Anita Li is the government accountability reporter at Coconut Grove Spotlight. Through Report for America, she previously covered education for the Prince William Times, where she won a Virginia Press Association award for reporting on Venezuelan teachers who lost their Temporary Protected Status. Before joining Report for America, Li interned at Minnesota Public Radio and FOX 5 DC. Her passion for highlighting underrepresented voices started when she interned at WLRN, Miami’s NPR station. Li grew up in Maryland and graduated from Northwestern University, where she reported for The Daily Northwestern. She speaks Mandarin and Spanish, and will never say no to mango pomelo sago or a good story.
Beat: Government Accountability Reporter
Coconut Grove has a strong culture of civic activism and engagement. Community organizations often take the lead in identifying issues involving public safety, quality of life, and governance that need to be addressed by local government. Current examples include a citizen-led petition drive to expand the Miami City Commission, a call for stricter tree-protection policies citywide, and a chorus of complaints about pedestrian safety in the age of e-bikes. City Hall reporters have traditionally reported on news and politics from inside City Hall. We'd like to flip that script by assigning a government accountability reporter to focus on the issues and concerns that the community itself has identified -- not to the exclusion of traditional City Hall and political reporting, but as a starting point for beat coverage that engages more directly with Grove residents and their concerns.