Kathryn DePauw

Kathryn DePauw covers Indigenous and tribal communities in Northern Michigan for the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Before this, she editor-in-chief for the White Pine Press, Northwestern Michigan College’s newspaper. There, she earned awards for her photojournalism and reporting on local stories, COVID-19, and the 2020 election. In 2022, the Michigan College Press Association named her the Janet Nellis Mendler Student Journalist of the Year. DePauw earned a degree in freshwater studies and has worked with many local nonprofits as a water quality monitor, geographic information systems specialist, and digital content creator. She was awarded the 2021 Student Environmentalist of the Year award from the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council for establishing a chloride monitoring program.

Ben Jodway

Ben Jodway covers LGBTQ+ Ohioans living in rural communities at The Buckeye Flame. Before that, he covered education for the Midland Daily News, including a superintendent search and the resignation of Central Michigan University's president. Jodway was a reporter on Central Michigan University's student newspaper, CM Life, covering general assignments. At WCMU Public Radio, he covered libraries being criticized for displaying LGBTQ+ books. He has a bachelor's degree in history from CMU.

Lucas Dufalla

Before coming to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Dufalla interned at PublicSource, an investigative nonprofit newsroom in his hometown of Pittsburgh. There, he covered housing and economic development in the city and its surrounding boroughs. A summer before, he interned at the Portland Press Herald, Maine’s largest daily newspaper, where he covered small business in southern Maine. He attended Bowdoin College and wrote for the school’s student-run weekly newspaper, The Bowdoin Orient.

Berenice Garcia

Before joining Texas Tribune, Berenice Garcia covered local governments across various cities in the Rio Grande Valley, crime and general assignments, as well as spearheaded healthcare coverage at The Monitor newspaper. A Valley native, she traveled east to earn her bachelor's degree in journalism and politics from New York University. During her time there, she interned at NBC News, the Daily Beast and the New York Daily News. When she's not reporting, Berenice enjoys getting the wind knocked out of her at the gym.

Morgan Casey

Morgan Casey covers wellness, mental health and the environment in Cumberland County, North Carolina, at CityView Today. Before joining Report for America, Casey led the writing and fact-checking of a team national investigation into U.S. lithium mining with The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism that published with USA Today and aired on PBS Newshour. Before that, she was a fellow with News21 where she was part of a team reporting on how Catholic health system mergers with local secular hospitals impact abortion access. She holds a master's degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University and earned her bachelor's at the University of Maryland.

Billy Jean Louis

Award-winning journalist Billy Jean Louis is a senior editor and reporter for Miami Fourth Estate in Florida. He covered litigation for Bloomberg Law; diversity, equity, and inclusion for The Baltimore Sun; and health and education for The Baxter Bulletin before joining Report for America. His reporting on education has earned him prizes from the Virginia Press Association and Associated Press Media Editors. Jean Louis, a journalism graduate of the University of Florida, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He speaks French and Haitian Creole. He was first drawn to journalism during his youth in Haiti when he was exposed to the coup d’état of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. At the time, the Haitian press didn’t act as a strong watchdog, inspiring Jean Louis to become a journalist to expose corruption in Haiti — and around the world.

Nadia Lathan

Nadia Lathan covers the Texas statehouse with a focus on energy for the Associated Press. Before joining AP, Lathan covered culture, policy, and health as an intern at the Investigative Reporting Program and a science writer for UC Berkeley School of Public Health. She helped report on the 2024 presidential primaries as an intern at The Mercury News and East Bay Times and has written about the Bay Area’s proactive transportation community for Oaklandside. Lathan holds a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Economics from University of Redlands. In 2021, she studied social policy as a foreign exchange student at University of Oxford. She adores biking, playing with her cat, and listening to technology podcasts when away from her desk.

Charlotte Matherly

Charlotte Matherly covers the New Hampshire statehouse for The Concord Monitor & Monadnock Ledger Transcript. Matherly previously reported on government and education in Virginia as a freelancer. She has interned at The Chronicle of Higher Education and at a business journal in Richmond, Virginia for the Dow Jones News Fund. Matherly pursued journalism on a whim when she joined her campus newspaper, The Breeze, at James Madison University. Immediately hooked, she became an award-winning features editor, then editor-in-chief. She holds a bachelor’s degree in media arts and design from JMU. When not poring over public records or holed up at a government meeting (which is rare), Matherly loves to roller skate, explore new cities and frequent local coffee shops.

Rachel Spacek

Rachel Spacek is an investigative reporter who covers migrant labor and equity issues in the Pacific Northwest for investigateWest. Spacek joins InvestigateWest from Boise, Idaho, where she covered Latino affairs, housing, homelessness and local government for the Idaho Statesman. She has received commendations from the Idaho Press Club for her work. Spacek's previous experiences include business reporting as an intern at the Los Angeles Times and covering community news for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Spacek began her journalism career at the University of Nevada, Reno, working for the college newspaper, where she met her college sweetheart and now fiancé, Ryan.

Charlotte Kramon

Charlotte Kramon covers The Georgia Legislature, with a focus on democracy and voting rights and access, for The Associated Press. During internships at the Los Angeles Times and Charlotte Observer, respectively, Kramon covered housing and homelessness and revealed dire conditions in a long-term stay hotel. Kramon also investigated student overdose deaths as a freelance journalist for The Assembly and covered criminal justice, elections, and education for INDY Reporter and The 9th Street Journal in Durham. She graduated from Duke University with a major in public policy and minor in journalism.