WRITING

Sam Ogozalek

Sam Ogozalek is a health care reporter focusing on mental health for the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. Previously, he covered COVID-19 and local government for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette in South Carolina. Hailing from Hancock, New York, a small town along the Delaware River, Ogozalek was editor-in-chief of Syracuse University’s student paper, The Daily Orange, and has interned at the Tampa Bay Times, The Buffalo News and the Naples Daily News.

Tashi McQueen

Tashi McQueen is a political beat reporter concentrating on voter education for Afro News, which serves Baltimore’s Black community. Prior to joining the Afro, McQueen freelanced for The Baltimore Sun, with her first story earning a spot on the front page. Holding a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Goucher College, McQueen got her start in journalism by reporting for The Goucher Eye, the college’s digital news source. She is a member of the Baltimore Association of Black Journalists, and she speaks French and Spanish and enjoys learning new languages in her free time.

Abriana Herron

Abriana Herron covers the role of Black churches in the Indianapolis, Indiana community for the Indianapolis Recorder. A recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University Bloomington—she has also studied a semester abroad at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England—Herron wrote for Indiana’s student paper, covering racial disparities, government policies, among other news. She interned with the Recorder and she is excited to return to the nation’s fourth oldest Black newspaper as a full-time reporter.

Caitlin Looby

Caitlin Looby covers the Great Lakes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Previously, her work appeared in GQ Magazine, The New York Times, Mongabay and on Southern California Public Radio. As a freelancer, she’s also edited books, dissertations, poetry collections and even restaurant menus. A former scientist, Looby spent 12 years hiking through tropical cloud forests to study soil microbes and climate change. She holds a master’s degree from Kean University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. In her free time, Looby heads outdoors, paddling, hiking, camping and playing with her two dogs. Fun fact: she’s lived in every time zone in the continental U.S.

Donovan Thomas

Donovan Thomas is a health reporter covering the long-term effects of the pandemic in Georgia for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A recent graduate of Howard University, Thomas studied journalism and Spanish, was editor-in-chief of the student paper and president of the student chapter of The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. He has interned on The Washington Post’s metro desk, The New York Times’ investigations desk, and the metro desk at The Charlotte Observer. Thomas was a ProPublica Emerging Reporter in 2021-22, and a White House Correspondents’ Association Scholar. He still enjoys reading the broadsheet newspaper and hard copies of books, and loves cooking, ballet, “Jeopardy!,” and the Saints.

Hunter McLaren

Hunter McLaren covers the city of Hastings, Michigan and surrounding Barry County communities for The Hastings Banner. McLaren has reported for Michigan’s MLive.com news site, covering breaking news and community stories, including NASCAR races at the Michigan International Speedway. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Central Michigan University. There, he worked as a reporter, photographer and associate editor of Central Michigan Life, the student paper. McLaren’s reporting has taken him to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Joni Hess

Joni Hess covers the quickly developing communities of St. Tammany Parish for The Times- Picayune and The Advocate, a news organization in New Orleans. Hess is a native of New Orleans, which sits on the south shore of St. Tammany. Previously, she was a U.S. reporting fellow for a global media organization, openDemocracy, where she covered the imprisonment of Cameroon asylum seekers, discrepancies in Black maternal health care, and infringements on women and LGBTQI rights. As a freelancer, Hess received a reporting grant from New America to cover the lack of access to paid leave policies for families. Her feature appeared in The Lily, a publication of The Washington Post. Hess graduated from Xavier University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and went on to earn a master’s in social work.

Leto Sapunar

Leto Sapunar is a business and tech reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune, a nonprofit newspaper in Salt Lake City, Utah. Previously, he freelanced for Popular Science, Scientific American, Inverse and Retraction Watch, among other outlets, covering physics, space and science accountability. Sapunar’s work resulted in the retraction of numerous flawed scientific papers and caused a senior faculty member accused of misconduct to step down from his chair position. During Sapunar’s studies, he was a fellow with Inside Climate News and an intern with Retraction Watch and Alpinist Magazine. He earned his master’s in science journalism from New York University and his bachelor’s in physics from Oregon State University. An avid rock climber, Sapunar says that he speaks French and just enough Russian to be offensive. As a former science camp teacher, he’s always happy to look through a telescope and answer questions about space.

Michaela Towfighi

Michaela Towfighi reports on struggling middle-class and working-class residents for the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire. Prior to joining the Monitor full time, she was a summer intern there. A 2022 graduate of Duke University with a degree in public policy and journalism and media studies, she covered education, COVID-19 and the 2020 election and helped edit stories about the Durham County Courthouse for The 9th Street, a Duke newsletter, and North Carolina’s Indy Week. Her story about a family grappling with a delayed trial for a fatal car accident in Concord, New Hampshire won top honors in Duke’s Melcher Family Award for Excellence in Journalism. Towfighi is an American expat who calls London home, despite not having picked up a British accent just yet.

Samantha Hendrickson

Samantha Hendrickson covers the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio for The Associated Press. Before joining Report for America, she was a general assignment and business reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Hendrickson is a proud alumnus of The Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota’s student-run paper, and covered the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, the trial of Derek Chauvin and the police shooting of Daunte Wright. She also freelanced for The Intercept after discovering that a key witness for the defense in the Chauvin trial had a pending lawsuit against him involving the death of a young Black man. When she isn’t reporting, Hendrickson loves to craft, cook, read, do yoga and create the perfect playlist.