Gabriella Lewis, Senior Video Journalist at the New York Times
Gabriella is an NYC-based video producer, journalist, podcaster, and proud AfroLatina from the Bay Area. She is currently a senior video journalist at the New York Times. Outside of work, she hosts the Mixed Reviews podcast, which aims to unpack the modern mixed-race experience. She’s created content for Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bon Appétit, Pitchfork, BuzzFeed, VICE, GQ, Allure, Glamour, CNN, WIRED, Architectural Digest, Epicurious, Teen Vogue, HuffPost, and Complex Magazine.
Gabriella can coach on:
Video and podcast production
Interviewing
Cover letters and resumes
Advocating for diverse voices in the content your workplace is creating
Constanza Gallardo, Podcast Producer at Transmitter Media
Constanza is a Miami/NYC-based podcast producer from Mexico. Coco for short! She focuses on producing and developing podcasts like WorkLife with Adam Grant from TED and CNN's Election 101 at Transmitter Media. Her past work includes NPR’s The Indicator daily podcast, Univision Music, Fusion’s Snapchat Discovery, and local NPR member stations. She earned a master’s degree at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and bachelor's from Florida International University.
Constanza can coach on:
Salary negotiation
Navigating visa status and sponsorship (F1/O1/H1B)
Podcast production and development
Job hunting
Raquel Reichard, Freelance Journalist and Editor
Raquel is an award-winning Orlando-based journalist and editor covering Latinx culture, politics, health, and music. Formerly an editor at Latina magazine, Remezcla, and mitú, Raquel's writing has also been published in the New York Times, Teen Vogue, Refinery29, MTV, Mic, the Fader, Vibe, Bustle, Cosmopolitan, POPSUGAR, and The Independent, among others.
Raquel can coach on:
Beat development
Freelancing 101
Writing and reporting
Surviving layoffs and difficult work environments
Thatiana Diaz, Senior Editor & Beauty Contributor at Refinery29
Thatiana leads editorial strategy, ideation, and execution for Refinery29's first Latinx cross-platform channel, Somos. She is also a beauty contributor, producing deeply reported beauty pieces and exclusive celebrity features. Thatiana joined Refinery29 from People en Español, where she launched Chica, Meredith Corporation's first brand targeting Latina millennials, with video and social media extensions. While obtaining her degree, she completed more than five internships at publications like Vogue, Latina, and Seventeen.
Thatiana can coach on:
Personal branding
Advocating for diverse storytelling
Interviewing tips
Internships
Alejandra Cancino, Senior Investigative Reporter at Better Government Association
Alejandra is a senior investigative reporter at the Better Government Association, a Chicago-based investigative journalism newsroom. She worked at the Chicago Tribune from 2009 to 2015 as a business reporter covering manufacturing, economic development, and labor. Her work has been recognized with local and national journalism awards. Alejandra, a board member of the Chicago Headline Club, one of the largest chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists, earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2007. Her first job after college was at a Spanish-language weekly owned by the Palm Beach Post.
Alejandra can coach on:
Career development
Ethics
Resume writing and editing
Beat reporting
Laura Morel, Reporter at Reveal
Laura is an immigration reporter at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Her investigations have exposed how law enforcement stonewall immigrant crime victims from visa protections, Florida's gun theft problem, and Walmart's excessive use of police resources. She also has experience working in radio, and her work has aired on the Reveal podcast. Before joining Reveal in 2018, Laura worked at the Tampa Bay Times for seven years, covering cops and courts. She is based in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Laura can coach on:
Pitching project ideas
Applying for fellowships
Working at a nonprofit newsroom
Working at a local newspaper
Andrea López-Cruzado, Editor and Fact-checker
An immigrant from Peru and a bilingual journalist with 20 years in the field, Andrea is currently an editor at Latino USA. Andrea also frequently fact-checks for This American Life, Columbia Journalism Review, and Vox Media. She previously worked at Radio Ambulante, El hilo, and The Wall Street Journal Americas.
Andrea can coach on:
Reporting
Editing
Fact-checking
Bilingualism
Julieta Martinelli, Reporter and Producer at Latino USA
Julieta is an award-winning investigative reporter and currently producer at Latino USA. As a Soros Justice Media Fellow, she documented the human repercussions of changing policies along the U.S.-Mexico border. She previously covered criminal justice, policing and immigration for WPLN, where she was awarded first place in investigative reporting (radio) three years in a row by the TN Associated Press. Her stories about immigrant youth, life in prison — and what happens after — have aired nationally on NPR. Julieta spent much of her life undocumented — and started her career reporting in Spanish for the now-defunct Atlanta Latino Newspaper.
Julieta can coach on:
Non-traditional career paths
People-centered writing and reporting
Transitioning to audio and podcasting
Developing and sourcing a beat
Isabela Espadas Barros Leal, Platforms Editor at NBC News
Isabela is a New York-based editor and journalist currently working on the platforms team at NBC News. She has completed internships at CNN and Hearst Magazines, and held mentorship roles at Her Campus Media. She graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University where she was awarded the Dan Smullyan Award for Community Impact for her work on newsroom diversity at the Columbia Daily Spectator.
Isabela can coach on:
Landing a journalism internship
Reporting in college
Applying for entry-level journalism jobs
Job hunting during Covid-19
Laura Lopez Gonzalez, Freelance Health Journalist and Editor
Laura splits her time between San Francisco and Johannesburg, South Africa. She covers health globally and has a special focus on inequality. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Guardian, El País, Insider and aidsmap, among others. She is a three-time winner of South Africa's Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Award.
Laura can coach on:
Health journalism
Writing and reporting
Personal branding
Barbara Rodriguez, Statehouses Reporter at The 19th*
Barbara is a Midwest-based reporter who covers gender, politics, and policy. She has experience reporting on statehouses, state government, politics, and health care for both local and national audiences.
Barbara can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Story pitches
Pay negotiations
Laura Zommer, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief at Chequeado
Laura is the executive director and editor-in-chief at Chequeado, the first initiative of fact-checking and verification of public discourse in Latin America. She is a member of the Board of the International Fact-Checking Network, the Consultative Council of Sembramedia, and the Brazilian site Gender and Number. Laura has a bachelor’s degree in Communication Science at the University of Buenos Aires. She is also a lawyer as well as an access to information and transparency activist.
Laura can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Institutional communication
Funding
Mis and disinformation
Kate Hidalgo Bellows, Housing and Workforce Issues Reporter at the Island Packet
Kate is a South Carolina-based journalist from the great Commonwealth of Virginia. Soon after graduating from the University of Virginia, she started as a housing and workforce reporter at the Island Packet in the S.C. Lowcountry through Report for America. She has written and/or edited for Charlottesville Tomorrow, The Cavalier Daily, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.), and the New York Times Student Journalism Institute. She is passionate about Southern journalism, media ethics, inclusive and unionized newsrooms, and cats.
Kate can coach on:
Networking and workshopping your resume
Making the leap from the college paper to a job
Sourcing a difficult beat
Moving to a new place in the middle of a pandemic
Jennifer Medina, National Politics Reporter at The New York Times
Jennifer is a national politics reporter for the New York Times, covering how politics and public policy impacts peoples lives. She most recently covered the 2020 presidential campaign, focusing on voters' views of race, gender and immigration, particularly among Latino voters. A Southern California native, she previously spent several years reporting on that region for the Times' National desk. After completing several internships at large daily newspapers while she was a student at the University of Southern California, Jenny joined the Times as an intern and has spent her career there. In addition to national breaking news stories, she has covered a wide range of issues including healthcare, housing, criminal justice, gun control, religion, poverty, education, and immigration.
Jennifer can coach on:
Breaking news and politics reporting
Conducting interviews
Feature writing
Navigating large newsrooms
Andrea Patiño Contreras, Video Journalist at Univision
Andrea is a bilingual visual journalist from Bogotá, Colombia. She is based in Boston, where she works as a video journalist for Univisión Noticias Digital producing short documentaries. She is the co-founder of the media studio Rabbit Raccoon.
Andrea can coach on:
Video production
Documentary and storytelling
Fellowship and scholarship applications
Bianca Beltrán, Reporter at KMBC9 News
Bianca is a general assignment reporter in Kansas City, Missouri from Southern California. Her broadcast career started as a Spanish-language multimedia journalist for Univision-affiliates in California's Central Coast. She also has experience as an English-language reporter and news anchor. Bianca's areas of special interest include immigration, incarceration, and innovation.
Bianca can coach on:
Finding story ideas
Storytelling
Community engagement
Nicole Ortiz, Senior Editor at Adweek
Nicole is a senior editor with Adweek, where she manages magazine departments and the magazine's trending section. She formed a diversity and inclusivity taskforce and launched Adweek's first-ever SEO plugin. She is also a copy editor and proofreader for Scholastic and its Graphix graphic novel imprint. She was previously managing editor for Best Lawyers magazine.
Nicole can coach on:
Copy editing and proofreading
Business journalism
Magazine editing
Book editing
Alieza Durana, Journalist and Media Strategist
Alieza is a Utah-based journalist from Washington, D.C., who reports on housing, eviction, and homelessness for Princeton's Eviction Lab and Economic Hardship Reporting Project. She has a master’s degree in Public Policy and her work has appeared in the Washington Post, CNN, the Atlantic, Slate, and Harvard Business Review. Alieza also appears as a spokesperson for the Eviction Lab and has produced segments with the New York Times, Full Frontal with Samatha Bee, The Daily, CNBC, ABC News, NPR and other outlets. Alieza's previous work experience includes managing the Fuller Project for International Reporting, and reporting on work, gender, and social policy issues domestically and internationally for Slate and New America.
Alieza can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Media impact strategies
TV and radio appearances as an issue expert or spokesperson
Addressing structural discrimination in your workplace
Maria Elena Fernandez, Regional Manager for the West at Report for America
Maria Elena is an award-winning journalist and children’s book author who grew up in Miami and has made Los Angeles her home. An entertainment journalist for 15 years, she has spent over a decade covering Hollywood at outlets such as the New York magazine, Vulture, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, and NBC. Before moving to the West Coast, Fernandez covered crime and courts at the Washington Post and the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and healthcare at the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. She is currently working on a book for Grand Central Publishing that will be released in 2022.
Maria Elena can coach on:
Writing, reporting, and editing
Resume writing, job interviews, and salary negotiations
Networking
Print and digital storytelling
Frances Solá-Santiago, Fashion Writer at Refinery29
Frances is a journalist from Caguas, Puerto Rico, who currently works as a fashion writer at Refinery29. She is also the co-founder and editor of Emperifollá, a Latinx style digital platform, launched in 2019. Her reporting on fashion, beauty, music, and culture has also been published by publications like the New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR, Numéro, Glamour, Remezcla, and Bustle, among others.
Frances can coach on:
Writing and reporting
Freelance pitching
Source building
Personal branding