REPORTING

Cassandra Stephenson

Cassandra Stephenson

Cassandra Stephenson covers issues impacting rural West Tennessee for The Tennessee Lookout. Prior to joining The Tennessee Lookout, Cassandra covered Metro Nashville government at The Tennessean for nearly three years, chronicling the consequences of policy decisions for residents in one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. Cassandra's post-collegiate reporting career began in West Tennessee in 2018 when she moved from her hometown in Ventura County, California after graduating from Pepperdine University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. There, she reported on breaking news and justice for a 13-county region, publishing award-winning investigations on local physicians’ involvement in the opioid epidemic and conditions in local for-profit prisons. Cassandra joined The Tennessean as a business reporter in 2020, covering pandemic-related business challenges including unemployment, workplace safety and eviction. Outside of the newsroom, you'll find Cassandra immersed in her latest art project or baking endeavor.  
PR Lockhart

P.R. Lockhart

P.R. Lockhart covers politics and power in Greensboro, North Carolina, for The Assembly. Before joining The Assembly, Lockhart worked as an economic development reporter in West Virginia covering labor and tax policy, workforce development, and business impacts on rural communities. Her background is in national reporting on race, justice and equity, and she has previously worked as a race and identity reporter for Vox, a Ben Bagdikian Editorial Fellow for Mother Jones, and as a freelance writer covering Black communities, voting rights, and policing for various outlets, including NBC News and the Guardian US. She is a 2024 Gwen Ifill Fellow through the International Women’s Media Foundation. Lockhart graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a certificate in policy journalism and media studies.  
Grace Fiori

​Grace Fiori

​Grace Fiori covers how agricultural and other industries environmentally impact the Tribal Nations along the Missouri River. The tribes have a long and storied history with the sacred waters of the Missouri. Prior to joining Buffalo’s Fire, Grace reported on the intersection of local economies and agricultural systems, first as an intern and then as a contributing reporter for the Harvard Press in Harvard, Massachusetts. She will graduate in May from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and sustainable agriculture, having served as the managing editor of the student newspaper, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. Grace has been passionately involved in both journalism and agriculture since her teenage years, spending multiple seasons on diversified vegetable farms, most recently with the UMass Student Farming Enterprise.
Lia Salvatierra

Lia Salvatierra

Lia Salvatierra covers all local government for the Ouray Plaindealer. Prior to joining the Plaindealer, she reported for a number of non-profit news organizations, including an internship at Wyofile, where she reported on Wyoming's education systems and Latinx and Indigenous communities. She has completed additional research internships from Minneapolis, MN, to Berlin, Germany. Lia is a California native and recent graduate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. When she’s not hopping on an interview, she loves leading outdoor excursions from North Carolina’s mountains to beaches for her peers.
Esteban Candelaria

Esteban Candelaria

Esteban Candelaria covers child welfare and the state Children, Youth, and Families Department for The Santa Fe New Mexican. He is based in Albuquerque. Prior to joining The New Mexican, he covered education at the Albuquerque Journal. There, he tackled accountability stories about the state education department's administration of services for students to stories about the proliferation of guns in Albuquerque schools. Before the Journal, he covered criminal justice and the local courts at The Colorado Springs Gazette. Esteban graduated with a bachelor's degree from Colorado College, where he also won an award for his time and contributions to student journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elise Plunk

Elise Plunk

Before joining Louisiana Illuminator, Plunk earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Florida, where she worked as editor-in-chief of Atrium magazine, a narrative nonfiction outlet on campus. She also worked as an environmental communications intern for the Thompson Earth Systems Institute, where she wrote feature stories and produced social media content on environmental topics relevant to Floridians, and as a climate journalist fellow at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Plunk's favorite class in college was environmental journalism, where she learned to connect her passion for the natural world with her studies in reporting. When she isn't working, she loves making art from upcycled materials.
Gisselle Medina

Gisselle Medina

Gisselle Medina covers religion, culture and community development in the Central Valley for Fresnoland. Prior to joining Report for America, Medina built an education beat from scratch at The Frisc, a small newsroom in San Francisco. Their work has been published in the L.A. Times, The Oaklandside, The Daily Californian, Greater Good Science Center, and much more. Medina was a 2023 White House Correspondents' Association scholarship recipient and was part of the 2023 NAHJ and NLGJA student projects. Medina received a master's degree in journalism, with concentrations in investigative reporting and multimedia, from UC Berkeley, where they also studied English as an undergraduate. Originally from Los Angeles, Medina lived in Fresno for 10 years, where they cultivated a passion for helping people while residing in a room and board facility and uncovering the disparities faced by the residents. Outside of work, Medina loves to spend time with loved ones, playing board games, dancing to music, traveling to new places, and reading poetry.
Isabella Aldrete

Isabella Aldrete

Isabella Aldrete is a bilingual journalist for The Nevada Independent. She covers political races up and down the ticket, as well as the Legislature and how policies affect Latinos. Prior to joining Report for America, Aldrete interned for NBC News. There, she covered everything from Sam Altman’s investments to the CHIPs Act. Aldrete also worked at the Dow Jones News Fund, covering workplace benefits for Employee Benefit News. She’s a 2024 graduate of Barnard College.

Brenda Hernandez

Brenda Hernandez-Rodriguez is a first generation Mexican-American Latina multimedia journalist. Her spark for journalism and higher education started with her high school newspaper. She holds a bachelor's degree in writing & rhetoric with a journalism concentration. As a college student at St.Edward’s University she completed five internship experiences and was a part of Hilltop Views, the university newspaper. Her written and spoken Spanish fluency has allowed her to curate community-focused articles about the Latino community in her hometown. Brenda is a multimedia journalist who always seeks to grow and expand her video and photographic skill set. Brenda has an unwavering passion and dedication for journalism and hopes to make her career something her parents will be proud of.

Kate Payne

Kate Payne covers government and politics for The Associated Press with a focus on the Florida Legislature and education. Before joining Report for America, Payne covered education for WLRN Public Media in South Florida, where she profiled students and pressed officials in some of the country’s largest school districts. Payne has spent her career in public media newsrooms in Florida and Iowa, where her reporting has spanned interviewing middle schoolers on the lunch line to presidential candidates on the campaign trail. In 2020, she and NPR’s Miles Parks broke the story that Iowa Democrats planned to use an untested and potentially vulnerable app to transmit their Caucus results. Payne has won awards for her political reporting, feature writing and sound editing, and has reported from the field in the aftermath of multiple natural disasters. Like a good Floridian, Payne has a love for the weird and the wild and makes an excellent Key lime pie.