Our Staff | The Texas Tribune

Matt Adams

Director of Audience Growth and Engagement

Matt Adams is the director of audience growth and engagement at The Texas Tribune. Before joining the Tribune in June 2023, he was the supervising editor for the audience team at NPR, where he focused on reaching new audiences and finding more ways for a radio company to do more things on the internet. Prior to NPR, he was a senior producer at National Geographic, leading the team that ran Nat Geo's online photo community that hosted over 1 million members. He helped lead the redesign of the platform and produced the Best in the World photo assignment where one community member's photo was featured on the cover of Traveler magazine. Matt earned a bachelor's degree in photojournalism from Point Park University and a master's degree in visual communications and multimedia production from Ohio University. He's based in Austin, but Pittsburgh will forever be home.

Andy Alford

Director of Recruitment, Training and Career Development

Andy Alford is the director of recruitment, training and career development. She also manages the Tribune’s fellowship program, which employs student fellows to work in all areas of the organization, including on teams in the newsroom, as well as the events, product development, and marketing and communication teams. Andy came to the Tribune in 2022 after a long stretch at the Austin American-Statesman, where she rose from reporter to managing editor. She was born in Dallas and graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in journalism. Read Articles by Andy Alford

Rebekah Allen

Managing Editor for Enterprise and Politics

Rebekah Allen is the managing editor of enterprise and politics. Before joining The Texas Tribune in 2019, she was a state government reporter for The Dallas Morning News. Previously, she was an investigative reporter and Capitol reporter for The Times Picayune/The Advocate in Louisiana and an education reporter at the Pensacola News Journal in Florida. Rebekah proudly hails from the New Orleans suburbs and is a graduate of Louisiana State University. Read Articles by Rebekah Allen

Carla Astudillo

Senior Data Visuals Developer

Carla Astudillo is a senior data visuals developer with a focus on elections and political data. Before joining the Tribune in 2019, she was a data and interactive visuals journalist at NJ.com and The Star-Ledger in New Jersey, where she helped build a database of police use of force in the state as part of a 16-month investigative project. She earned a master’s degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. Carla was born in Antofagasta, Chile and moved to the United States when she was 7 years old. After brief stints in Texas and New Mexico, her family settled in Lakeland, Florida, where she grew up. She is based in Austin and speaks Spanish fluently. Read Articles by Carla Astudillo

Rob Avila

Technical Director

Email robert.avila@texastribune.org

Rob Avila is the Technical Director for The Texas Tribune. He was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas and has been living in Austin since 2009. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas at Austin. Rob specializes in live event production, audio, video, lighting, post-production, and virtual events. Rob has over a decade of production experience with a constant drive to master his craft, learning new skillsets and researching the latest production technology/applications. Outside of work, he enjoys creating music, programming light shows, and creating abstract projection visuals.

Tara Ballew

Grants and Awards Manager

Email tara.ballew@texastribune.org

Tara Ballew joined the Tribune as the grants and awards manager in May 2022. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication with an emphasis on multiplatform journalism from Sam Houston State University. She currently is working toward a Master of Public Administration degree through Lamar University. Previously, Tara interned as an account executive at Priority One Public Relations under the direction of former White House communications staff. Tara is a native Texan, coming to Austin from Huntsville. She loves to travel, having visited friends in Australia, and is obsessed with her cat, Pixie.

James Barragán

Politics Reporter

James Barragán is a politics reporter for The Texas Tribune with a focus on accountability reporting. Prior to joining the Tribune, James worked as a statehouse reporter for The Dallas Morning News and had previous stints at the Austin American-Statesman and the Los Angeles Times. In 2021, he was a finalist for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Local Reporting for his coverage of Texas politics during the COVID-19 pandemic. James was selected as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in 2023-24. A Southern California native, James received his bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA. He is based in Austin and is a native Spanish speaker. Read Articles by James Barragán

Morgan Bennett

Accounts Receivable Specialist

Email mbennett@texastribune.org

Morgan Bennett is the Texas Tribune's accounts receivable specialist, organizing the Tribune's revenue streams and providing general operational support. They are a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where they became interested in nonprofit operations through their work with various student and community organizations. Before joining the Tribune in 2019, they previously worked at their hometown newspaper, the Colorado County Citizen.

Melissa Brooks

Advertising Operations Specialist

Email Melissa.brooks@texastribune.com

Melissa Brooks manages advertising operations at The Texas Tribune. Before joining the Tribune in the fall of 2024, she worked as a software engineer and taught software development to students all over the world online.

Ellen Burris

Director of Festival and Events

Email ellen.burris@texastribune.org

Ellen Burris was hired in spring 2023 to direct The Texas Tribune Festival, bringing with her 20 years of event production experience. Based in Austin, she worked on the production team at SXSW for 17 years where she served as head of production for the last seven of those years. In November of 2021, Ellen joined Beto O'Rourke's gubernatorial campaign as events manager. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Zoology, specializing in Entomology. She continues to enjoy turning over rocks to look for bugs in her spare time.

Darla Cameron

Interim Chief Product Officer

Darla Cameron is the interim chief product officer at The Texas Tribune. She guides product development and management, engineering and design, working closely across the organization to deliver the Tribune’s journalism in fresh and innovative ways that build trust with more Texans. Before May 2024, Darla was the managing editor for visual journalism, overseeing the work of the photo, multimedia and data visuals teams. Previously, she was the data visuals editor, leading a team of developers at the intersection of graphics and news applications. Before moving to Texas, Darla worked at The Washington Post and the Tampa Bay Times. She is a Colorado native with a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. She also serves on the board of Investigative Reporters and Editors.

James Canup

Senior Major Gifts Officer

James Canup joined the Tribune in 2024 as a senior major gifts officer. James has worked as a fundraiser and nonprofit leader in Austin for more than 25 years, including at the Texas Observer, the American Red Cross, and the ACLU of Texas. A proud Longhorn, James is from Dallas with deep roots in Rockwall County.

Julie Chang

Health and Human Services Editor

Julie Chang is an award-winning journalist overseeing coverage of the most pressing health policy impacts on Texans. She started her career at the Beaumont Enterprise and continued at the Austin American-Statesman, where she spent eight years. Her beats have included crime, education, social services and investigations. Prior to joining the Texas Tribune, Julie served as the managing editor of County magazine, a publication of the Texas Association of Counties. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Texas at Austin. Born and raised in Houston, Julie can speak Mandarin.

Natalie Choate

Chief Operating Officer

Email nchoate@texastribune.org

Natalie Choate is the Chief Operating Officer at The Texas Tribune. She holds a degree in Government and a certification in Ethics and Leadership from The University of Texas at Austin. She is responsible for organizational strategy, strategic planning and other aspects of business operations. Natalie started at the Tribune in 2011 and has served in multiple capacities during her tenure including Assistant Director of Development, Director of Media Relations and Partnerships and Chief Communications Officer. Previously, she worked in public policy, campaigns and political fundraising. She is also a small business owner and entrepreneur. Her family opened Plateau Brewing Co., a local brewery located in West Texas, in 2021.

Matthew Choi

Washington Correspondent

Matthew Choi is a Washington correspondent for The Texas Tribune. He previously covered energy and climate policy at Politico, where he wrote the Morning Energy newsletter and covered campaign events as a breaking news reporter during the 2020 presidential election and the Mueller investigation. Before joining Politico, Matthew was a two-time reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune based in Austin, reporting on education, health care, immigration, guns, agriculture and land management. He graduated from Northwestern University where he studied journalism and political science and was managing editor of The Daily Northwestern. Matthew is a native of Northern Virginia and speaks both French and English. In his free time, Matthew enjoys cooking French country food while listening to Simon and Garfunkel. Read Articles by Matthew Choi

Lexi Churchill

Research Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit

Lexi Churchill was most recently a Scripps Howard research fellow at ProPublica, where she published an investigation exposing how the Trump administration’s quick and quiet crackdown on Idaho’s Medicaid procedures created new red tape that kept children with special needs and the state’s poorest residents from maintaining insurance. She also led reporting efforts for the “Sins of Omission” project and has been involved in ProPublica's coronavirus coverage over the last few weeks. Before joining ProPublica, Lexi interned at several organizations, including CNBC and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lexi will report to Katie Zavadski, the research editor at ProPublica. Read Articles by Lexi Churchill

Natalia Contreras

Votebeat Texas Reporter

Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with The Texas Tribune. She has covered a range of topics as a community journalist including local government, public safety, immigration and social issues. Natalia previously reported for the Austin American-Statesman, focusing on impacts of government policies on communities of color. Natalia previously worked at the Indianapolis Star, where she helped launch the first Spanish-language newsletter, and at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas in Mexico and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is based in Corpus Christi. Read Articles by Natalia Contreras

Vianna Davila

Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit

Vianna Davila is a reporter with the ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit. Previously, she was the editor of The Seattle Times’ Project Homeless initiative, which examines the causes and effects of homelessness in the Seattle region. She began with the project in 2017 as a reporter, before becoming editor in 2019. Her work with the team was recognized by the Solutions Journalism Network as some of the best solutions reporting of 2018. She previously reported for the San Antonio Express-News, where over 13 years she produced stories on city politics, regional transportation and criminal justice. Her six-part project “The Next Million” explored gentrification, affordable housing, changing demographics and other urban issues in San Antonio, winning the Best of the West 2017 Journalism Contest for online presentation. She graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in English and master’s of journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, with a specialty in documentary film. Her master’s thesis film, “In His Blood,” about the lives of overnight television news videographers, was named the best documentary short at the 2009 San Antonio Film Festival. She has previously taught journalism at the University of Washington, Texas State University and Texas A&M University-San Antonio. She is a San Antonio native and a 10th-generation Texan. She is based in Austin. (Photo: Bettina Hansen, The Seattle Times) Read Articles by Vianna Davila

Zach Despart

Politics Reporter

Zach Despart is a politics reporter for The Texas Tribune. He investigates power — who wields it, how and to what ends — through the lens of Texas government. He has extensively covered the Uvalde school shooting, including a groundbreaking investigation on the role the gunman’s rifle played in the disastrous police response. He previously covered Harris County for the Houston Chronicle, where he reported on corruption, elections, disaster preparedness and the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. An upstate New York native, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and film from the University of Vermont. Read Articles by Zach Despart

Sneha Dey

Reporter, Pathways from Education to Employment

Sneha Dey is an education reporter for The Texas Tribune. She covers pathways from education to employment and the accessibility of postsecondary education in Texas, with an eye on college readiness, community colleges and career and technical training. Prior to joining the Tribune, she had stints at NPR’s Education Desk and Chalkbeat. Sneha is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She grew up in New York and is based in Austin. Read Articles by Sneha Dey

Erin Diehl

Executive Assistant

Email erin.diehl@texastribune.org

Erin Diehl is an executive assistant at The Texas Tribune based in Austin. She is passionate about public policy and civic engagement. Erin holds a bachelor's degree in international studies from Texas A&M University. She began her career in the Texas Legislature, gaining experience in schedule management and constituent services. Before joining the Tribune in 2024, she worked in the City of Dallas' Office of Environmental Quality & Sustainability, coordinating operations for the Environmental Commission. In her free time, Erin enjoys spending time with friends and family, being outdoors, and keeping up with the antics of her cat, Chuy.

Briannah Dilworth

Fellow

Email briannah.dilworth@texastribune.org

Briannah Dilworth was born in Amarillo and raised in Houston. She is a senior at Texas Southern University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a concentration in advertising and public relations. Briannah has served as TSU’s School of Communication and as the aide of marketing and communication to the associate vice president. She previously interned at Civil Society as the communication and media manager.

Robert Downen

Democracy Reporter

Robert Downen is a reporter covering democracy and the threats to it, including extremism, disinformation and conspiracies. Before joining the Tribune in 2022, he worked for five years at the Houston Chronicle. As a Hearst Media fellow, he developed what would become "Abuse of Faith," a landmark investigation into child sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention that prompted a Department of Justice investigation. Before coming to Texas, Robert was a business reporter in New York's capital region, and the managing editor of six newspapers in his home state of Illinois. He is a 2014 graduate of Eastern Illinois University. Read Articles by Robert Downen

Renzo Downey

Lead Writer, The Blast

Renzo Downey is the lead writer of The Blast, The Texas Tribune’s premium politics newsletter. Prior to joining the Tribune in February 2023, he worked as a state government and politics reporter and a newsletter editor for Florida Politics. He was previously an intern on the state desk at the Austin American-Statesman. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Renzo received his bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from Northwestern University. Read Articles by Renzo Downey

Laura Duclos

Audience Producer

Laura Duclos joined the Tribune in 2024 as an audience producer specializing in video. She writes the Monday edition of The Brief, the Tribune’s daily newsletter. Laura began her journalism career as a photojournalist for a Lubbock TV station after graduating from Texas Tech University. She then earned a master's from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, where she worked for NBC News and French-based Brut. Media after graduating. Laura became the first multimedia producer at the Houston Chronicle in 2020 and worked with the Poynter Institute’s media literacy program, MediaWise, as an audience editor and creative director. Her goals are to encourage young Texans to stay current with the news and participate in democracy. In her free time, Laura enjoys playing and writing music, hanging out with her dog and rock climbing.

Jaden Edison

Public Education Reporter

Jaden Edison is the public education reporter for The Texas Tribune, where he previously worked as a reporting fellow in summer 2022. Before returning to the Tribune full time, he served as the justice reporter for The Connecticut Mirror, another nonprofit newsroom covering government, politics and public policy. He also interned at Poynter, a nonprofit media institute. Jaden has a master's degree from the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, where he was editor-in-chief of the The University Star, the campus' student-run newspaper. Read Articles by Jaden Edison

Chris Essig

Data Visuals Editor

Chris Essig is the data visuals editor at The Texas Tribune. Based in Austin, he leads a team of developers who build charts, maintain public databases and analyze data to help reporters hold elected officials accountable. Chris has been a newsroom developer for 10 years and has worked in several local newsrooms. As a native of the Midwest, Chris received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and spent six years in Iowa working at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids and at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in Waterloo. Read Articles by Chris Essig

Matt Ewalt

Senior Director of Events and Live Journalism

Email matt.ewalt@texastribune.org

Matt Ewalt joined The Texas Tribune as senior director of events and live journalism in March 2023. He previously worked at Chautauqua Institution in Western New York in various roles, including vice president and Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education and editor of The Chautauquan Daily. Serving alongside the Tribune's events team, Matt is responsible for the strategic vision and execution of the Tribune’s live journalism, which includes The Texas Tribune Festival and year-round events across Texas aimed at fostering civic engagement and democratic participation. He lives in Austin.

Joshua Fechter

Urban Affairs Reporter

Joshua Fechter is the Dallas-based urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, housing and property taxes, evictions, policing and transportation — and politics in Texas' major metropolitan areas. Before joining the Tribune in August 2021, Joshua covered City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. Read Articles by Joshua Fechter

Brandon Formby

Managing Editor for News and State Affairs

Brandon Formby works with The Texas Tribune’s beat editors and reporters to bring Texans the news, analysis and explanatory journalism they need to put pressing issues into perspective. Previously, as an editor on the news desk, he helped steer coverage of legislative sessions, natural disasters, prolonged power outages, mass shootings and the coronavirus pandemic. As a reporter, he covered urban affairs. Before joining the Tribune in 2016, he reported on transportation, politics and local government for The Dallas Morning News. Brandon grew up in Plano and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas Tech University. He is based in Austin. Read Articles by Brandon Formby

Emily Foxhall

Climate Reporter

Emily Foxhall is The Texas Tribune's climate reporter. She joined the Tribune as an energy reporter in December 2022, focused on the state’s transition to green energy, the reliability of the power grid and the environmental impact of electricity generation. Emily is based in Houston, where she grew up. After a stint as a Tribune student intern in 2012, she began her career at the Los Angeles Times and its community papers. She later worked at the Houston Chronicle where her environmental reporting uncovered the effects of climate change and pollution on the region. She won several Texas Managing Editors awards and was part of the 2017 team that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of Hurricane Harvey. Emily graduated from Yale University in 2013, where she studied English and was a Yale Journalism Scholar. Read Articles by Emily Foxhall

Berenice Garcia

Rio Grande Valley Reporter

Berenice Garcia is a regional reporter covering the Rio Grande Valley. She works at the Tribune as a corps members with Report for America. She previously covered local government, crime, healthcare and general assignments for The Monitor in McAllen where she was born. Though she's spent the majority of her life in the Valley, she traveled east to attend New York University where she studied journalism and politics. While there, she interned at the New York Daily News, the Daily Beast and NBC News. When she’s not working, she enjoys fighting for her life at the gym. Berenice is based in McAllen. Read Articles by Berenice Garcia

Nic Garcia

Regions Editor

Nic Garcia is a proud Colorado native who fell in love with Texas. Born in Pueblo, he studied journalism at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. Nic began his professional journalism career at Out Front, a Denver-based magazine that is one of the oldest LGBTQ news organizations in the U.S. He went on to work as a reporter and editor at Chalkbeat, The Denver Post and The Dallas Morning News. Most recently, he was the politics editor at The Des Moines Register. Nic lives in Dallas and travels throughout the state as regions editor, overseeing reporters based in Lubbock, Lufkin, Odessa and McAllen. Read Articles by Nic Garcia

Uriel J. García

Immigration Reporter

Uriel J. García is an immigration reporter based in El Paso. Before joining the Tribune in 2021, he worked at the Arizona Republic where he covered police violence and immigration enforcement. He started his journalism career at the Santa Fe New Mexican where he covered the city's immigrant community and criminal justice issues. Originally from Mexico and a native Spanish speaker, Uriel grew up in Phoenix and graduated from Arizona State University. Read Articles by Uriel J. García

Eddie Gaspar

Photo Editor

Eddie Gaspar is a photo editor at The Texas Tribune. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Eddie was previously a photography fellow at the Tribune, a photo editor at The Daily Texan and a multimedia intern at KUT/KUTX. They are a native Spanish speaker from the Rio Grande Valley and currently based in Austin. Read Articles by Eddie Gaspar

Genevieve Genest

Development Director

Email genevieve.genest@texastribune.org

Genevieve Genest joined The Texas Tribune in 2024 as the development director. She brings over seven years of nonprofit development experience to her role helping guide the Tribune's fundraising processes, strategies and initiatives. She was born and raised in Houston and has lived in Austin since 2022. Genevieve has a bachelor's degree in geoscience from Texas A&M University and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Houston. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, baking and spending time in the great outdoors.

Catherine Grooms

Advertising Operations Manager

Email cgrooms@texastribune.org

Catherine Grooms manages advertising operations at The Texas Tribune. Before joining the Tribune in the fall of 2017, she worked as a clothing designer in New York, where she also attended Parsons School of Design. As a native Austinite, she is glad to be back in her hometown.

Kayla Guo

Climate Reporter

Kayla Guo covers climate and energy for The Texas Tribune. She was previously a general assignment reporter. Before joining The Tribune, she covered Congress for The New York Times as a reporting fellow based in Washington, D.C. Kayla has also covered transportation policy for Politico and local news for The Raleigh News & Observer, and she was a part-time digital producer for The Boston Globe. She graduated in 2022 from Brown University, where she studied public policy and served as editor-in-chief and president of the independent student newspaper. She was born and raised on Long Island, New York. She is based in Austin. Read Articles by Kayla Guo

Dave Harmon

Environment, Energy and Immigration Editor

Dave Harmon joined the Tribune in 2017 after spending 18 years at the Austin American-Statesman as a reporter, assistant metro editor and member of the investigative team. A Kalamazoo, Michigan, native, Dave moved to Texas with his family in 1981 and went to high school in Katy. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a journalism degree, he started his reporting career in the Rio Grande Valley at The (McAllen) Monitor, covering health care and the environment on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border. Dave lives in Austin, is a proud Longhorns fan and taught journalism at his alma mater as an adjunct instructor for more than a decade. He’s proficient in Spanish and travels frequently to Mexico. Read Articles by Dave Harmon

Eli Hartman

Staff Photographer

Eli Hartman is a 2023-2024 Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellow on the Tribune's photography team. A native of the Permian Basin, Eli grew up in Midland before beginning his journalism career at the Odessa American. In 2022, Eli moved to Central Texas to return to school at Texas State University, working toward a bachelor's degree in photography. Read Articles by Eli Hartman

Ashley Hebler

Engineering Manager

Ashley Hebler is the engineering manager at The Texas Tribune and enjoys implementing engaging and meaningful experiences for users on the web. She received a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics at Texas A&M University and a master's degree in mass communication with a focus on digital media from Texas State University. Ashley is a native Texan from Galveston and enjoys navigating the beautiful rivers of the Texas Hill Country.

Sean Hennigan

Marketing and Communications Manager

Email sean.hennigan@texastribune.org

Sean Hennigan started with the Tribune in early 2023 as a copywriter. He previously worked as communications director for Texas Impact, where he developed a love for the state and the public policy process, and as communications specialist with Abilene Christian University, where he fostered engagement between alumni and the university through impactful storytelling. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and religious studies from Centenary College of Louisiana and a master’s degree in media studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Born and raised in north Louisiana, Sean and his family live and work in Abilene.

April Hinkle

Chief Revenue Officer

April Hinkle is The Texas Tribune's chief revenue officer. She holds an advertising degree from the University of Texas and is responsible for the Tribune’s corporate revenue programs, speakers’ bureau and licensing of content. Previously April spent over 20 years at Texas Monthly, as retail advertising director, advertising and marketing director, associate publisher and publisher.

Pu Ying Huang

Director of Photography

Pu Ying Huang leads The Texas Tribune's photo team and is based in central Texas. Pu started working for the Tribune as a freelancer in 2017, chronicling Hurricane Harvey’s catastrophic flooding in Houston. Soon after, Pu moved to Bogotá, Colombia, where she honed her Spanish and created a moving body of work on the plight of migrants who have fled the decadelong economic and political crisis in Venezuela. During the tumultuous year of 2020, Pu photographed an encampment of asylum-seekers in Matamoros, Mexico, and protests in Houston that followed the murder of George Floyd. Her work has appeared in many outlets, including Reuters, Al Jazeera English, VICE, ProPublica, NBC News and NPR. Read Articles by Pu Ying Huang

Jess Huff

East Texas Reporter

Jess Huff joined the Tribune in 2023 and is based in Lufkin, Texas. She grew up in Utah and has also lived in Arizona and the Netherlands. Her latest adventure brought her to East Texas where she worked for The Lufkin Daily News, leading the publication to numerous awards for investigative reporting in the region. Jess attended Northern Arizona University on a debate scholarship and fell in love with the journalism program after a course on alternative storytelling devices. Her work has been published in the Arizona Daily Sun, The Associated Press, The Lufkin Daily News, Capital & Main and a number of local outlets across Texas. Read Articles by Jess Huff

Emily Iazzetti

Membership Manager

Email emily.iazzetti@texastribune.org

Emily Iazzetti joined The Texas Tribune at the end of 2023 and oversees the membership program. Emily lived in Waco for many years, where she was a lecturer in the journalism, public relations and new media department at Baylor University and a morning news anchor on KWTX-TV. She graduated from the University of Missouri where she majored in broadcast journalism and she earned a master’s degree in information systems from Baylor University. Emily is a native Texan and long-time reader of the Tribune. She and her family now call Austin home.

John Jordan

Deputy Director of Photography

John Jordan is the deputy director of photography, part of the team that ensures our stories are graced with arresting visuals. Based in Austin, John grew up in South America and has managed to hang on to some Spanish. A lifelong musician, John switched careers at the age of 50, working for the Austin bureau of The Dallas Morning News for four years before joining the Tribune in early 2012. Read Articles by John Jordan

Dan Keemahill

DATA REPORTER, PROPUBLICA/TEXAS TRIBUNE INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

Dan Keemahill gathers and analyzes data for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative unit, a role he started in spring 2023. A native of Sacramento, Dan is a graduate of Northwestern University and started his journalism career as a contributor to the Tribune's schools and government salaries explorers. He previously worked with datasets related to immigrant detention centers, elections and the COVID-19 pandemic as a data journalist at USA Today and created data visualizations for the Austin American-Statesman. Read Articles by Dan Keemahill

Ryan Kim

Product Manager

Email ryan.kim@texastribune.org

Ryan Kim is the product manager, responsible for guiding organizational priorities, processes and cross-team collaborations. Before joining the Tribune in 2024, he oversaw growth and lifecycle strategy at Foreign Policy, where he grew the magazine’s subscription products and led engagement and acquisition campaigns. Ryan has a diverse news and media background, including work as a local news consultant and internships at CalMatters, Foreign Affairs and Madison Square Garden. A New York City native, Ryan holds a master’s degree in media innovation and content strategy and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from Northwestern University.

Eleanor Klibanoff

Women's Health Reporter

Eleanor Klibanoff is the women’s health reporter, based in Austin, where she covers abortion, maternal health care, gender-based violence and LGBTQ issues, among other topics. She started with the Tribune in 2021, and was previously with the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting in Louisville, where she reported, produced and hosted the Peabody-nominated podcast, “Dig.” Eleanor has worked at public radio stations in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Missouri, as well as NPR, and her work has aired on “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition” and “Here & Now.” She is conversational in Spanish. Eleanor was born in Philadelphia and raised in Atlanta, and attended The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Read Articles by Eleanor Klibanoff

Lomi Kriel

Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit

Lomi Kriel is a reporter with the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative unit. Previously she was a reporter at the Houston Chronicle covering immigration, often focused on the Texas border. Six months before the Trump administration announced its family separation policy, Kriel uncovered how the government was secretly using the prosecution of illegal entry to detain parents until deportation and send children to federal shelters. Her stories resulted in the release of one mother and helped spur a pivotal American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit largely ending the practice. She received the 2019 George Polk Award for national reporting, in part for her continued work on family separations. Kriel, who was born and raised in South Africa, immigrated to the United States in 1998. She has also worked as a Central American correspondent for Thomson Reuters and a criminal justice reporter for the San Antonio Express-News. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University and speaks Afrikaans and Spanish. Read Articles by Lomi Kriel

Evan Lambert

Chief Financial Officer

Email elambert@texastribune.org

Evan Lambert joined the Tribune in October 2019 as chief financial officer. He brings a diverse background and experience in nonprofit financial management, international development, microfinance and public accounting. His previous experience includes working as the CFO of United Way for Greater Austin and as CFO of Pro Mujer International, a New York-based international development org serving more than 250,000 women in Latin America. A native of New York, Evan has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the McCombs School of Business at UT-Austin. He’s a father of two, a Peace Corps alum, an avid cyclist and outdoorsman, and fluent in Spanish.

Terri Langford

Health and Human Services Reporter

Terri Langford is the Tribune's health and human services reporter based in Austin. Langford is a veteran journalist, having worked at the Florida Times Union, The Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, WNYC, Honolulu Civil Beat and Texas Standard/KUT. Langford has a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin. She has covered various city and state agencies, criminal justice and health and human services for the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Associated Press, WNYC and Texas Standard at KUT. Read Articles by Terri Langford

Jayme Lozano Carver

Reporter/South Plains and Panhandle

Jayme Lozano Carver is the Tribune’s first Lubbock-based reporter, covering the South Plains and Panhandle through a partnership with Report for America. Jayme previously worked for Texas Tech Public Media, Lubbock’s NPR station, where she spearheaded “Rural Healthcare: The Other Texas Drought,” a series for PBS’ “Frontline” on rural hospital closures in Texas. She also covered a broad range of topics for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, including climate change, agriculture, entertainment and health care. Born in Levelland, Jayme is a native of the South Plains area and studied at South Plains College and Texas Tech University. She loves to talk about her cats, horror movies and pro wrestling. Read Articles by Jayme Lozano Carver

Alejandra Martinez

Environmental Reporter

Alejandra Martinez is a Fort Worth-based environmental reporter. She’s covered the impacts of petrochemical facilities on Black and brown communities, including investigating a chemical fire at an industrial complex and how the state's air monitoring system has failed Latino communities. Her work on climate change includes exploring the health effects of extreme heat and how extended droughts affect water resources. Before joining the Tribune in 2022, Alejandra was an accountability reporter at KERA, where she began as a Report for America Corps Member and then covered Dallas City Hall. She also has worked as an associate producer at WLRN in South Florida. A Houston native, Alejandra studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and speaks fluent Spanish. Read Articles by Alejandra Martinez

Natalie Martinez

Social Media Editor

Natalie Martinez is the social media editor at The Texas Tribune. Previously, she researched and reported on misinformation campaigns on social media and tech platforms for Media Matters for America and MoveOn. Natalie graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2017 with a B.A. in American Culture Studies and Film & Media Studies.

Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera

Education and Urban Affairs Editor

Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera is the education and urban affairs editor. He came to the Tribune in 2021 and is based in Austin. Alejandro previously worked as a digital editor at KUT.org, breaking news editor at the Austin American-Statesman and content editor at The University of Texas' Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. He has also worked as a reporter for several English- and Spanish-language publications covering the U.S.-Mexico border, drug violence, immigration, technology and public safety. Alejandro is a native Spanish speaker and grew up in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The University of Texas at Austin and has impossibly high standards when it comes to tacos al pastor. Read Articles by Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera

Matthew McCrary

Senior Full-Stack Engineer

Kate McGee

Higher Education Reporter

Kate McGee covers higher education for The Texas Tribune. She joined the Tribune in October 2020 after nearly a decade as a reporter at public radio stations across the country, including in Chicago, Washington D.C., Austin, Reno, Nev. and New York. Kate was born in New York City and primarily raised in New Jersey. She earned her bachelor's degree from Fordham University. Her work has appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Here and Now, and The Takeaway. She is based in Austin. Read Articles by Kate McGee

Laura McReavy Hearnsberger

Data Analyst

Email laura.hearnsberger@texastribune.org

Laura McReavy Hearnsberger is the data analyst at The Texas Tribune. She leads our data and analytics strategy, supports the staff with data-informed insights and helps define and track big goals. She has a background in both data analysis and journalism education. As a consultant, she has worked with high-growth startups, public education policymakers and political campaigns. As a former public school educator, she loves communicating and teaching new concepts. And as a technology and innovation coordinator for school districts, she has delivered scores of reports and dashboards, consistently adapting to new roles and challenges. Laura earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Texas State University, a master’s of education in educational technology leadership from Lamar University and a doctorate of education in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University. She is based in New Braunfels.

María Méndez

Service and Engagement Reporter

María Méndez works on efforts to better connect with Texans and writes explainers and guides. She strives to answer Texans' questions about politics and public policy and to help them find resources. Previously, she reported on public education at the Austin American-Statesman, border and business issues at Texas Public Radio and politics and breaking news at The Dallas Morning News. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, interned at The Texas Tribune as an engagement fellow and worked for The Daily Texan, UT’s student newspaper. She was born in Mexico, grew up in Austin and speaks Spanish. She is based in Austin. Read Articles by María Méndez

Ayan Mittra

Senior Managing Editor

Ayan Mittra is the senior managing editor at The Texas Tribune. Ayan joined the Tribune after working more than 10 years at The Dallas Morning News and has built expertise in Texas politics. He spent his first seven years there as a copy editor. In 2008, he moved to the political desk, supervising the daily presentations and working with reporters in the field. He then worked as a night city editor, supervising the coverage of late-breaking news. He was also on the editing team for the 2009 and 2011 legislative sessions. A native of Beaumont, Ayan graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He is based in the Austin area. Read Articles by Ayan Mittra

Carlos Nogueras Ramos

Permian Basin Reporter

Carlos Nogueras Ramos is a regional reporter based in Odessa. Carlos joined The Texas Tribune in 2023 as a corps member with Report for America. Carlos tells the stories of Texas from the vast energy-rich Permian Basin region. Before the Tribune, Carlos spent time in Philadelphia writing about local politics, including the city’s 100th mayoral election. A Spanish speaker, Carlos was one of the few Latino reporters on the campaign trail, covering the most expensive primary election to date in Philly. He is a proud Puerto Rico native, born and raised in Cayey. He studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston and the University of Puerto Rico. Read Articles by Carlos Nogueras Ramos

Isabela Ocampo Restrepo

Fellow

Isabela Ocampo Restrepo is an engagement fellow who works on the Audience team to find creative ways to interact with the Tribune’s readers. She previously was an audience engagement intern at the Austin American-Statesman and a social media intern for the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. She was raised in Medellin, Colombia, speaks Spanish and English fluently, and is getting her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. Read Articles by Isabela Ocampo Restrepo

Alfredo Palacios

Graphic Designer

Email alfredo.palacios@texastribune.com

Alfredo Palacios is a graphic designer at The Texas Tribune. He works closely with the events and festival teams to produce their visual assets. Prior to joining our design team, he was the content marketing and design intern at AQUILA Commercial. Alfredo graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos with a degree in communication design. Outside of work, Alfredo enjoys photography and painting.

Jonathan Peacher

Full-stack Engineer

Email djpeacher@texastribune.org

Jonathan Peacher is a full-stack engineer at The Texas Tribune. He received a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the Tribune, he was an engineer for his alma mater, where he developed web applications to help broaden participation in computing among K-12 teachers and students. He enjoys going on long hikes with his fiancée and playing board games, at least when none of their four cats are running across the table.

Jessica Priest

Engagement Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune Investigative Unit

Jessica Priest is an engagement reporter on The Texas Tribune/ProPublica Investigative Initiative. She’s previously worked for the Fort Worth Report, USA TODAY out of the Austin-American Statesman newsroom, the Victoria Advocate and the Temple Daily Telegram. She is a Texan whose work has often made an impact — be it local officials in Victoria pursuing funding for mental health after she highlighted a gap in services or the state’s highest criminal court granting a death row inmate a new trial after she detailed a prosecutor’s conflicts of interest. Jessica also has experience reporting on local government and the environment. After she exposed questionable hirings and payments at a port and later a water district in another part of the state, both public entities underwent reforms. After she showed the effects of companies’ air and water pollution on the Gulf Coast, residents organized and regulators took action. Read Articles by Jessica Priest

Kerri Qunell

Director of Marketing and Communications

Email kerri.qunell@texastribune.org

Kerri Qunell joined the Tribune in spring of 2023 as the director of marketing and communications, leading the mar-com team to amplify the Tribune's brand, products, journalism and events. As a marketing communications leader with extensive experience in brand building, organizational leadership, strategy and civic engagement, she’s served on and led teams in broadcast media, non-profit and education companies. A lifelong Central Texan, Kerri earned a journalism degree at Texas State University and master’s in organizational leadership and ethics at St. Edward’s University.

Rob Reid

Education Data Developer

Email rob.reid@texastribune.org

Rob Reid is the Tribune's education data developer. He started in 2024 after completing Columbia University’s Lede Program for Data Journalism. He previously supported the investigative reporting program at Northwestern University's Medill School as a data consultant and contributing reporter and also completed a data journalism internship at the Jacksonville Tributary in Florida. A strong believer in the importance of community, he developed case management databases with Healthy Families America for over two decades before entering the journalism field. Rob grew up in southeastern Massachusetts, raised by parents who grumbled about the declining quality of local papers but read them anyway. First attending an otherwise-excellent public school that slashed its school newspaper, he then completed an undergraduate engineering degree at Cornell University. He is based in Austin.

Ayden Runnels

Ayden Runnels is the Afternoon/Evening Reporter. Previously, they were a breaking news reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. A graduate of the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas, Ayden was a Dallas Press Club Foundation reporting fellow at the Tribune in 2023. They were born in the Houston suburb of Clear Lake and speak English and Arabic. They served as editor-in-chief of the North Texas Daily, UNT's student-run newspaper, and have worked on freelance projects for Newsweek and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Pooja Salhotra

General Assignment Reporter

Pooja Salhotra joined the Tribune in 2022 as its first-ever East Texas reporter based in Lufkin, where she covered a vast region that borders three states and stretches north to Texarkana and south to Beaumont. In late 2023, she relocated to Austin as a general assignment reporter to cover issues ranging from breaking news to developments in state agencies. Pooja was born and raised in the Houston area and graduated from Yale University. She also holds a master’s in fine arts from NYU’s journalism school. Read Articles by Pooja Salhotra

Juan Salinas II

Reporting Fellow

Juan Salinas II is a reporting fellow based in Arlington. He is a senior at the University of Texas at Arlington majoring in journalism and a transfer student from Tarrant County College, where he worked at the student newspaper, The Collegian. As an intern at public radio station KERA, he covered state politics and local governments, and he was a year-long reporting fellow at the Fort Worth Report. Juan was born and raised in the North Side neighborhood of Fort Worth. Read Articles by Juan Salinas II

Sandra Santos

Afternoon/Evening News Editor

Sandra Santos joined the Tribune as afternoon/evening news editor in 2024. Before joining the Tribune, she worked at various news publications, including as an editor at the San Antonio Express-News, the Austin American-Statesman as an editor and a news designer and at the Houston Chronicle (twice) as a Chron.com night editor, copy messenger and copy desk intern. Sandra graduated from the University of Houston as a journalism major.

Jasper Scherer

Politics Reporter

Jasper Scherer is a politics reporter for The Texas Tribune. He previously covered Texas politics and government for Hearst Newspapers' Austin bureau, which he joined after stints covering City Hall for the Houston Chronicle and Bexar County for the San Antonio Express-News. A native of San Francisco, Jasper graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in journalism and political science. He is based in Austin. Read Articles by Jasper Scherer

Yuriko Schumacher

Designer/Developer

Yuriko Schumacher joined the Tribune as a news app and data visuals designer/developer in 2022 after earning a master’s degree in journalism at Northeastern University. Previously, Yuriko interned with the Wall Street Journal’s graphics team and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s data team where she produced graphics and interactive experiences. She grew up in Osaka, Japan, and used to work as a crime reporter at the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. She is based in Austin and speaks fluent Japanese. Read Articles by Yuriko Schumacher

Jeremy Schwartz

Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit

Jeremy Schwartz has been an investigative reporter in Texas for nearly a decade, covering issues including voting rights and border security for the Austin American-Statesman and USA Today Network. His work has resulted in the overhaul of Texas' inspection process for farmworker housing, sparked Congressional investigations of a failed Department of Veterans Affairs research program and uncovered misleading border arrest and drug seizure statistics maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Schwartz won the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' Latino Issues award for his 2017 investigation into the political underrepresentation of Latinos in Texas cities and counties, and the Headliners Foundation of Texas Reporter of the Year award, among other honors. He previously served as Cox Newspapers' Latin America correspondent in Mexico City from 2005 to 2009, and before that, he covered the U.S. Border Patrol and immigration at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He is based in Austin. Read Articles by Jeremy Schwartz

Alejandro Serrano

General Assignment Reporter

Alejandro Serrano is a general assignment reporter for The Texas Tribune. Before joining the Tribune in the fall of 2022, he reported on a variety of topics for the Houston Chronicle, including education and the Houston Independent School District. The Long Island, New York native received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Northeastern University. He is based in Houston and speaks fluent Spanish. Read Articles by Alejandro Serrano

Sonal Shah

Chief Executive Officer

Sonal Shah is the chief executive officer at The Texas Tribune. She has started and led social impact efforts in academia, government, and the private and philanthropic sectors for over 25 years. Previously, she served as interim executive vice president at United Way Worldwide. Sonal founded The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) in Houston and founded and led Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation. Her background in government and policy include leading the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the Obama administration, serving as an international economist at the Department of the Treasury, and as policy director for Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign. In the private sector, Sonal led Goldman Sachs' environmental strategy and Google's global technology and impact investment initiatives. Sonal grew up in Houston, earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and an M.A. in economics from Duke University.

Stephen Simpson

Mental Health Reporter

Stephen Simpson is the mental health reporter, based in Austin, where he covers behavioral health in schools, treatment in the judicial system, substance abuse and the state mental health system, among other topics. He previously worked in his home state of Arkansas as a politics reporter, where he covered the state's Supreme Court, House of Representatives and correctional system for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Stephen's earliest career experiences include reporting and copy editing at The Jonesboro Sun and The Pine Bluff Commercial. He earned a degree in online and print journalism with a minor in filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas. Read Articles by Stephen Simpson

Chris Svoboda

Audio/Visual engineer

Email chris.svoboda@texastribune.org

Chris Svoboda is the audio/visual engineer at The Texas Tribune. After receiving a BFA in Animation & Illustration from SUNY Fredonia in 2009, Chris worked as freelance visual artist/film maker in the Buffalo, NY area till 2015. There he worked on projects ranging from commercial graphic design, web design, and poster art, to short films, music videos, and interactive video installations. In early 2015 he was offered work out west in New Mexico in the independent film industry. After relocating he worked on short films and feature length films with a focus on camera department and post production. In mid-2016 Chris relocated to Austin, where he worked his way up the ranks in the live audio-visual industry. For six years he worked as a lead video technician and technical director for live corporate events. Chris also likes to record music and create visual art like drawing, painting, and video art. When he’s not doing any of these things, you might find him out on a hike around Austin with his Catahoula Leopard Dog, Enzo.

Suraj Thapa

Machine Learning Engineer

Email suraj.thapa@texastribune.org

Suraj Thapa is The Texas Tribune's machine learning engineer. He was born and raised in Nepal and is currently based in Idaho. He completed an undergraduate degree in economics at the University of Idaho and a master's in global economic affairs from the University of Denver. Suraj, who joined the Tribune in November 2022, has worked as a data engineer and a developer in the past, and he's passionate about computational social science and using technology in the civic and nonprofit sectors. He's an avid soccer fan and likes to spend his free time working on personal projects and being active. Suraj is fluent in Nepali and Hindi, as well as English.

Zahira Torres

Senior Editor, ProPublica/Texas Tribune Investigative Unit

Zahira Torres is the editor for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative unit, a first-of-its-kind collaboration to publish investigative reporting for and about Texas. Prior to joining the unit, Torres was a senior editor with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network where she worked with reporters in local and regional newsrooms on investigative projects. A native of El Paso, Texas, Torres was the first Latina and second woman to serve as the newspaper’s editor in its more than 100-year history. While at the El Paso Times, Torres also served as enterprise editor for the USA Today Network’s Texas/New Mexico newspapers. She was part of a team that developed and edited “The Wall: Untold Stories, Unintended Consequences,” which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. Torres began her career at the Times as a news clerk while attending the University of Texas at El Paso. She later became the Austin bureau chief for the newspaper. During that time, she worked to uncover a cheating scheme at the El Paso Independent School District — the city’s largest — that denied many El Paso children the right to a proper education. She later became an education reporter for the Denver Post and Los Angeles Times before returning to her Texas roots. She is based in El Paso. Read Articles by Zahira Torres

Perla Trevizo

Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit

Perla Trevizo is a Mexican-American reporter born in Ciudad Juárez and raised across the border in El Paso, Texas, where she began her journalism career. Trevizo spent more than 10 years covering immigration and border issues in Tennessee and Arizona before joining the Houston Chronicle as an environmental reporter. She has written from nearly a dozen countries, from African refugee camps to remote Guatemalan villages, with the goal of broadening readers’ understanding of the global issues that impact the local communities where she has worked. Her work has earned her national and state awards including the Dori J. Maynard Award for Diversity in Journalism, French-American Foundation Immigration Journalism Award, and a national Edward R. Murrow for a story done in collaboration with Arizona Public Media. She was also honored as the 2019 Arizona Journalist of the Year by the Arizona Newspaper Association. She is based in El Paso. Read Articles by Perla Trevizo

Jacob Villanueva

Chief Creative Officer

Jacob Villanueva manages a team of designers to develop and maintain The Texas Tribune’s visual and brand strategy across products, platforms and marketing channels. He integrates his expertise of more than 20 years in design, interactive, video, photography and digital media production. Read Articles by Jacob Villanueva

Allyson Waller

Newsletter Writer

Allyson Waller is a newsletter writer at The Texas Tribune. Previously, she was part of the 2020-2021 New York Times Fellowship class where she worked as a general assignment reporter for the publication’s breaking news desk. Allyson is a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in journalism. While at UT Austin, she interned at the Miami Herald as a local government reporter and The Texas Tribune as an investigative fellow. When not closely following politics and state policy, Allyson enjoys listening to podcasts, watching documentaries and stocking up on fiction books. She is based in Austin. Read Articles by Allyson Waller

Matthew Watkins

Editor-in-Chief

Matthew Watkins began serving as editor in chief of the Tribune in September 2024. Matthew is a Texas native, born in Houston and raised in Austin. He attended public schools and graduated from Texas A&M University. He’s spent nearly two decades in Texas journalism, and previously worked at The Eagle in Bryan-College Station and The Dallas Morning News. Matthew joined the Tribune in 2015 has held various roles, including higher education reporter, breaking news editor and politics editor. As a managing editor, Matthew has guided the Tribune’s award-winning journalism and other reporting of statewide significance, including coverage of elections and legislative sessions to major breaking news and ambitious storytelling about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Texas-Mexico border, the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, the impeachment of Texas attorney general and battles over public education. He lives in Austin with his wife, Susan, and their two children. Read Articles by Matthew Watkins

Lorianne Willett

Fellow

Lorianne Willett is a photography fellow and a journalism student at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, she was a multimedia intern at KUT News, a photography intern at Texas Connect and the photo editor at The Daily Texan, the campus newspaper. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Lorianne spent part of her childhood moving around until her family settled in San Antonio.