2025-2026

Ellen Schmidt

Ellen Schmidt is a visual journalist born and based in Minnesota. She comes from a newspaper background after several internships and five years as a staff photojournalist in Las Vegas, Nevada. A graduate of the University of Minnesota Hubbard School of Journalism, she started her career working as a reporter, photographer and multimedia editor at the Minnesota Daily student newspaper. Her work seeks to visualize home, capture emotion and record moments that help people relate to one another.

Emma Malinak

Emma Malinak covers the stories of Lynchburg, Virginia, for Cardinal News. Before becoming a Report for America corps member, Malinak reported on everything from climate change to child care as an intern at VTDigger. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and English from Washington and Lee University, where she was co-editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Ring-tum Phi. Malinak was the founding CEO of the Ring-tum Phi, Inc., a nonprofit corporation designed to secure a sustainable financial model and editorial independence for the student-run paper.

Sinclair Holian

Sinclair Holian covers racial segregation and its lasting effects on Roanoke, Virginia, for The Roanoke Rambler. Before joining Report for America, Holian reported on injustices in her home state of North Carolina. Her work spans a range of issues, including racism in the agriculture industry, barriers to healthcare access, and challenges in public education. Her story, “Land Loss and Legacy on Historic Black-owned Farmland,” won Article of the Year at the 2024 Hearst National Writing Championship in San Francisco. Her reporting has appeared in publications across North Carolina, including The News & Observer, Indy Week, NC Newsline, and more. She graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2024 as the John Robert Bittner Outstanding Graduating Senior in Journalism, where her minor in social and economic justice fueled her commitment to revealing, in-depth reporting. When she’s not chasing a story, she loves long hikes, open water swimming, and exploring thrift shops.

Mariana Martínez Barba

Prior to joining Voice of San Diego, Martínez Barba worked as a freelance journalist between the U.S. and Mexico, producing stories on immigration, culture, and climate for outlets like The Los Angeles Times, Prism Reports, and Ireland’s national radio station RTÉ. She also worked as a stringer for The Washington Post and as a field reporter and translator for The New York Times. As an intern with The Associated Press, Martínez Barba covered the historic inauguration of Mexico’s first female president, the capital’s ongoing water crisis, and investigated the growing network of migrant camps in Mexico City. She holds a master's degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY with a double concentration in international and bilingual reporting. She was a finalist for the Ñ Awards for NAHJ in 2024 and a recipient of the Silurians Press Club Award in 2023 for local reporting in New York City. She also holds a B.A. in Sociology from Occidental College.

Alexandra Markovich

Ally Markovich is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. Previously, she was an education and enterprise reporter at Berkeleyside, where her data-driven, accountability and narrative journalism earned multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists of Northern California. At Berkeleyside, her investigation into a sexual misconduct case exposed how a school district knowingly kept a predatory teacher employed for over 15 years. Markovich’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Huffington Post, and The Washington Post, and she has reported internationally from Ukraine. Before journalism, she taught high school English in high-poverty schools in Mississippi, New Jersey and California. She holds a B.A. in Politics from Princeton University and an M.A. in Journalism and Politics from Columbia University.

Holly Bartholomew

Before joining Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), Holly spent more than six years reporting for the West Linn Tidings, a local paper based in the suburban community outside Portland. During that time, Holly covered local elections, public safety issues, economics and whatever else was happening in the community. The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association recognized Holly’s work on several occasions, awarding her first place in the best writing category in 2024 and naming her the runner-up for Story of the Year in 2023 for her coverage of police and prosecutors’ alleged mishandling of a major sexual abuse case. When she’s not working, Holly enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing or watching soccer and searching for the best dessert she can find.

Erica Little

Before joining Casa Grande Dispatch as an education reporter, Little built a strong foundation in data and investigative journalism as a graduate student at the University of Missouri. Previously, she earned her Bachelor of Journalism summa cum laude, with minors in Leadership and Public Service, Latin American Studies and Political Science, as well as a Multicultural Studies Certificate. At the Columbia Missourian, she co-authored an investigative piece on the long delay in launching Columbia’s police co-responder program. As a recipient of the Larry J. Waller Fellowship in Investigative Reporting, she also examined the impact of a rural hospital closure on the local community. Little is dedicated to delivering clear, in-depth, trustworthy journalism.

Sophia Kalakailo

Before joining City Bureau, Sophia Kalakailo reported on the Ypsilanti, Michigan area for MLive. She covered homelessness, dire conditions in one of the city’s largest apartment complexes, excessive flooding in predominantly Black and low-income neighborhoods and raids of pro-Palestine protesters’ homes in late April. As a college freshman, she served as the news editor for Eastern Michigan University’s student newspaper, The Eastern Echo. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in documentary film from Michigan State University. As an editor at The State News, she oversaw an investigation revealing allegations that one Title IX executive slowed crucial civil rights and sexual misconduct investigations. Interning at the nonprofit newsroom Bridge Michigan and the statewide NPR station Michigan Public, Kalakailo covered misinformation and cultural divides over the state’s reintroduced wolf population. She also followed the late Dr. Robert Anderson sexual abuse scandal at the University of Michigan and the unionization of Starbucks workers across the state.

Zoe Lewis

Zoe Lewis is a 2025 journalism graduate from Murray State University. She has been passionate about journalism since she was a curious, young girl watching the morning news. Prior to joining Southeast Missourian, she worked at WKMS, an NPR affiliate radio station, during her college career where she has reported on government and politics, criminal justice and education. She recently received 13th place for the Hearst Journalism Awards Program in the audio competition for her work at WKMS. Lewis loves to read, watch movies and play with her dog.

Amanda Pérez Pintado

Amanda Pérez Pintado covers health for the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI), a nonprofit investigative newsroom. Some of her recent work has focused on Puerto Rico’s prison health care system. Before joining the CPI, she reported on science and politics for El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico’s largest daily newspaper. She previously worked as a reporter for USA Today and as a Report for America corps member at Investigate Midwest, a nonprofit news site based in Champaign, Illinois. Pérez Pintado holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras campus and a master’s from New York University. She has taught journalism courses at her undergraduate alma mater and Sagrado Corazón University. Pérez Pintado is a native of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and a lover of books and horror movies.