WRITING

Gabby Birenbaum

Gabby Birenbaum is the Washington Correspondent at The Texas Tribune. Prior to joining the Trib, Birenbaum was the D.C. Correspondent at The Nevada Independent, covering the 2024 election, the state's congressional delegation and a host of policy issues in the swing state. In the past, she's covered politics and policy at The Washington Monthly, Vox, The Hill and The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Birenbaum holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and political science from Northwestern University. She's an Arlington, VA native and avid Washington sports fan.

Diego Vargas

Before joining Fresnoland as a Report for America corps member, Diego served as their community correspondent and covered stories in multiple beats, including local government, transportation and elections in Fresno County. He began as a general assignment student writer for Fresnoland in 2023 while serving as editor-in-chief for The Collegian, Fresno State's student-run newspaper. At the paper, he started his journalism career as an Arts & Entertainment editor and was involved in transitioning its weekly newspaper edition to a 24-page print magazine with a focus on long-form stories. He earned his bachelor's degree in digital journalism from Fresno State, speaks Spanish natively and is passionate about photojournalism.

Danielle Dawson

Danielle Dawson is a collaborative investigative reporter for InvestigateWest, focusing on communities in eastern and central Oregon. Before joining Report for America, she worked as a digital reporter for FOX 5/KUSI in her hometown of San Diego, California, covering a wide range of topics — from City Hall, local elections and legal battles to business and public health. Prior to that, Dawson interned at the award-winning local investigative publication, inewsource, where she wrote about renters facing eviction at the end of COVID-era assistance programs and the uneven use of local laws to enforce homeless encampments. Dawson holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and bachelor’s degrees in literary journalism and dance from University of California, Irvine. In her down time, she loves attending concerts, reading and checking out new coffee shops.

Andy Lusk

Andy Lusk is the mid-cities communities reporter for NPR member station KERA in Dallas. He is a returning Report for America corps member, having spent two years with KUCB, the NPR member station serving Alaska's Aleutian and Pribilof Islands. While in Alaska, Andy was an award-winning general assignment reporter with a focus on local and tribal government. He previously reported for InvestmentWires, a financial trade publication based in New York City. Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Andy grew up on Carolina barbecue but is willing to give Texas dry rubs a try. He spends his free time hiking and writing fiction. If you run into him in the wild, tell him about your favorite book. Andy is an alumnus of New York University with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

Grant Ritchey

Prior to joining the Racine County Eye, Grant Ritchey covered K-12 education at Knox Pages in Ohio for three years, writing solutions-journalism-focused stories on Knox County's public schools. He also covered local government and crime at the Ashland Times-Gazette.

Wendy Todd

Wendy Todd is a St. Louis-based writer and reporter.. Prior to joining The St. Louis American, she worked for Community News, a hyperlocal newspaper in St. Louis covering North St. Louis. Her previous experience includes writing for the University of Missouri–St. Louis news site and quarterly magazine, and handling communications for various nonprofits. After freelancing for years writing culture pieces for outlets including Ebony.com, HuffPost and The Washington Post, Todd joined St. Louis Public Radio as a social media coordinator, creating content focused on socioeconomic disparities among African Americans in St. Louis, with additional news reporting. She earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Todd also completed fellowships with the Maynard Institute of Journalism Education and the Google News Initiative.

Rose LaForest

Rose LaForest is a video journalist and documentary filmmaker at WSLS-TV in Roanoke, Virginia. She recently earned her master’s degree in broadcast and video journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she produced short documentaries on topics ranging from dementia-related wandering to juvenile incarceration advocacy. While at Medill, LaForest also reported from Argentina, covering shifting cultural attitudes toward women in male-dominated sports. Previously, she interned with Detroit PBS, produced work for their program One Detroit, and served as digital content coordinator for Great Lakes Now. LaForest's career began at Michigan State University, where she studied media and information with minors in documentary production and graphic design. LaForest is passionate about reporting solution-oriented stories, arts and culture, and advancing the conversation around media ethics, as well as exploring new ways to approach storytelling to help audiences better understand how to engage in their communities.

Nick Anschultz

Before joining Mainstreet Daily News to cover K-12 and higher education, Anschultz spent three and a half years at the Levy Citizen, where he served as the newspaper's Editor/Reporter. In that role, Anschultz covered everything from government and education to sports and local events. He discovered his passion for journalism while attending the University of Florida, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in May 2021. When he is not typing words on his keyboard, you can usually find Anschultz watching sports - especially his Florida Gators - fishing, or spending time with friends and family.

Lizzie Ramirez

Lizzie Ramirez interned at The Nevada Independent before joining The Times-Independent. At The Indy, she helped cover the 2025 legislative session, aiding the legislative team in writing live blogs, monitoring hearings, and connecting pending legislation to Nevadans to illustrate how potential laws could impact the state. Prior to graduating from the University of Nevada, Reno with her master's degree, Ramirez worked for Teen Vogue where she served as Nevada’s correspondent. She reported how young people were mobilizing in battleground states in an attempt to swing the election. Ramirez also worked for The New York Times as a freelance reporter and collected data throughout the week of the election. Her passion for reporting began when she was the news editor at the student-run newspaper, The Nevada Sagebrush, before she graduated with her bachelors degree in journalism.

Allie Pitchon

Allie Pitchon covers nonprofit and public institutions for Charlottesville Tomorrow. Pitchon is a half-Argentine and half-American award-winning journalist, born and raised in Buenos Aires. She has worked as a reporter in Argentina, at the Miami Herald, The New York Times, and a local USA TODAY paper in Virginia. Allie has a degree in international relations from Pomona College and a Master of Science from Columbia Journalism School. She specializes in investigating abuses of power in government and the criminal justice system.