Raquel Villatoro

Raquel Villatoro covers health challenges in northeast Texas for Tyler Morning Telegraph. Villatoro previously interned at The Acadiana Advocate in Lafayette, Louisiana covering various beats from arts and culture to health, while focusing on the Latinx community. Villatoro wrote for the news and arts and life sections at the student newspaper while attending the University of North Texas. They have a bachelor's degree in journalism and history.
Jules Walkup

Jules Walkup

Jules Walkup covers the midcoast region of Maine for the Bangor Daily News, which includes the coastal area from Brunswick to Rockland. Prior to joining Report for America, Jules received their B.A. in journalism from the University of Georgia in December 2022. With a minor in political science and a certificate in sustainability, Jules is heavily interested in political journalism and climate change reporting, with a focus in solutions journalism. They worked up from a news contributor in 2020 to managing print editor in 2022 for UGA’s independent student newspaper, The Red & Black. They also wrote environmental stories for the rural paper the Oglethorpe Echo, where they received two awards for their photo story about seniors and the changes they’ve seen in their rural community over the years. In summer 2022, Jules interned for CNN’s Ana Cabrera Show as a producer. Jules is passionate about serving the community they’re reporting on with in-depth, character-centered journalism supported with meaningful and impactful photojournalism.

Delaney Dryfoos

Delaney Dryfoos covers environmental news in New Orleans, Louisiana for The Lens, a nonprofit digital newsroom. Prior to joining The Lens, Dryfoos reported on climate change resiliency in New York City for Inside Climate News. She holds a master's degree in science, health and environmental journalism from New York University, where she worked as the managing editor for Scienceline and an editorial intern at Living on Earth. As a college intern for NJ Advance Media, Dryfoos covered news across New Jersey and their story about South Orange's rainbow lampposts was republished by U.S. News and World Report. She is passionate about reporting on the intersection of health and the environment as well as working to make journalism more inclusive of disabled and LGBTQ+ sources and reporters. She studied biology, global health, policy journalism and media studies at Duke University.

Bangor Daily News

A 132-year-old business owned by one family, the Bangor Daily News increasingly serves the entire state with an earlier shift to digital than most midsize papers. This news organization prizes strong journalism that serves readers, and the 127-person team is young, scrappy, and hungry to grow the BDN’s journalism, capacity and public service.

Cleo Krejci

Cleo Krejci covers workforce development and manufacturing in Wisconsin for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She developed her love for accountability reporting after uncovering dangerous building code violations at a student housing complex as a sophomore at the University of Minnesota. She continued working for her student paper, the Minnesota Daily, until graduation in May 2020, including as editor-in-chief of the 70-person newsroom during senior year. That summer Krejci left her hometown of Minneapolis to spend 10 weeks covering national politics for the Arizona Republic via the Pulliam Journalism Fellowship. From Arizona she moved to Iowa, where she spent two years covering K-12 and higher education for the Iowa City Press-Citizen and Des Moines Register. In summer 2022 she got a full-time job as an unskilled caregiver in a memory care unit, trusting it would serve as fodder for a later project about U.S. elder care.

Victoria Advocate

The Victoria Advocate is 175 years old, and the second oldest daily paper in Texas. This family-owned community paper and news site is committed to reporting daily news, features, and hard-hitting investigations, holding officials accountable.

Melissa Ellin

Melissa Ellin covers community mental health in Normal/Bloomington for WGLT, an NPR affiliate station at Illinois State University. Before this, she did general assignment reporting for Boston.com and statehouse reporting for MetroWest Daily News, while finishing her undergraduate journalism and English degrees at Boston University. She's freelanced for The Maine Monitor, Brookline News, and The Boston Globe. She also has experience with local and national data-driven investigations, including a story for The Boston Globe that uncovered corruption in the Massachusetts Department of Correction's prisoner grievance system. You can also read her byline in NBC Boston and the AP. She graduated in May 2023 with honors.

Jim Nintzel

Jim Nintzel covers politics for the Tucson Sentinel, an online news agency based in Southern Arizona. Prior to joining the Sentinel, Nintzel spent more than three decades as a reporter and editor with Tucson Weekly, covering politics, science and rock ’n’ roll. He has been named a journalist of the year by the Arizona Press Club and the Arizona Newspaper Association and has won more than 50 state and national awards for his work. He has previously worked for the local PBS affiliate, hosting a weekly political roundtable, and has appeared on CBS, ABC, CNN and other national news networks as well as various NPR affiliates. He taught government reporting at the University of Arizona Journalism School for more than 15 years.

Patrick Sloan-Turner

Patrick Sloan-Turner covers education in Victoria, Texas, and its surrounding communities for the Victoria Advocate, the second oldest paper in the Lone Star State. Prior to joining the Advocate, Sloan-Turner covered university governance at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois for the school’s student-run independent newspaper, The DePaulia. There, he also covered topics like Chicago politics, crime, healthcare and others, while serving as the outlet’s Online Managing Editor. Prior to his pursuit of a bachelor’s in journalism at DePaul, Sloan-Turner worked as a stringer at his hometown newspaper, the Lansing State Journal in Lansing, Michigan. It was there that he was first inspired to become a journalist after witnessing the Journal’s impressive coverage of the Larry Nassar scandal at Michigan State University.

Bri Hatch

Bri Hatch covers education disparities in Baltimore, Maryland for WYPR 88.1, the local NPR station. Before joining the WYPR team, Hatch reported on college student well-being and diversity initiatives for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and rural Virginia education tensions for the Rockbridge Report. Hatch earned a Hearst feature writing award for their 2022 Chronicle of Higher Education story detailing the twisty journey of a donated 'Wizard of Oz' dress. Hatch served as the editor-in-chief of their college newspaper, The Ring-tum Phi, and investigated contentious Title IX policies and hazing allegations among a wide variety of other topics. They earned a degree from Washington and Lee University in journalism and American politics, with a minor in poverty and human capability studies. Outside of the newsroom, Hatch is an avid concert-lover, a longtime runner, and a cozy coffee shop enthusiast.