WRITING

Esteban Candelaria

Esteban Candelaria

Esteban Candelaria covers child welfare and the state Children, Youth, and Families Department for The Santa Fe New Mexican. He is based in Albuquerque. Prior to joining The New Mexican, he covered education at the Albuquerque Journal. There, he tackled accountability stories about the state education department's administration of services for students to stories about the proliferation of guns in Albuquerque schools. Before the Journal, he covered criminal justice and the local courts at The Colorado Springs Gazette. Esteban graduated with a bachelor's degree from Colorado College, where he also won an award for his time and contributions to student journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elise Plunk

Elise Plunk

Before joining Louisiana Illuminator, Plunk earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Florida, where she worked as editor-in-chief of Atrium magazine, a narrative nonfiction outlet on campus. She also worked as an environmental communications intern for the Thompson Earth Systems Institute, where she wrote feature stories and produced social media content on environmental topics relevant to Floridians, and as a climate journalist fellow at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Plunk's favorite class in college was environmental journalism, where she learned to connect her passion for the natural world with her studies in reporting. When she isn't working, she loves making art from upcycled materials.
Gisselle Medina

Gisselle Medina

Gisselle Medina covers religion, culture and community development in the Central Valley for Fresnoland. Prior to joining Report for America, Medina built an education beat from scratch at The Frisc, a small newsroom in San Francisco. Their work has been published in the L.A. Times, The Oaklandside, The Daily Californian, Greater Good Science Center, and much more. Medina was a 2023 White House Correspondents' Association scholarship recipient and was part of the 2023 NAHJ and NLGJA student projects. Medina received a master's degree in journalism, with concentrations in investigative reporting and multimedia, from UC Berkeley, where they also studied English as an undergraduate. Originally from Los Angeles, Medina lived in Fresno for 10 years, where they cultivated a passion for helping people while residing in a room and board facility and uncovering the disparities faced by the residents. Outside of work, Medina loves to spend time with loved ones, playing board games, dancing to music, traveling to new places, and reading poetry.
Isabella Aldrete

Isabella Aldrete

Isabella Aldrete is a bilingual journalist for The Nevada Independent. She covers political races up and down the ticket, as well as the Legislature and how policies affect Latinos. Prior to joining Report for America, Aldrete interned for NBC News. There, she covered everything from Sam Altman’s investments to the CHIPs Act. Aldrete also worked at the Dow Jones News Fund, covering workplace benefits for Employee Benefit News. She’s a 2024 graduate of Barnard College.

Billy Jean Louis

Award-winning journalist Billy Jean Louis is a senior editor and reporter for Miami Fourth Estate in Florida. He covered litigation for Bloomberg Law; diversity, equity, and inclusion for The Baltimore Sun; and health and education for The Baxter Bulletin before joining Report for America. His reporting on education has earned him prizes from the Virginia Press Association and Associated Press Media Editors. Jean Louis, a journalism graduate of the University of Florida, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He speaks French and Haitian Creole. He was first drawn to journalism during his youth in Haiti when he was exposed to the coup d’état of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. At the time, the Haitian press didn’t act as a strong watchdog, inspiring Jean Louis to become a journalist to expose corruption in Haiti — and around the world.

Nadia Lathan

Nadia Lathan covers the Texas statehouse with a focus on energy for the Associated Press. Before joining AP, Lathan covered culture, policy, and health as an intern at the Investigative Reporting Program and a science writer for UC Berkeley School of Public Health. She helped report on the 2024 presidential primaries as an intern at The Mercury News and East Bay Times and has written about the Bay Area’s proactive transportation community for Oaklandside. Lathan holds a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Economics from University of Redlands. In 2021, she studied social policy as a foreign exchange student at University of Oxford. She adores biking, playing with her cat, and listening to technology podcasts when away from her desk.

Charlotte Matherly

Charlotte Matherly covers the New Hampshire statehouse for The Concord Monitor & Monadnock Ledger Transcript. Matherly previously reported on government and education in Virginia as a freelancer. She has interned at The Chronicle of Higher Education and at a business journal in Richmond, Virginia for the Dow Jones News Fund. Matherly pursued journalism on a whim when she joined her campus newspaper, The Breeze, at James Madison University. Immediately hooked, she became an award-winning features editor, then editor-in-chief. She holds a bachelor’s degree in media arts and design from JMU. When not poring over public records or holed up at a government meeting (which is rare), Matherly loves to roller skate, explore new cities and frequent local coffee shops.

Rachel Spacek

Rachel Spacek is an investigative reporter who covers migrant labor and equity issues in the Pacific Northwest for investigateWest. Spacek joins InvestigateWest from Boise, Idaho, where she covered Latino affairs, housing, homelessness and local government for the Idaho Statesman. She has received commendations from the Idaho Press Club for her work. Spacek's previous experiences include business reporting as an intern at the Los Angeles Times and covering community news for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Spacek began her journalism career at the University of Nevada, Reno, working for the college newspaper, where she met her college sweetheart and now fiancé, Ryan.

Charlotte Kramon

Charlotte Kramon covers The Georgia Legislature, with a focus on democracy and voting rights and access, for The Associated Press. During internships at the Los Angeles Times and Charlotte Observer, respectively, Kramon covered housing and homelessness and revealed dire conditions in a long-term stay hotel. Kramon also investigated student overdose deaths as a freelance journalist for The Assembly and covered criminal justice, elections, and education for INDY Reporter and The 9th Street Journal in Durham. She graduated from Duke University with a major in public policy and minor in journalism.

Yana Kunichoff

Yana Kunichoff will be reporting on how Southern Arizona communities address systemic challenges in education, equity, environment, voting, and urban planning. Previously, Yana was a freelance reporter and documentary producer currently, where she most recently covered education for the Arizona Republic. Yana has also covered education for Chalkbeat Chicago, worked as a special projects editor for the Migratory Notes immigration newsletter, produced a feature-length documentary on the experience of elderly prisoners in Illinois jails, and worked as an editor at The Moscow Times. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor's in politics and sociology from Durham University.