2023-2024

Aaron Bonderson

Aaron Bonderson is a multimedia journalist covering the news in underserved communities for Nebraska Public Media, the state’s NPR and PBS stations. A recent graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism. While there, Bonderson interned as a general assignment reporter at Nebraska Public Media, covering agriculture, business, COVID-19, the environment and more. He has also worked as a sportscaster for KRNU, the university’s radio station, and as a reporter, producer, and sportscaster at KTCH radio in Wayne, Nebraska.

Chase Cofield

Chase Cofield covers the rural communities surrounding Victoria, Texas as staff photographer for the Victoria Advocate. Before joining Report for America, Cofield worked on the photo desk at The Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s independent student newspaper, covering a variety of stories ranging from sports to local communities. Cofield also was a staff photographer for Coulture Magazine, a student-run fashion magazine. He shadowed photographers on assignments for Indy Week and was a 2021 summer fellow for Education NC, where he documented and photographed summer school programs in North Carolina. Cofield enjoys DJing and music production. He was a DJ for his campus radio station, WXYC 89.3, and co-coordinated one of their specialty shows, New Science Experience.

Gabriel Poblete

Gabriel Poblete covers New York state agencies for The City, a nonprofit digital news outlet dedicated to accountability reporting. Previously, he was the city reporter for Miami Today, reported on education in New Mexico for the Las Vegas Optic, was a junior reporter at The Real Deal, and interned at Crain’s and City & State. Poblete was born in Miami and earned a master’s degree at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

James Pollard

James Pollard covers state government and inequality for The Associated Press in Columbia, South Carolina. Before joining the Report for America corps, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science at Northwestern University. There, he served as managing editor of The Daily Northwestern and worked as a research assistant in the political science department. Pollard has reported on Texas politics and policy as a fellow with The Texas Tribune, interned on the NBCUniversal digital team, and covered his hometown of St. Louis as an intern with the Riverfront Times. In his free time, Pollard enjoys playing guitar, cooking and hiking.

Kayla Benjamin

Kayla Benjamin is a journalist at The Washington Informer, a multimedia news organization in the metro Washington, D.C. area. Prior to this, she was an assistant editor at Washingtonian magazine, and reported on the arts, travel, real estate and politics. As an intern with Current, a national trade publication covering the public media industry, Benjamin wrote a feature story about public radio stations’ climate coverage initiatives, which was included in the Pew Research Center’s newsletter on media and on Mediagazer’s Twitter. Benjamin, a graduate of American University, is passionate about solutions journalism, environmental policy and dark chocolate.

Melody Mercado

Melody Mercado is a reporter for Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit news site dedicated to covering the city’s neighborhoods. Previously, Mercado was the city government reporter at the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa, covering local policy and its effect on the community. She started her career as a reporter at WHO-TV, the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, where she played an integral role in covering the Iowa caucuses and the protests calling for racial justice in 2020. A native of Belvidere, Illinois, Mercado holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bradley University and a master’s degree in journalism from DePaul University.

Sam Ogozalek

Sam Ogozalek is a health care reporter focusing on mental health for the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. Previously, he covered COVID-19 and local government for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette in South Carolina. Hailing from Hancock, New York, a small town along the Delaware River, Ogozalek was editor-in-chief of Syracuse University’s student paper, The Daily Orange, and has interned at the Tampa Bay Times, The Buffalo News and the Naples Daily News.

Trisha Ahmed

Trisha Ahmed is a Statehouse reporter in Minnesota for The Associated Press. Ahmed recently completed her master’s degree in journalism at the University of Maryland, where she also worked as an investigative and data reporter at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. She was part of a team that won an award from Investigative Reporters & Editors, along with the Innovator of the Year Award from the News Leaders Association, for uncovering how newspapers contributed to racial terror lynchings in the United States. Ahmed has worked at CNN as a digital production assistant, and before that, she was a field interviewer for poverty and inequality research labs in Maryland and California. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and social policy from Johns Hopkins University.

Amir Khafagy

Amir Khafagy reports for Documented, a nonprofit news site that focuses on New York City’s immigrant communities. His beat explores the intersections of labor, race, class, immigration and urban policy. Khafagy’s writing has been featured in The Guardian, Vice, The New Republic, Bloomberg and Prism, among others, and he is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Ida B. Wells Fellowship and The International Center for Journalists COVID-19 Reporting Award. Khafagy holds a master’s degree in urban affairs from Queens College. A lifelong New Yorker, he hails from Jackson Heights, Queens. As a performer, Khafagy has appeared in Ping Chong + Company's “Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity” and in “Gun Country,” a Houses on the Moon Theatre Company production.

Chloe Johnson

Chloe Johnson covers the environment for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, and is part of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a collaborative reporting network across the Basin. Previously, Johnson reported on the environment, climate change and the people adapting to a warmer planet for The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina. She started her career at The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and holds a journalism degree from American University. Her work has been recognized by the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Society for Features Journalism, and she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Johnson is always looking for a good excuse to hop on a boat.