WRITING

Bianca Morales

Bianca Nicolle Morales Borges is the cultural expressions and community values reporter for the TucsonSentinel, an online publication in Tucson, Arizona. While Morales worked on earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Central Florida, she interned as a reporter for the West Orange Times & Observer. A bilingual reporter, Morales hails from Puerto Rico and has worked as a contributor at the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and a freelance reporter with the Oviedo Community News in Oviedo, Florida. When she’s not reporting she’s dancing, reading, hiking, swimming or surfing.

Craig Brown

Craig Allen Brown covers business news in the Greater Atlanta area for The Atlanta Voice, the source of news and information relevant to the African American community. Prior to this, Brown reported sports and local news for Atlanta’s NewsBreak, a newsletter. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mass media arts at Clark Atlanta University, where he was a sports editor and eventually the editor-in-chief of the school’s paper. Holding a master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Miami, Brown is the president of the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists. A veteran with 22 years of service in the U.S. Army, Brown’s duty locations include Korea, Germany, Iraq, Kuwait and Israel.

Hannah Norton

Hannah Norton covers the Texas Legislature and state politics for Community Impact Newspaper, a hyperlocal news organization based in Austin, Texas. She is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor's degree in journalism and an emphasis on print and digital news. While there, Norton reported for the Columbia Missourian, the university’s community paper, focusing on state government, social justice issues and homelessness. She has interned with Euractiv, a Brussels-based media network that specializes in political coverage of the European Union. A native of Seattle, Norton loves spending time outdoors and traveling.

Jeniece Roman

Jeniece Roman covers Indigenous communities in Connecticut and Long Island for WSHU, an NPR member radio station based in Fairfield, Connecticut. Prior to joining WSHU, Roman reported for Connecticut’s New Britain Herald and the Record-Journal in Meriden; she has won several awards from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists. Roman earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University, majoring in journalism with a concentration in political science, and she was the student chapter president of the Society of Professional Journalists and the editor-in-chief of The Southern News, the student-run paper. Roman enjoys reading books, photography and true crime podcasts.

Kylea Henseler

Kylea Henseler covers county government for the Ouray County Plaindealer in Ouray, Colorado. Before this, she reported on Miami Beach city government for Miami Today, and pitched in on feature stories about education, health, transportation and the environment. A graduate of the University of Miami, she was the executive editor of Distraction, a student-run lifestyle magazine, and contributed photos and reporting on a variety of topics, including the struggles of new teachers, the lineage of local drag families and volunteers who turned a Miami dump into a mountain bike park. In her downtime, Henseler enjoys training jujitsu and biking.

Melody Mercado

Melody Mercado is a reporter for Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit news site dedicated to covering the city’s neighborhoods. Previously, Mercado was the city government reporter at the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa, covering local policy and its effect on the community. She started her career as a reporter at WHO-TV, the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, where she played an integral role in covering the Iowa caucuses and the protests calling for racial justice in 2020. A native of Belvidere, Illinois, Mercado holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bradley University and a master’s degree in journalism from DePaul University.

Riley Rogerson

Riley Rogerson is based in Washington, D.C. and covers Alaska's congressional delegation for the Anchorage Daily News. Prior to joining the ADN, Rogerson was earning her bachelor’s degree at Georgetown University with majors in history and government. Her love of journalism started as a reporter for Georgetown’s student newspaper, The Hoya, where she worked her way up to editor-in-chief. Rogerson has interned for her hometown paper, the Bucks County Courier Times in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, covering police, politics, preschools and more. She has also reported for Philadelphia magazine, the Investigative Reporting Workshop and Public Health Watch.

Sophie Austin

Sophie Austin covers the California Statehouse for The Associated Press in Sacramento. Before joining the AP, Austin was a data fellow at The Center for Public Integrity while earning a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs at American University. She has covered local and environmental news as an intern for The Dallas Morning News, and as an Emma Bowen Foundation Fellow at PolitiFact, she wrote political fact checks and climate policy stories ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Austin holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from American University, where she was editor-in-chief of the Eagle, the student-run newspaper.

Bobby Brier

Bobby Brier covers mental health issues, especially issues affecting rural New Jerseyans, for NJ Spotlight News, a nonprofit news organization. Previously, Brier reported for New Mexico In Depth, covering the housing crisis across New Mexico and tracking bills in the state Legislature aimed at addressing the problem. His stories on the economic impact of a new professional soccer stadium in Albuquerque, and the financial contributions of land developers to political action committees in the lead- up to the city’s mayoral election earned an award for political news coverage from the Society of Professional Journalists. Hailing from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Brier has reported on arts and culture for The Scranton Times-Tribune. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and a master’s degree in journalism from New York University.

Cris Villalonga-Vivoni

Cris Villalonga-Vivoni, better known as CV, is the health equity beat reporter for the Record-Journal, based in Meriden, Connecticut. Previously, as a Field Foundation fellow, Villalonga-Vivoni reported for the Windy City Times, a Chicago-based LGBTQ+ newspaper. Hailing from Puerto Rico, Villalonga-Vivoni holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s in English from Boston College. When not on the beat, Villalonga-Vivoni can be found caring for horses at a local barn or on the couch cuddling a cat.