Health, minority businesses, faith, jobs, housing or transportation

Matthew Martinez is a reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, covering low-income minority neighborhoods in Milwaukee's central city. Martinez is a 2020 graduate of  Marquette University, the Catholic Jesuit university in Milwaukee, where he worked on the Marquette Wire, the student news organization. As the executive editor last year, Martinez wrote a three-part series, “Left Behind,”  detailing a Marquette wrestler’s suicide in 1978. The series uncovered an altered suicide note and evidence of physical discipline against the student by a Jesuit priest. The project recently won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and Wisconsin Newspaper Association for in-depth reporting. Martinez has also edited and contributed to series about homelessness, human trafficking and healthcare, among other things. Last summer, he worked for Milwaukee Magazine as an editorial intern. He also worked in the SPJ newsroom during their Excellence in Journalism Conference in San Antonio last year.

PrincessSafiya Byers is a reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service which focuses on low-income minority residents of the Wisconsin city. Her wide-ranging beat covers health, minority businesses, faith, jobs, housing and transportation. A proud Milwaukee native, Byers is a 2020 graduate of Marquette University, the Catholic university in Milwaukee. She has had internships with the Milwaukee Community Journal, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service itself. Byers has also co-produced a community podcast and written for community newsletters. In 2018, she was awarded the Bucks Youth Leader award for community service and leadership. In addition to her journalism, Byers has been working for the non-profit children and family center, COA Youth and Families Center, which began in 1906 as the Children’s Outing Association.