WRITING

Rachel Hellman

Rachel Hellman reports on the challenges and opportunities in Vermont’s small towns for Seven Days, a weekly paper and news site based in Burlington, Vermont. Previously, Hellman was a freelance journalist and her writing, which focused on the societal and environmental impact of climate change, appeared in The Guardian, The Boston Globe, Fortune, and U.S. News & World Report. As an intern for CBS News, Hellman assisted in producing a groundbreaking nationwide investigation into the changes that police departments in the U.S. have made over the past five years regarding race and policing. Since graduating magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis in 2020, she has worked on a carpentry team for the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, on an all-women farm crew in central Vermont, and as a commercial pie baker in Brooklyn, New York.

Sarah Lapidus

Sarah Lapidus covers rural communities in southern Arizona for The Arizona Republic, the largest news outlet in the Southwest. Previously, she was a general reporter in rural Alaska for the Kodiak Daily Mirror. Lapidus has traveled around the world, and speaks French and Spanish fluently, and basic Mandarin. She is a graduate of Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in French, and studied journalism at City College of San Francisco. Her reporting on local politics, policing and housing issues has appeared in a number of San Francisco publications. As an intern at The Bogotá Post in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, Lapidus reported on general news, indie music and the Colombian peace process.

Yujie Zhou

Yujie Zhou covers Bay Area tech companies and gig workers for Mission Local, an investigative news outlet based in San Francisco. Before falling in love with the city, she covered New York City’s Chinese community and studied politics in the midst of Hong Kong’s street clashes. Zhou holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and a bachelor’s degree in public policy and politics from City University of Hong Kong. She’s proud to be a bilingual journalist.

Bella Davis

Bella Davis covers Indigenous affairs for New Mexico In Depth, a nonprofit, digital news outlet. She’s based in Albuquerque. Most recently, Davis reported on cannabis, housing, local government and more for the Santa Fe Reporter. She got her start in journalism at her college newspaper, which she joined at the beginning of the pandemic, and primarily covered protests spurred by the police murder of George Floyd. A graduate of the University of New Mexico with a degree in journalism, Davis was born in Eureka, California, grew up in central New Mexico, and is a Yurok tribal member.

Connor Giffin

Connor Giffin covers climate change and environmental issues in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Courier-Journal as the Report for America representative on the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk—a collaborative reporting network across the Basin. While earning his bachelor’s degree at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Giffin contributed to “Lost on the Frontline,” an award-winning collaborative project from Kaiser Health News and The Guardian documenting the deaths of frontline health care workers during the pandemic. He also reported on state government and the environment for the Columbia Missourian, the university’s community paper.

Gabriela Szymanowska

Gabriela Szymanowska reports on the judicial system for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Prior to this, she covered breaking news and public safety for the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, she holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and electronic media from The University of Tennessee, where she was editor-in-chief of The Daily Beacon, the student paper. Szymanowska earned top honors for features/hard news photography at the 2020 Southeastern Journalism Conference on-site competition. As a fellow in the Carnegie-Knight News21 investigative program, Szymanowska, along with 34 other journalists, investigated juvenile justice in America in the multimedia reporting project, “Kids Imprisoned.” Their work won the 2021 Robert F. Kennedy College Journalism Award. Beyond reporting, she’s passionate about photography and capturing the everyday, ordinary moments of people’s lives.

Jason Harward

Jason Harward is a multimedia journalist reporting on the state legislature and the economy for the Mitchell Republic in Mitchell, South Dakota. A recent graduate of Northwestern University, he holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in legal studies. Harward spent three months reporting on the U.S. Congress for Medill News Service, part of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, focusing on infrastructure, antitrust and the early buildup to the midterm elections. As an intern at KSAT, the ABC affiliate in San Antonio, Texas, he assisted in the production of daily newscasts and reported for the news site. When he’s not working, Harward loves the outdoors, cooking and reading Gothic novels.

Kavish Harjai

Kavish Harjai is a data reporter based in Los Angeles and covering state government for The Associated Press. Prior to joining the AP, Harjai freelanced for Bay Area publications while earning his master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University. Before heading west, Harjai lived in New York City, where he worked as a news video producer and writer for NowThis. He holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and French from New York University. In his free time, Harjai enjoys reading (his favorite author is Don DeLillo), playing beach volleyball, listening to house music and making playlist covers.

Mara Cavallaro

Mara Cavallaro reports on health in the Latino community in San Francisco for El Tecolote, a bilingual community newspaper. A recent graduate of Brown University, she holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in ethnic studies and international and public affairs. Cavallaro was the managing editor of The College Hill Independent, southern New England's largest alt-weekly paper, run by students from Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design. She was also an editor for Somos Latinx Literary Magazine, a biannual student publication. Cavallaro has performed with the Mezcla Latin Dance Troupe, and also speaks Spanish and Portuguese.

Raegan Miller

Raegan Miller covers communities—Alaska Native, Asian American and rural—in southeast Alaska for KRBD public radio in Ketchikan, Alaska. Previously, she was a reporter for the Ketchikan Daily News, covering the pandemic, the arts, education issues and business. Her stories on a tourism-driven road improvement project, a homegrown filmmaker's festival debut, and a hydroponic farm startup have appeared in publications around the U.S. and in Canada. Born and raised in Alaska, Miller studied at the University of Alaska Southeast. Her work has been featured in Tidal Echoes, the university’s literary and arts journal, and in "A Tether to This World,” a collection of essays, stories and poems.