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
San Francisco Chronicle
Emily Jan (she/her) is deputy director of visuals at The San Francisco Chronicle, where she works with a team of multimedia journalists with the goal of using documentary photography to inform and enlighten. She’s passionate about ethical visual storytelling, media literacy and snacks. Previously, she was The Atlantic’s first-ever digital photo editor and art director.
BioPharma Dive
Gwendolyn Wu (she/her) was part of the 2018 VOICES student cohort in Houston. She is now a reporter at BioPharma Dive, covering biotech startups and venture capital. Previously, she authored Bay Briefing, the San Francisco Chronicle’s flagship weekday newsletter, and covered COVID-19 and the business of healthcare for the Houston Chronicle. Outside of the newsroom, she co-directs the AAJA Young Professionals Network (yung AAJA) and teaches at the California Scholastic Press Association summer workshop. She has degrees in history and sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Columbia Journalism School
Joe Hong (he/him) is a Spencer Fellow at the Columbia Journalism School in New York city. Before, he was the K-12 education reporter for CalMatters, a nonprofit newsroom covering California state politics and policy. Previously, he reported on education in San Diego at KPBS, the public radio station, and the Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun, a daily newspaper in Palm Springs. He’s a proud graduate of California’s public schools. Joe also served as a faculty mentor during the 2022 VOICES program in Los Angeles.
The Marshall Project
Jovelle Tamayo (they/she) is a multimedia editor at The Marshall Project. Previously, they contributed photo and video journalism to publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, TIME magazine and Audubon. They are a founding member of the Authority Collective, a community of women and non-binary imagemakers of color, and a co-author of the Photo Bill of Rights, which advocates for equity and safety in the visual media industry. Jovelle has also served as Vice President of Programs for Seattle’s AAJA chapter.
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
CNN
Harmeet Kaur is a culture writer for CNN, where she’s spent eight years in various roles across the newsroom. Her work explores questions of race and identity and how they shape the cultural conversation. Previously, Harmeet was a producer on CNN’s digital programming team, where she crafted push notifications and headlines and curated homepages across platforms. She started her career in television production. Harmeet is a graduate of Emory University, where she studied international affairs and journalism. Raised in the Appalachian Mountain town of Pikeville, Kentucky, she’s now based in Brooklyn, New York.
Los Angeles Times
Jeong Park is an Asian American communities reporter for the Los Angeles Times, with a focus on capturing the diversity of the population and telling stories for the community. Previously, he was an economic mobility reporter for the Sacramento Bee, covering how California policies affect the lives of workers. He also covered cities and communities for the Orange County Register and worked as a local reporter in Lafayette, Indiana. Park considers both Seoul, where he was born, and Southern California, where he grew up after immigrating as an 11-year-old “parachute kid”, as his home. He graduated from UCLA with a political science degree, spending four years at the school’s paper, Daily Bruin. He welcomes recommendations for good hikes, food and K-Pop songs.
Associated Press
Karena Phan is currently a reporter at The Associated Press based in Los Angeles. She is part of the news verification desk at AP, where she investigates online misinformation and debunks false narratives. She’s reported on a variety of topics including legislation, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and more. Before joining the AP, she worked at TIME For Kids, TIME magazine’s classroom edition for young readers. She received a bachelor’s degree in literary journalism with a minor in digital information systems at the University of California, Irvine.
USC Annenberg School of Journalism
Mallory Carra is a longtime journalist, editor, and teacher based in Los Angeles with nearly 20 years of experience working in digital, audio, and print journalism. Currently, Mallory is an adjunct professor at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, where she teaches a course in which students write, report, and produce a daily radio show/podcast. Previously, she wrote and edited true crime and dark history podcasts for Spotify’s Parcast Studios and worked as an entertainment editor at Bustle. She began her journalism career in newspapers as a staff writer for the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee and The News & Observer in North Carolina. She has contributed work to the BBC World Service, E! News, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, the New York Daily News, and the Columbia Journalism Review, among many, many others.
Polygon
Nicole Clark (she/her) is Polygon’s culture editor. She’s also a culture critic covering internet culture and accessibility, video games, books, TV, and mental health. Her work can be found in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, NBC Asian America, and elsewhere. She’s been on NPR’s KCRW, BBC Radio 5 Live, and Waypoint Radio; and hosted a panel at San Diego Comic Con. In 2021, Nicole was part of the Poynter Power of Diverse Voices cohort. And in 2019, Nicole was a Society for Features Journalism Diversity Fellow. Nicole was also a contributing editor at literary magazine Catapult from 2019 – 2023. Prior to Polygon, Nicole executive-produced Freelancing With Tim, and was a culture writer at Vice. She’s also worked as a bookseller, and loves nothing more than throwing a picnic blanket down in a park in Los Angeles, and curling up with a book and a cup of coffee.
USA Today
Nirvi Shah is education enterprise editor for USA TODAY, working with the national education reporting team and Gannett Network education reporters nationwide. She recently spent a year as a Spencer fellow in education reporting at Columbia University. Prior to that, she spent eight years as an editor and reporter for POLITICO. She was founding editor of the POLITICO Pro Education policy team before becoming deputy managing editor for all POLITICO policy teams. She oversaw expansion of policy coverage for POLITICO from the seat of the European Union and launched a wide range of subscription and consumer news products for POLITICO on both sides of the pond. She previously worked as special education and school climate reporter at Education Week. And she spent years as a journalist in South Florida for The Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post. She won an SPJ Green Eyeshade award in deadline reporting with Post colleagues.
NBC News
Paulina Jeng is a bilingual social media professional focused on audience development and content strategy. She is currently an audience editor at NBC News’ Meet the Press and has previously held roles at Axios, ESPN and New York Public Radio. Originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas, she is a staunch advocate for issues regarding belonging, diversity, equity and inclusion. When not in the newsroom, she can be found listening to artists in the concert hall, cheering at sporting events (Go Bears & Go Hogs!) and traveling the world to explore different foods and cultures. She is based in Washington, D.C.
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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.
