People

By cohort

2017 Cohort: Philadelpha 2018 Cohort: Houston 2019 Cohort: Atlanta 2021 Cohort: Virtual 2022 Cohort: Los Angeles 2023 Cohort: Washington, D.C. 2024 Cohort: Austin

2021 Leadership

Headshot of MAYA SRIKRISHNAN

MAYA SRIKRISHNAN

Voice of San Diego

Maya is a reporter at Voice of San Diego. She currently covers the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration issues, and previously wrote about education, housing and land use issues in San Diego County. Maya was raised in New York and studied history at the University of Texas in Austin. She has a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and was a fellow at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia’s Journalism School. Maya also served in the Peace Corps in Panama, where she trained Panamanian teachers for nearly three years.

Headshot of Brian Nguyen

Brian Nguyen

The Tylt

Brian was a Voices student fellow at the AAJA 2014 Convention in Washington D.C. He now works as the associate managing editor at The Tylt. He also served as a Voices faculty mentor for the last three years, helping student teams produce video and photography projects.

2021 Fellows

Headshot of NATHANIEL JOSH ZALDARRIAGA CONSING

NATHANIEL JOSH ZALDARRIAGA CONSING

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Headshot of CASSANDRA RAE TJADEN ORDONIO

CASSANDRA RAE TJADEN ORDONIO

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Headshot of DEVAN CAMERON KARP

DEVAN CAMERON KARP

Trinity University

Headshot of HA-KYUNG KIM

HA-KYUNG KIM

New York University

Headshot of HEUNG SUM YEE

HEUNG SUM YEE

The University of Hong Kong

Headshot of ILENA PENG

ILENA PENG

George Washington University

Headshot of IRIS KWOK

IRIS KWOK

University of California

Headshot of JANICE KAI CHEN

JANICE KAI CHEN

Dartmouth College

Headshot of JASEN LO

JASEN LO

Minerva Schools at KGI

Headshot of KARENA TSE

KARENA TSE

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Headshot of LUCIA GENG

LUCIA GENG

University of Chicago

Headshot of MEGAN MUNCE

MEGAN MUNCE

Northwestern University

Headshot of NATALIE KAINZ

NATALIE KAINZ

Yale University

Headshot of NATHANIEL JOSH ZALDARRIAGA CONSING

NATHANIEL JOSH ZALDARRIAGA CONSING

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Headshot of PRAVEENA SOMASUNDARAM

PRAVEENA SOMASUNDARAM

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Headshot of RHIANNON CLEMENTS

RHIANNON CLEMENTS

Clarkson University

Headshot of SHEHREEN KARIM

SHEHREEN KARIM

Los Angeles Pierce College

Headshot of SIMON J. LEVIEN

SIMON J. LEVIEN

Harvard University

Headshot of SYDNEY WALSH

SYDNEY WALSH

George Washington University

Headshot of TERESA XIE

TERESA XIE

University of Pennsylvania

Headshot of TIFFANY NHU BUI

TIFFANY NHU BUI

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Headshot of TRISHA AHMED HOQUE

TRISHA AHMED HOQUE

University of Maryland

2021 Editors

Headshot of MALLIKA SEN

MALLIKA SEN

Associated Press

Mallika Sen is an editor at The Associated Press, focusing on U.S. northeast news and occasionally picking up a pen herself. Originally from Los Angeles, she’s made it a point to live in cities with robust public transportation and managed to survive two years working for the AP in Atlanta without a car. She’s passionate about obituaries, inclusion and enforcing Slack camaraderie. She graduated from Georgetown in 2016, and previously interned for BBC News and a media consultancy firm in Washington.

Headshot of IRENA HWANG

IRENA HWANG

ProPublica

Irena Hwang (she/they) is a data reporter at ProPublica, based in Atlanta, GA. Previously, she worked at National Public Radio, The Associated Press and The Dallas Morning News. She has a master’s in journalism and doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Headshot of NAINA RAO

NAINA RAO

NPR

Naina Rao is a freelance multimedia journalist and most recently served as the news anchor and reporter for Wyoming’s NPR member station, in Laramie, WY. Before hosting Morning Edition, Naina was a producer at WAMU’s “1A” and NPR’s Story Lab and reported on race, identity, and environment in Michigan. Born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, and educated in the U.S., Naina has lived in Singapore and India in between and speaks Bahasa Indonesia and Melayu fluently

Headshot of RONG-GONG LIN

RONG-GONG LIN

Los Angeles Times

Rong-Gong Lin II is a metro reporter for the Los Angeles Times based in the San Francisco Bay Area and covers the COVID-19 pandemic and earthquake safety issues. He has also written about municipal corruption and local government. He was a member of the reporting team covering the San Bernardino shootings that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news. He is graduate of UC Berkeley.

Headshot of Romy Varghese

Romy Varghese

Bloomberg News

Headshot of Yumi Araki

Yumi Araki

America’s Test Kitchen

Headshot of Vishakha Darbha

Vishakha Darbha

The New York Times

Headshot of Adrienne Shih

Adrienne Shih

Los Angeles Times

Headshot of Melissa Rosales

Melissa Rosales

NET-Nebraska’s NPR

Headshot of Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram

Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram

ESPN

Headshot of Shalina Chatlani

Shalina Chatlani

WWNO, Gulf States Newsroom

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The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a membership nonprofit advancing diversity in newsrooms and ensuring fair and accurate coverage of communities of color. AAJA has more than 1,500 members across the United States and Asia.

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