Virginia

Henry Brannan

Henry Brannan covers rural healthcare in the Shenandoah Valley and outside of Charlottesville for VPM News and WMRA. Before joining Report for America, he was the 2022-23 Jim Lehrer fellow at the PBS NewsHour, where he produced stories on topics ranging from the disparities driving a projected surge in U.S. heart disease rates to the future of military recruiting as officials struggle to attract Gen Z recruits. Brannon got his start reporting at Street Roots, a weekly investigative street paper in Portland, Oregon. While there, he reported on the housing crisis, racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes and Oregon’s struggling behavioral health system. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and History from Grinnell College. While in school, he researched corporate landlords' use of LLCs to obscure political contributions as an intern for the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project. He’s also a proud Pell Grant recipient and alumnus of Portland Community College.

Liana Hardy

Liana Hardy covers educational equity in Henrico County, Virginia for the Henrico Citizen. Prior to joining the Citizen, Hardy interned for the Alexandria Times in Alexandria, Virginia, where she wrote stories on local sports, arts and music, education and politics. Hardy earned her bachelor's degree in history from Georgetown University, where she worked as a news and features editor for The Hoya, the university's main student newspaper. She also completed coursework for minors in journalism and Spanish. Hardy is a native of the D.C. region, growing up in Arlington, Virginia, where she loves to explore nature trails and local food sites.

Henrico Citizen

The Henrico Citizen is the independent 19-year-old daily digital hometown news source of Henrico County, Va. – a 330,000-population suburb that surrounds Richmond to the west, north and east and arguably is the true birthplace of the nation. The Citizen’s founder/publisher and managing editor have led the organization since its inception in 2001. Combined, they have nearly 50 years of experience reporting about Henrico – decades more than any other local outlet. They share reporting duties and work with freelance reporters and interns to provide the most thorough coverage of Henrico available.

VPM News/WMRA

VPM is a public media organization serving central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Based in the state capitol of Richmond, the VPM News team covers statewide politics, local government, education, legal issues and more for our NPR and PBS stations and digital channels to reach 2 million people in our coverage area. As an independent, non-profit service, we strive to create and serve a more informed public.

Anya Szerzenie

Anya Sczerzenie is currently the education reporter for the HenricoCitizen, where she covers the school system with a focus on educationalequity. She previously did freelance work in Northern Virginia, covering awide range of topics from historical houses to the DC metro’s Silver Lineopening to the local schools. She is a graduate of Virginia CommonwealthUniversity where she was a contributing writer for the student newspaper,the Commonwealth Times, and held an internship with RVA Mag-- where shecovered local culture and LGBTQ topics.

Anna Bryson

Anna Bryson covers education in Henrico County, Virginia for the Henrico Citizen. Before this, she reported on law enforcement, courts and crime at The Daily Sun in Port Charlotte, Florida, covering federal court cases and exposing the rising number of suicides in the county jail. For the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Bryson dug into childhood literacy issues, and reported on child care, mental health initiatives and the legacy of busing, and she was the lead reporter on the 2019 Tampa mayoral race at Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Bryson holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, her hometown. She was news editor at The Crow's Nest, the student-run newspaper.

Julia Shanahan

Julia Shanahan covers the changing nature of public services for the Rappahannock News and Foothills Forum in Washington, Virginia. A 2021 graduate of the University of Iowa with bachelor degrees in journalism and political science, Shanahan was the politics editor at The Daily Iowan, the student-run paper. It was named the Iowa Newspaper Association's Newspaper of the Year in 2020 and 2021, with Shanahan earning awards for her reporting. She was a finalist for national Reporter of the Year from the Associated Collegiate Press in 2020, and has interned with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents' Association. Shanahan, of Naperville, Illinois, hopes to one day report from the White House.

Rappahannock News & Foothills Forum

News desert? Check. The weekly News is the lone legitimate mainstream print/online outlet. The Rappahannock News has served the 7,300 residents of rural Rappahannock County, Va., since 1949. Its parent company is owned by a group of community investors.

Henrico Citizen

The Henrico Citizen is the independent 19-year-old daily digital hometown news source of Henrico County, Va. – a 330,000-population suburb that surrounds Richmond to the west, north and east and arguably is the true birthplace of the nation. The Citizen’s founder/publisher and managing editor have led the organization since its inception in 2001. Combined, they have nearly 50 years of experience reporting about Henrico – decades more than any other local outlet. They share reporting duties and work with freelance reporters and interns to provide the most thorough coverage of Henrico available.

Rachel Needham

Rachel Needham reports for the Rappahannock News & Foothills Forum in Washington, Virginia, where she covers the changing nature of public services. While attending Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, she was a reporter for the student newspaper, the Whitman Wire. Her coverage of rural healthcare earned the Hosokawa Journalism Award for News Writing in 2018. Rachel contributed as a fact-checker to author Aaron Bobrow-Strain’s acclaimed book, “The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez,” which documents the consequences of militarization on the US-Mexico border. After earning her B.A. in Environmental Humanities, she moved to New Mexico where she freelanced for Searchlight New Mexico, which promotes independent, investigative journalism. In addition to being a writer, Needham is a wilderness first responder and rock climbing guide.