2025-2026

Erick Solorzano

Erick Solorzano is a reporter at Cardinal covering accountability in New River Valley. Prior to joining RFA, Solorzano pursued a career in marketing and communications, serving in key roles for a private corporation and a mission-driven nonprofit. Solorzano’s dream of becoming a journalist began at the University of Georgia, where he graduated in 2020 with a bachelor's of arts from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications. As a first-generation college student, Solorzano discovered his passion for storytelling by becoming a student news contributor for The Red & Black newspaper and a student news reporter for Grady Newsource, the university’s student-run television news program. Although his post-graduate career began in other professional industries, Erick Solorzano never lost sight of what becoming a journalist meant to him and the community he serves. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he created The Solo Segment, an independent social media news channel covering important news events in Georgia and the world. Today, he’s proud and grateful to transition from independent journalism into a staff journalist role.

Cardinal News

Cardinal News is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news site that serves Southwest and Southside Virginia. Our mission is to report the untold stories of Southwest and Southside Virginia, and strengthen the voices of the people in our communities who have been sidelined in the commonwealth’s political, economic and cultural conversations simply because of where they live.

Border Belt Independent

The Border Belt Independent is a nonprofit, digital newsroom that focuses on issues and challenges that affect Bladen, Columbus, Robeson, and Scotland counties in southeastern North Carolina.

Hunter Morrison

Prior to joining KRBD Community Radio in Southeast Alaska, Morrison reported on arts, fishing and the environment for KDLL Public Radio on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. His journalism career began in the Florida Panhandle, where he interned for an independently-run magazine covering business and culture. He later freelanced for a number of small town newspapers before making the transition to public radio at his college radio station, WUWF, in Pensacola, Florida. After graduating, Morrison left his life in Florida behind to embark on an Alaska adventure, where he spends his summers hiking and his winters skiing. Morrison holds a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of West Florida, where he was editor-in-chief of The Voyager, the student-run newspaper.

Ismael Lele

Before joining the Oklahoma Eagle, Lele worked as a reporting intern at the Tulsa World, serving audiences with stories related to homelessness, housing costs and gun violence. The previous summer, he contributed to a multimedia project analyzing the state of American democracy through Carnegie-Knight's News 21 program. At the University of Oklahoma, he earned a degree in journalism and worked for the independent student newspaper — The OU Daily — as a city reporter and editor. His interest in news writing stems from his high school days, when he wrote movie reviews and sports content for his high school paper, the Tiger Tribune.

Desiree Hagan

Desiree Hagen is a reporter based in Kotzebue, Alaska which is located about 30 miles above the Arctic Circle. She's worked in public radio for over a decade and started her carrer in journalism after hosting a podcast on Alaskan gardening and agriculture. She's worked as a reporter for KBBI in Homer, Alaska and KYUK in Bethel, Alaska. Currently she is news director for a one-person newsroom for KOTZ in Kotzebue.

KOTZ

KOTZ is a nonprofit public radio station that serves the Northwest Arctic. The news department covers everything from local city government and megadevelopment projects, to climate change and mining. We have a small one-person newsroom.  

KRBD Rainbird Community Radio

KRBD is a public radio station in Ketchikan, Alaska, and is owned and operated by Rainbird Community Broadcasting.  KRBD is a community radio station that seeks to inform, engage, enlighten, and delight to make a positive difference in the lives of the people of Southern Southeast Alaska. The station is located on Revillagigedo Island, in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, and serves a listening area of approximately 18,000 to 20,000 people, including the communities of Ketchikan, Saxman, Metlaktla, Craig, Klawock, Thorne Bay and Hydaburg.  KRBD is a vital news source for the area, as well as the area’s LP-1 emergency provider.

Anita Li

Anita Li covers education for the Prince William Times. Li's passion for local nonprofit news started when she interned for WLRN, Miami's NPR station. She graduated from Northwestern University, where she reported for The Daily Northwestern. She has also interned at FOX 5 DC. She speaks Mandarin and Spanish, and is always on the hunt for a good tiramisu.

Dallas Free Press

Dallas Free Press, a nonprofit news site, launched in January 2020 with the mission of amplifying voices and exploring solutions to the city’s systemic inequities. It focuses community journalism efforts on three zip codes in South Dallas and West Dallas, which are predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods, respectively.