WRITING

Malak Silmi

Malak Silmi covers city and government affairs for Outlier Media, a nonprofit service journalism organization based in Detroit, Michigan. Previously, she was a digital reporter for the San Antonio Express-News in Texas, covering trends and breaking news. Silmi holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism and international studies from Wayne State University, where she was a reporter and news editor of the student paper, The South End. She has interned at Michigan public radio, and participated in The New York Times Student Journalism Institute. Shortly after graduating in 2020, Silmi reported for Outlier Media, providing updates on COVID-19 guidelines, elections and other topics, with information in both English and Arabic. For fun, she enjoys traveling, reading and enjoying the outdoors (when it’s warm).

Rachel Carlton

Rachel Carlton covers the Harris County Commissioners Court in Houston for Community Impact Newspaper, which delivers hyperlocal news. Before joining Community Impact, Carlton was a freelance journalist based in Houston, and a contributor to the “City Cast Houston” podcast. A standout in the 2020 Big Scribble competition, Carlton graduated from Rice University with bachelor’s degrees in cognitive sciences and linguistics. Her first taste of journalism came as a junior at Rice, where she co-authored an opinion piece for the student paper, the Rice Thresher, on the experience of sexual assault survivors. Carlton later joined the paper’s staff and provided key COVID-19 coverage.

Sarah Huffman

Sarah Huffman reports on business and technology in Philadelphia for Technical.ly, the technology news network. Before joining Technical.ly, Huffman was an intern and then freelance reporter for Norwood News, covering local government and community events and organizations in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. She is a 2021 graduate of Fordham University, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and communications, and was an editor for the student newspaper. In her free time, Huffman is an amateur baker and enjoys testing new dessert recipes.

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.”

Ashley Miznazi

Ashley Miznazi covers the Haitian community in the South Florida/Miami area for The Haitian Times, a news organization based in Brooklyn, New York. Previously, Miznazi was a multimedia fellow for The Texas Tribune, where she created short documentaries on Afghan resettlement and the foster care system. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, Miznazi worked in the photo and video departments at the student paper, The Daily Texan. She is the host of “Darkness,” a podcast about the 2018 Austin bombings.

Colleen Cronin

Colleen Cronin covers rural communities in Rhode Island for ecoRI News, a nonprofit newsroom that reports on environmental and social justice issues. Prior to joining ecoRI, Cronin worked as a digital producer and metro correspondent at The Boston Globe, writing education stories and breaking news overnight. She’s also worked on a year-long project investigating the opioid epidemic in Rhode Island, freelanced for The New York Times, and interned at People Magazine. Cronin is bilingual and received her bachelor’s degree in English from Brown in 2021, where she covered state and local politics, the college admissions scandal, and the university’s response to COVID-19 for The Brown Daily Herald. She eventually worked her way up to the role of editor-in-chief and president.

Gabriel Poblete

Gabriel Poblete covers New York state agencies for The City, a nonprofit digital news outlet dedicated to accountability reporting. Previously, he was the city reporter for Miami Today, reported on education in New Mexico for the Las Vegas Optic, was a junior reporter at The Real Deal, and interned at Crain’s and City & State. Poblete was born in Miami and earned a master’s degree at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

Jarrette Werk

Jarrette Werk is the Indigenous affairs reporter for Underscore, a nonprofit digital news organization with a focus on Indian Country and other marginalized coverage areas, based in Portland, Oregon. Werk is a multimedia journalist, and a recent graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Originally from Montana, he is a proud member of the Aaniiih and Nakoda tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community. Werk was an associate producer for Nevada Public Radio’s “Native Nevada Podcast,” a podcast series highlighting the culture, issues, and perseverance of the 27 tribal nations in present-day Nevada, and he has interned with First Nation Focus magazine. One of Werk’s passions is portrait photography, and his ultimate goal is to take a portrait of at least one member of every tribal nation throughout Indian County. Currently, there are nearly 600 tribes in the U.S.

Katie Redefer

Katie Redefer is a reporter whose work is published in two newspapers, Maryland’s The Salisbury Independent and Delaware State News. Previously, she was a metro correspondent for The Boston Globe’s city desk, reporting on breaking news. Redefer holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Emerson College, where she served as the editor-in-chief of The Berkeley Beacon, the student paper. In her free time, she enjoys practicing creative fiction writing, or sitting on the beach with a good book.

Mallory Gruben

Mallory Gruben reports on K-12 education in Snohomish County for The Daily Herald in Everett, Washington. Previously, she freelanced on the north and central Oregon coast, reporting primarily for the Newport News-Times and The Astorian. She started her journalism career at The Daily News in Longview, Washington, where she covered education, business and the environment. Her work has won awards from the Northwest Society of Professional Journalists. A graduate of Hastings College in Nebraska, she was editor-in-chief of the student paper and helped to save the paper from being eliminated by budget cuts. Gruben grew up in Eckley, a village of about 230 people in the northeastern part of Colorado.