REPORTING

Katie Redefer

Katie Redefer is a reporter whose work is published in two newspapers, Maryland’s The Salisbury Independent and Delaware State News. Previously, she was a metro correspondent for The Boston Globe’s city desk, reporting on breaking news. Redefer holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Emerson College, where she served as the editor-in-chief of The Berkeley Beacon, the student paper. In her free time, she enjoys practicing creative fiction writing, or sitting on the beach with a good book.

Madeline Heim

Madeline Heim reports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where she covers Wisconsin’s environmental challenges as part of the Mississippi River Basin Project, a collaborative reporting network across the Basin. Previously, she was a health and science reporter for the Appleton Post-Crescent and the USA Today network in Wisconsin—her coverage of the pandemic earned top honors from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Born and raised in the Badger State, she holds degrees in journalism and creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was editor-in-chief of the The Daily Cardinal. Heim has interned at the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, and reported for the Winona Daily News in Winona, Minnesota, where she quickly fell in love with the Mississippi River region.

Peter Gill

Peter Gill reports on central Ohio’s immigrant and refugee communities for The Columbus Dispatch. From 2014-2021, Gill was based in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he covered politics, the environment, and human rights issues for the Nepali and international press. He has also reported on housing for two Bronx-based papers in New York City, and produced an episode for the “Queens Memory” podcast about Nepalis living in the Queens borough of New York. Gill was born to American parents living in Kathmandu, and grew up in Nepal. A graduate of Carleton College, Minnesota, with a bachelor’s in history, Gill served in the Peace Corps in Senegal, holds a master’s degree in forestry from the University of Washington and is working towards a master’s from the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Gill speaks English and Nepali fluently, and Spanish, Hindi, and Wolof at an intermediate level.

Sarah Swetlik

Sarah Swetlik is a Statehouse reporter focusing on gender and politics for AL.com, which reports on news across Alabama. Prior to this, Swetlik covered public policy for Fresh Take Georgia, a digital news service at the Center for Sustainable Journalism in Kennesaw, Georgia. Her coverage has been featured by The Associated Press, U.S. News & World Report, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia Public Broadcasting. Her passion for humanity-centered storytelling has allowed her to highlight struggles such as metro Atlanta’s housing crisis and resource disparities impacting Georgia’s most vulnerable. Swetlik, a Georgia native, earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Kennesaw State University in 2021.

Will Brown

Will Brown is a journalist at WJCT Public Media in Jacksonville, Florida, and focuses on race, inequality and poverty. Prior to joining WJCT, he covered transportation, logistics and sports business at the Jacksonville Business Journal. Brown spent more than a decade as a sports reporter at The St. Augustine Record and the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida, and at the Victoria Advocate in Texas. His work has earned awards, including the Morris Journalism Excellence Award for social media, and honors from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors for his breaking sports news coverage. Brown holds a master’s degree in digital journalism and design from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, photography and soccer.

Bella Davis

Bella Davis covers Indigenous affairs for New Mexico In Depth, a nonprofit, digital news outlet. She’s based in Albuquerque. Most recently, Davis reported on cannabis, housing, local government and more for the Santa Fe Reporter. She got her start in journalism at her college newspaper, which she joined at the beginning of the pandemic, and primarily covered protests spurred by the police murder of George Floyd. A graduate of the University of New Mexico with a degree in journalism, Davis was born in Eureka, California, grew up in central New Mexico, and is a Yurok tribal member.

Connor Giffin

Connor Giffin covers climate change and environmental issues in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Courier-Journal as the Report for America representative on the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk—a collaborative reporting network across the Basin. While earning his bachelor’s degree at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Giffin contributed to “Lost on the Frontline,” an award-winning collaborative project from Kaiser Health News and The Guardian documenting the deaths of frontline health care workers during the pandemic. He also reported on state government and the environment for the Columbia Missourian, the university’s community paper.

Gabriella Paul

Gabriella Paul is a journalist at WUSF Public Media, the NPR affiliate in Tampa, Florida, reporting on the people living paycheck to paycheck in the area. Previously, Paul was the digital news editor for WUFT public radio in Gainesville, Florida. Born in Colorado, she grew up in the Tampa Bay region and holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in history from the University of Florida. While there, Paul earned two Sunshine State Awards from the Society for Professional Journalism, and co-authored a report on the university’s racial legacies. As a fellow for the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Paul contributed to an award-winning investigative podcast, “Why Don’t We Know?”

Jasper Sundeen

Jasper Kenzo Sundeen covers education and economics in the Latino community for the Yakima Herald-Republic in Yakima, Washington. Before moving to central Washington, Sundeen was an editor, writer and eventually, editor-in-chief of The Daily Californian, the student-run paper at the University of California, Berkeley and the paper of record for the Berkeley community. He has also worked as a student journalist at Dash Sports TV. Sundeen holds a bachelor’s degree in political economy and geography, and hails from Los Angeles, where he grew up playing soccer.

Kavish Harjai

Kavish Harjai is a data reporter based in Los Angeles and covering state government for The Associated Press. Prior to joining the AP, Harjai freelanced for Bay Area publications while earning his master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University. Before heading west, Harjai lived in New York City, where he worked as a news video producer and writer for NowThis. He holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and French from New York University. In his free time, Harjai enjoys reading (his favorite author is Don DeLillo), playing beach volleyball, listening to house music and making playlist covers.