Freelancers
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)
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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