WRITING

James Pollard

James Pollard covers state government and inequality for The Associated Press in Columbia, South Carolina. Before joining the Report for America corps, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science at Northwestern University. There, he served as managing editor of The Daily Northwestern and worked as a research assistant in the political science department. Pollard has reported on Texas politics and policy as a fellow with The Texas Tribune, interned on the NBCUniversal digital team, and covered his hometown of St. Louis as an intern with the Riverfront Times. In his free time, Pollard enjoys playing guitar, cooking and hiking.

Josh Irvine

Joshua Irvine reports on poverty for the Telegraph Herald in Dubuque, Iowa. A recent graduate of Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he’s lived in a few places but will tell you that he grew up outside Chicago. Irvine was a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune’s suburban publications, covering municipal government and local school boards. He has reported for Windy City Times, which serves the LGBTQ community, and was a copy editing intern at the Tampa Bay Times.

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.

Arleigh Rodgers

Arleigh Rodgers covers the Indiana Legislature with an emphasis on K-12 education for The Associated Press. Before joining the AP, Rodgers was a general assignment reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, where she also reported, produced and hosted a podcast, “Heating Up,” which investigated the link between extreme heat and mental health among Las Vegas’ homeless and low-income residents. Holding a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College, she was a multimedia reporter for the student-run paper, The Ithacan, editor of Year in Review, a magazine and host of “Re:Mixing,” a music podcast. Rodgers’ work has earned awards from the New York Press Association, the Associated Collegiate Press and the College Media Association.

Claire Savage

Claire Savage reports for The Associated Press in Chicago, covering institutions serving young people in Illinois and investigating how well they help youth. Before joining the AP, Savage reported on online disinformation, with an emphasis on inaccurate Covid-19 and vaccine claims, for Agence France-Presse in Washington, D.C. Savage was an intern at NBC Washington/Telemundo and completed a fellowship with Atlantic Media. She holds a master's degree in international journalism from American University and a bachelor's degree in Spanish and international business from Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned All-American honors in swimming. Savage grew up outside Cleveland, Ohio, and returns frequently to visit her family and favorite ice cream shop.

Frances Mize

Frances Mize covers the climate and environment for Valley News, a paper and news site serving the Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire, based in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. Mize was born and raised in Atlanta, and she is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in anthropology. She has written about clean water and sustainable energy issues for The Working Waterfront, which is published by the Island Institute in Rockland, Maine. Mize was a general assignment reporting intern and freelancer for Valley News, and says that she is thrilled to continue growing as a reporter in the community that first taught her how to report.

James Hanlon

James Hanlon reports for The Spokesman-Review, based in Spokane, Washington, covering rural counties in eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. Previously, Hanlon reported for The Oxford Leader in Oxford, Michigan. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska and Snowflake, Arizona, and he holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and film and media studies from Arizona State University. After college, Hanlon spent three years living in a Japanese village of 700 people, teaching English and writing about revitalization projects in the countryside for a local nonprofit. His work has also appeared in Kyoto Journal, Tokyo Cheapo and Asia Matters for America by the East-West Center.