Riley Board

Riley Board covers rural communities on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula for KDLL public radio, an NPR affiliate serving the central Kenai Peninsula. A recent graduate of Middlebury College, where she studied linguistics, English literature and German, Board was editor-in-chief of The Middlebury Campus, the student newspaper, and completed work as a Kellogg Fellow, doing independent linguistics research. She has interned at the Burlington Free Press, covering the early days of the pandemic’s effects on Vermont communities, and at Smithsonian Institution’s Folklife, where she wrote about culture and folklife in Washington D.C. and beyond. Board hails from Sarasota, Florida.

Amy Diaz

Amy Diaz covers education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD, the state’s charter NPR affiliate, which covers 32 counties. Previously, Diaz wrote about local government and the police for Flint Beat, a hyperlocal news site in Flint, Michigan, and her work won awards from the Michigan Press Association. Diaz got her start in journalism in elementary school, writing the scripts for the morning news. Holding a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, where she was a staff writer for the college paper, Diaz has interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times.

Sofia Gratas

Sofia Gratas is the rural health care reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting in Macon, Georgia. She started working in public radio as an intern with NPR-affiliate station WUGA in Athens, Georgia, and later interned with Georgia Public Broadcasting. A graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in ecology, Gratas worked at the student-run paper, The Red & Black, in multiple roles covering local government, crime, economics and food and drink.

Caroline Love

Caroline Love is the Collin County reporter at KERA in North Texas, an NPR affiliate station and the leader of The Texas Newsroom, a public radio journalism collaboration across the state. Previously, Love covered daily news at Houston's NPR station, Houston Public Media. She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University—with an emphasis on investigative social justice journalism—where she reported feature stories that aired on KERA and the Texas Standard. In her free time, she enjoys bullet journaling and attempting to recreate the recipes she finds on TikTok.

Teresa Homsi

Teresa Homsi is an environmental reporter in northern Michigan for WCMU public radio, which is based in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Homsi covers rural environmental issues, and their intersection with public health and Michigan commerce. Holding a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University in environmental studies, journalism and anthropology, she was a beat reporter for Central Michigan Life, the student paper, and interned for the Huron Daily Tribune and for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s superfund program. Homsi helped start her university’s sustainability office, and implemented projects, policy and programming. Her work has gained national and international recognition from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

DorMiya Vance

DorMiya Vance is a multimedia reporter for WABE, the NPR and PBS affiliate serving metro Atlanta. A recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree from the communications and media program at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, Vance was editor-in-chief of the student paper, The Voice, and has interned at The Fayetteville Observer. Vance says that she knew at an early age that she wanted to work as a writer, and she is passionate about telling stories.

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.

Ellis Juhlin

Ellis Juhlin covers Montana government and the legislative session as the Statehouse reporter for Yellowstone Public Radio. Previously, Juhlin was a science reporter for Utah Public Radio. With a background in natural resources and wildlife management, Juhlin began her journalism career as a graduate student at Utah State University where she realized her passion for science communication and started working with Utah Public Radio to translate complex environmental issues for listeners across the state. She holds a master’s degree in ecology from Utah State University and a bachelor’s from the University of California, San Diego. An avid birder, Juhlin also loves to go hiking with her two rescue dogs.

Xcaret Nuñez

Xcaret Nuñez covers agriculture and rural communities for KOSU, an NPR affiliate in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Nuñez was a Missouri Statehouse reporter for the Missouri News Network, and has worked at KBIA, the NPR affiliate in Columbia, Missouri, as a reporter, producer and anchor where she covered the community and education beats. A first-generation college graduate, she holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in religious studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Nuñez is originally from Yuma, Arizona, the Southwest city known as the “Lettuce Capital of the World” and “Sunniest City on Earth.”

Emily Capetillo

Emily Capetillo covers housing challenges in Denver, Colorado for KOA radio, a news, talk and sports station. A first-generation college graduate, she recently earned her degree at the University of North Texas. As a podcast intern at KERA, the NPR affiliate based in Dallas and serving North Texas, Capetillo wrote and narrated for “Consider This.” She is a native of South Texas, and got her start in journalism in college when she covered local news in Denton, Texas, including stories about affordable housing, decriminalization of marijuana, nonprofits and COVID-19. In her spare time, Capetillo enjoys cooking, taking care of her plants and journaling.