Our Staff

Matt Adams

Director of Audience Growth and Engagement
- Email matt.adams@texastribune.org
- @themattadams
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'll be residing in Austin soon, but Pittsburgh will forever be home.
Olivia Alafriz

Fellow
- Email olivia.alafriz@texastribune.org
- @oliviaalafriz
Olivia Alafriz is a summer 2023 reporting fellow based in Washington, D.C. Previously, Olivia interned with CNN’s KFile team, doing investigative reporting on political candidates and elected officials across the country. She grew up in Huntington Beach, California, and Vienna, Austria, before moving to Washington, D.C. to study journalism and political science at American University.
Emily Albracht

Design Director
- Email ealbracht@texastribune.org
- RSS
Emily Albracht is a multidisciplinary designer. She develops and maintains the visual design systems and brand guidelines for The Texas Tribune. She first joined the organization in 2014 as a graphic designer. Over these years, she has been crucial in elevating the Tribune brand, keeping it fresh and consistent across all platforms. Before joining The Texas Tribune, she slung espresso and was a freelance creative in the local music and festival industry. Read Articles by Emily Albracht
Noah Alcala Bach

Fellow
- Email noah.alcala-bach@texastribune.org
- @noahbach
Noah Alcala Bach is a summer 2023 Austin-based reporting fellow. Before arriving at the Tribune, Noah was an intern in Brussels at Politico EU, a reporter for the Columbia Missourian, an intern at the San Antonio Current and a contributing correspondent for the San Antonio Express-News. He studies journalism and political science at The University of Missouri and looks forward to bringing knowledge from both those fields to cover his home state.
Andy Alford

Director of Editorial Recruitment, Training and Career Development
Andy Alford joined the Tribune as director of editorial recruitment, training and career development in March 2022 after a 24-year run at the Austin American-Statesman, where she rose from reporter to assistant metro editor, metro editor, senior editor and then managing editor. As managing editor since 2018, she oversaw a newsroom of more than 60 journalists; a near-doubling of digital subscriptions; and award-winning coverage that prompted the Texas Managing Editors to recognize the Statesman as Texas newspaper of the year for 2013, 2014 and 2016. Born in Dallas, Andy enrolled at Florida A&M University to study engineering, but later found her calling in journalism, her major after she transferred to the University of Houston. Read Articles by Andy Alford
Rebekah Allen

Politics Editor
Rebekah Allen is the politics editor for The Texas Tribune, where she previously served as the news editor. Before joining the Tribune, she worked as a statehouse reporter for The Dallas Morning News. Previously, she was an investigative reporter and statehouse reporter for The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and an education reporter at the Pensacola News Journal in Florida. Read Articles by Rebekah Allen
Liam Andrew

Chief Product Officer
- Email landrew@texastribune.org
- @mailbackwards
Liam Andrew ensures that The Texas Tribune's systems for content management, distribution and analysis align with organizational priorities and user needs. He joined the Tribune in 2015 after completing a master's degree in MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program, where he worked with a variety of research groups including the Nieman Journalism Lab, Center for Civic Media and HyperStudio. An Iowa native, Liam earned his bachelor's degree in literature and music at Yale University.
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, James was a finalist for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Local Reporting for his coverage of Texas politics during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 business administrator, 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 worked at their hometown newspaper, the Colorado County Citizen.
Kayla Bennett

Fellow
- Email kayla.bennett@texastribune.org
- @kkayyben
Kayla Bennett is a marketing and communications fellow and recent graduate of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where she studied journalism and political science. She grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and is based in Austin this summer. She previously served as editor in chief of Thread Magazine, Ohio University’s largest culture and fashion magazine, and managing editor of The Post, the university’s independent student-run newspaper. She was a summer 2022 marketing and communications intern with the National Fisheries Institute in Washington, D.C., and a 2022 White House Correspondents' Association scholar.
Ellen Burris

Festival Director
- Email ellen.burris@texastribune.org
Ellen Burris joined The Texas Tribune in spring 2023 as festival director, 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

Managing Editor for Visual Journalism
Darla Cameron is the managing editor for visual journalism for The Texas Tribune. She oversees the work of the photo, multimedia and data visuals teams and works closely with the product, engineering and design teams to elevate the Tribune’s visual journalism. Previously, she was the data visuals editor, leading a team of developers at the intersection of graphics and news applications. Before joining the Tribune, she worked at The Washington Post and the Tampa Bay Times. Darla is a Colorado native with a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Read Articles by Darla Cameron
Sewell Chan

Editor in Chief
Sewell Chan joined The Texas Tribune as editor in chief in October 2021. Previously he was a deputy managing editor and then the editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times, where he oversaw coverage that was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 2021. Chan worked at the New York Times from 2004 to 2018, as a metro reporter, Washington correspondent, deputy Op-Ed editor and international news editor. He began his career as a local reporter at the Washington Post in 2000. A child of immigrants, Chan was the first in his family to graduate from college. He has a degree in social studies from Harvard and a master's in political science from Oxford, where he studied on a British Marshall scholarship. He serves on the boards of Columbia Journalism Review, Freedom House and Harvard Magazine. He is a member of PEN America, the Council on Foreign Relations and numerous journalism organizations. He was elected to the board of the Pulitzer Prizes in 2022. Read Articles by Sewell Chan
Fabiana Chaparro

Scripps Howard Multimedia Fellow
Fabiana Chaparro is a year-long Scripps Howard Multimedia Fellow. She produces short-form documentaries and video stories on a variety of issues across Texas, including reproductive healthcare, youth involvement in politics and voter rights. Before joining the Tribune, Fabiana interned with Houston Public Media, CNN, KTRK-TV and she participated in Next Generation Radio Texas 2021. She graduated from the University of Houston with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. Originally from Cabimas, Venezuela, Fabiana was raised in Mexico, Libya, Singapore and the United States. Fabiana is based in Austin and is fluent in Spanish. Read Articles by Fabiana Chaparro
Natalie Choate

Chief Operating Officer
- Email nchoate@texastribune.org
Natalie Choate is an expert strategist and communications specialist with extensive experience of creative problem solving. Throughout her career, she’s built resilient systems and frameworks to drive results across a range of domains and industries. Prior to her work leading marketing and communications in nonprofit media, she ran local and regional political campaigns in Texas and drove successful public policy initiatives in the Texas Legislature. As a small business owner, Natalie is driven by the opportunity to build brands and bring big ideas to life.
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
Anna Colletto

Fellow
- Email anna.colletto@texastribune.org
- @agcolletto
Anna Colletto is a 2023 Reynolds Journalism Institute Student Innovation Fellow working with the Tribune’s digital product team. She is a junior at The University of Missouri-Columbia studying journalism and political science. Previously, Anna worked as the editor in chief of The Maneater, MU's student newspaper, a Student Press Freedom Day co-chair for the Student Press Law Center and a digital intern at Cincinnati Magazine.
Kiah Collier

Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit
Kiah Collier is an Austin-based reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative initiative. She previously worked at the Tribune as a reporter and associate editor, covering energy and the environment through the lens of state government and politics. Kiah has reported for numerous other publications across Texas since 2010, including the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. Her beats also have included government and politics, public education and business. Kiah’s work has been honored with numerous prizes, including a George Foster Peabody Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism, the National Edward R. Murrow Award for best investigation and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. A seventh-generation Texan, she grew up in the Austin area and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in journalism and philosophy. Read Articles by Kiah Collier
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. Read Articles by Natalia Contreras
Clair Croslin

Director of Finance
- Email clair.croslin@texastribune.org
Clair Croslin came to The Texas Tribune in 2020 from an Austin hospitality group. An Austin native, Clair started working in restaurants, attended ACC, and moved to New York to complete her degree in Applied Mathematics at Queens College. While in New York, she began bookkeeping for restaurants, coffee shops and websites. She fell in love with the Tribune's mission when an ACC professor assigned a Tribune event for extra credit in her Texas government class.
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. (Photo: Bettina Hansen, The Seattle Times) Read Articles by Vianna Davila
Justin Dehn

Multimedia Producer
Justin Dehn is a multimedia producer whose focus is video and audio production. He’s been shooting and producing news for more than two decades. Justin has been behind the camera for special projects “God and Governing,” “Hurting for Work,” “Paid to Prosecute” and the Emmy Award-winning documentary “13 Hours to Midnight.” He is also the producer and host of the Tribune’s daily news podcast “The Brief.” Justin is based in Georgetown. He grew up in Enderlin, North Dakota, and attended Minnesota State University Moorhead. Read Articles by Justin Dehn
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

General Assignment Reporter
Sneha Dey is a general assignment reporter on the breaking news team. She joined The Texas Tribune full time in 2022 after working in our newsroom as a reporting fellow. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied journalism, legal studies and creative writing. The New York native has previously worked for the Chicago Sun-Times, NPR and Chalkbeat. She has also served as editor in chief of The Daily Northwestern. Read Articles by Sneha Dey
Greta Díaz González Vázquez

Fellow
Greta Díaz González Vázquez is returning to the Tribune for a second summer as a 2023 fellow on the multimedia team, in partnership with the Dallas Press Club Foundation. She recently graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from The University of North Texas, where she also earned a certificate in narrative journalism. Greta worked as a journalist in Mexico for six years, freelancing and doing multimedia journalism for a public radio station. Her reporting is focused on gender violence in Mexico and science. Greta’s work has earned state and national awards in her home country, including the National Award for Science Journalism and the National Faces of Discrimination Award. Greta believes empathy is a fundamental ingredient for storytelling. Read Articles by Greta Díaz González Vázquez
Erin Douglas

Climate Reporter
Erin Douglas is the climate reporter for The Texas Tribune. She was previously a business and economy reporter at the Houston Chronicle where she covered labor, energy and the environment. She studied journalism and economics at Colorado State University, and her first newsroom job was interning at The Denver Post, her hometown newspaper. Based in Austin, Erin is always planning her next road trip. Read Articles by Erin Douglas
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
Emily Dresslar

Director, Revenue Lab
- Email emily.dresslar@texastribune.org
Emily Dresslar is a former journalist who has developed a specialization in working on new ventures in news media, supporting digital innovation teams by managing operations, strategic partnerships and revenue development. Before joining the RevLab, Emily was Head of Business Operations for The Compass Experiment at McClatchy, a Google News Initiative-funded project. Prior to that, she was Head of Strategic Partnerships for Calkins Digital, an innovative technology start-up serving the news media industry. Emily earned a master’s degree in Media Strategy from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and she is also a past member of the board of directors of the Local Media Consortium.
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

Director of Events and Live Journalism
- Email matt.ewalt@texastribune.org
Matt Ewalt joined The Texas Tribune as 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 urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, 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
Irma Fernandez

Development Officer
- Email irma.fernandez@texastribune.org
Irma Fernandez is a development officer at The Texas Tribune. She is a graduate of St. Edward’s University and received a Fulbright grant to Brazil post-grad. Irma worked in politics for several cycles, spending time in Texas, Florida, and Nevada. She is an overly passionate sports fan, thinks Friday Night Lights is the greatest show of all time, and does it all for her dog named Ramsey.
Alex Ford

Designer/Developer
Alex Ford is a designer/developer creating data visualizations for the Tribune. Previously, she was an interactive journalist at NBC News and a graphics fellow at Insider. A Baltimore native, Alex earned a political science degree at the University of Maryland. She's currently a master's candidate studying public affairs at the LBJ School at the University of Texas at Austin. Read Articles by Alex Ford
Brandon Formby

News Editor
Brandon Formby leads the news desk, working most closely with the general assignment reporters who bring Texans the urgent news and necessary nuance that put pressing issues into perspective. Brandon was previously the night news editor through two regular and three special legislative sessions, the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic and the deadly 2021 winter storm. Before editing, Brandon was the Tribune’s Dallas-based urban affairs reporter, covering the state’s worsening housing affordability crisis, transportation challenges and Hurricane Harvey. He grew up in Plano, received a journalism degree from Texas Tech University and worked at The Dallas Morning News for more than 13 years. He is based in Austin. Read Articles by Brandon Formby
Emily Foxhall

Energy Reporter
Emily Foxhall joined The Texas Tribune as energy reporter in December 2022. She's 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
Brandyn Friedly

DevOps Engineer
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 or 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 regional editor, overseeing reporters based in Lubbock, in West Texas, and Lufkin, in East Texas. Read Articles by Nic Garcia
Laura Garcia

Afternoon/Evening News Editor
- Email laura.garcia@texastribune.org
- @reporter_laura
Laura Garcia is the afternoon/evening news editor at The Texas Tribune. She is based out of San Antonio, where she grew up, but has roots in Cotulla. She previously reported on health care at the San Antonio Express-News and also has bylines at the Victoria Advocate, The Roanoke Times, Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the Longview News-Journal as well as The Ranger at San Antonio College. Laura is president of the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists, a nonprofit that raises funds for journalism student scholarships and advocates for diversity in newsrooms.
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

Associate Photo Editor
Eddie Gaspar is an associate photo editor at The Texas Tribune, a job he took on after working as the Tribune’s photo fellow for two semesters. Eddie is a senior at the University of Texas. He has worked as a photo editor at The Daily Texan, a multimedia intern at KUT and a contributor at Do512. He has also worked for Texas Student Television’s “Austin Underground” and UT’s Cactus Yearbook. Eddie is fluent in Spanish. Read Articles by Eddie Gaspar
Emily Goldstein

Copy Chief
Emily Goldstein is the copy chief at The Texas Tribune. She is based in Austin and previously worked at The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Observer. Emily grew up in Plano and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri and her master’s degree from the University of North Texas. She won a 2018 Barbara Jordan Media Award for print commentary from the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities. Read Articles by Emily Goldstein
Michele Gonzalez

Deputy Director of Events and Live Journalism
- Email michele.gonzalez@texastribune.org
Michele Gonzalez joined The Texas Tribune in December 2022 as deputy director of events and live journalism. She previously spent nine years at the Austin Convention Center, where she coordinated hundreds of events. Michele was raised in Louisiana and studied radio, television and film at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. She began her career in Washington, D.C. in 2001 with the Radio Television Digital News Association. Michele later worked for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists as professional development director and director of conventions and special events. She served as associate director of NAHJ’s Parity Project, an initiative to bring more Latino press representation to areas with large Latino populations. A certified meeting planner, Michele is active with Meeting Professionals International, where she's the vice president for education on the board of the Texas Hill Country chapter.
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.
Julia Guilbeau

Audience Producer
Julia Guilbeau is an audience producer at The Texas Tribune, connecting readers with impactful stories. Before joining the Tribune in late 2022, she worked as a digital content editor for The Advocate | Times-Picayune, where she contributed to breaking news, social media and reader engagement projects. She graduated from the University of Louisiana Lafayette, where she majored in journalism. During her time at ULL, she interned at The Acadiana Advocate, covering everything from local business to the 2020 election and the rising opioid crisis in the region. A Lafayette, Louisiana native, she's passionate about Cajun culture, food and festivals. Read Articles by Julia Guilbeau
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
Karen Brooks Harper

Health and Human Services Reporter
Karen Brooks Harper reports on the state budget and health and human services. An alumna of the University of Missouri-Columbia Journalism School, Karen arrived in Texas in 1995 to join the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, spent several years in Laredo and Mexico covering immigration and the drug war for Knight-Ridder newspapers, and has covered Texas politics for more than two decades for news organizations including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Morning News and Reuters. Read Articles by Karen Brooks Harper
Ashley Hebler

Engineering Manager
- Email ahebler@texastribune.org
- @ashleyhebler
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

Copywriter
- 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.
John Hernandez

Assistant Director of Audience
John Hernandez is the assistant director of audience at the Tribune. After fellowships at APM Reports and Minnesota Public Radio, John went on to work in journalism support at the American Press Institute and Resolve Philly, where he convened newsrooms in collaboratives and cohorts that focused on best practices related to elections reporting, community listening, and nuanced coverage of Indigenous people. John is a proud graduate of Texas State University’s journalism school. He was born in Bogota, Colombia but grew up in Queens, New York, which is why you’ll probably catch him wearing a Mets hat almost every day. Read Articles by John Hernandez
Jinitzail Hernández

Video Journalist
Jinitzail Hernández joined The Texas Tribune as a video journalist in May 2022 and is interested in using video to tell immersive stories through the lives of the people affected by policy. Jini previously worked as the senior multimedia producer at CQ Roll Call in Washington, D.C., where she covered defense policy and politics through articles, podcasts and videos. Jini has also worked in Jerusalem as a press and policy fellow at The Media Line, a nonprofit American news agency. She graduated with a master's in journalism from Northwestern University and was awarded the Deborah Orin Scholarship from the White House Correspondents' Association. A Chicagoan, Jini is based in San Antonio and is a native Spanish speaker. Read Articles by Jinitzail Hernández
Reagan Hicks

Graphic Designer
- Email reagan.hicks@texastribune.org
Reagan Hicks is a graphic designer at The Texas Tribune and works to push the Tribune’s brand forward in fresh and exciting new ways. Before joining the Tribune, he was a multidisciplinary designer and art director at a small creative agency in East Austin. Originally from El Paso, he attended Texas State University, receiving dual degrees in Communication Design and Photography.
April Hinkle

Chief Revenue Officer
- Email ahinkle@texastribune.org
- 512-716-8634
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. 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
Rachel James

Fellow
- Email rachel.james@texastribune.org
Rachel James is a summer 2023 audience engagement fellow. She helps engage audiences in our politics and policy coverage across platforms by packaging Tribune stories for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; contributing to our daily newsletters; helping produce live discussions for our readers; and pitching and editing short-form videos or other original content for social readers. Rachel was born in Detroit and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. She attended North Carolina A&T State University, and her previous internships involved creating social content and videography for small businesses.
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
- Email dan.keemahill@texastribune.org
- @DanKeemahill
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.
Kassie Kelly

Membership Manager
- Email kassie.kelly@texastribune.org
Kassie Kelly oversees The Texas Tribune's membership program. She joined the Tribune in 2021 after managing the membership program at the San Antonio Report, a digital-only, local nonprofit news organization. Kassie received a bachelor's degree in music and political science from Trinity University. Before moving to Austin to join the Tribune team, Kassie called San Antonio home for the large majority of her life – and (rightly) believes San Antonio's breakfast tacos are far superior to Austin's.
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, 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 Editor
Terri Langford is the Tribune's health and human services editor. 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. She holds a bachelor's degree in government from the University of Texas. Read Articles by Terri Langford
Elexus Liggins

Office Manager
- Email elexus.liggins@texastribune.org
Elexus Liggins is the office manager for The Texas Tribune. She joined the Tribune in July 2022. She earned her associate's degree at San Antonio College and transferred to the University of North Texas where she graduated with a bachelor's in international studies and a minor in Spanish. Elexus is the first point of contact for visitors to our office and serves a critical role in the support system for Tribune employees. Her personal mission is to help others prosper and excel, and she cannot resist eating flavorful dishes, being on the dance floor and binge-watching fascinating shows.
Chuck Lindell

Interim Politics Editor
Chuck Lindell came to The Texas Tribune in February 2023 as the Saturday editor. His career includes 33 years at the Austin American-Statesman, where he reported on politics and legal issues and previously worked as Washington, DC correspondent, assistant metro editor and copy editor. Chuck has also worked for newspapers in Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin, as well as Phoenix, Arizona, where he grew up as the oldest of seven kids. He earned a degree in journalism at Marquette University, was a onetime ballboy for the Phoenix Suns, and still roots hard for both teams. Read Articles by Chuck Lindell
Brian Lopez

Public Education Reporter
Brian Lopez is a public education reporter, covering how policy and politics affect Texas’ K-12 public education system and the nearly 5.5 million kids enrolled in public schools. Before landing at the Tribune in 2021, he was the Tarrant County reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Brian is a New York native but moved to Texas after high school. He graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington, is based in San Antonio and reports in both English and Spanish. Read Articles by Brian Lopez
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
Evan L’Roy

Photojournalist
Evan L’Roy is a Poynter-Koch 2022-2023 fellow and a photographer at The Texas Tribune. He was a spring photography fellow in 2021 and a contract photo editor after graduating from the University of Texas with a radio-television-film degree. Raised in Dallas, Evan has worked as a cinematographer and photographer for Austin TV station KXAN, The Daily Texan and various commercial/film productions. With a focus on enterprise stories, Evan produces visual projects about the environment and homelessness in collaboration with Tribune reporters. Read Articles by Evan L’Roy
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.
Alejandra Martinez

Environmental Reporter
Alejandra Martinez joined the Tribune in the fall of 2022 as a Dallas-based environmental reporter. She was previously an accountability reporter at KERA, where she began as a Report for America corps member and then covered Dallas City Hall. Before that, she worked as an associate producer at WLRN, South Florida’s public radio station. Alejandra studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, and interned at KUT and NPR's Latino USA. She's a native of the Aldine area of Harris County and speaks fluent Spanish. Read Articles by Alejandra Martinez
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
Jolie McCullough

Criminal Justice Reporter
Jolie McCullough reports on Texas criminal justice issues and policy, ranging from policing and courts to prisons and the death penalty. She came to The Texas Tribune in 2015 from the Albuquerque Journal, her hometown newspaper. She has previously worked at the Arizona Republic and is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Jolie is based in Austin. Read Articles by Jolie McCullough
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, Nevada; and New York. Kate was born in New York City and raised primarily 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.” Read Articles by Kate McGee
William Melhado

Night General Assignment Reporter
William Melhado is an Austin-based journalist and a 2022-23 Poynter-Koch media and journalism fellow. Originally from Boulder, Colorado, William graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in chemistry and taught science at a public high school in the Bronx, New York, while completing a master’s in secondary science education at CUNY Lehman College, also in the Bronx. William worked as an educator for five years, also teaching in international schools in Tanzania and Nepal, before changing careers to pursue journalism. He previously worked as a staff writer at the Santa Fe Reporter, an alt-weekly newspaper in New Mexico. Read Articles by William Melhado
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, was an engagement fellow at The Texas Tribune 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
Marquis Mills-Cooper

Project Manager, Revenue Lab
- Email marquis.millscooper@texastribune.org
Marquis Mills-Cooper is the RevLab project manager. Before arriving at the Tribune in 2021, Marquis enjoyed a 21-year career in the United States Army. He served as a senior enlisted intelligence analyst and finished as an all-source intelligence technician, earning the rank of chief warrant officer. He served in multiple countries and supported combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo with timely and accurate intelligence. Marquis is originally from Queens, New York and is now based in Austin.
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. 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. Read Articles by Ayan Mittra
Grayson Norwood

Director of Human Resources
- Email gnorwood@texastribune.org
Grayson Norwood oversees human resources at The Texas Tribune. She joined the organization in January 2020, after more than 13 years at The Contemporary Austin. A native Austinite, Grayson graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in history.
Reese Oxner

Product Manager
Reese Oxner is the product manager for The Texas Tribune and is based in Austin. He previously was the Tribune’s breaking news reporter. Before arriving at the Tribune, Reese interned on NPR’s news desk, was a summer reporting fellow at the Tribune and worked part-time covering Arlington for the Dallas Morning News. He was the editor in chief of The Shorthorn, the University of Texas at Arlington’s student-run newspaper, where he earned the 2019 editor of the year award from the Texas Collegiate Press Association. He studied web design in college and really, really likes Korean BBQ. Read Articles by Reese Oxner
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.
David Pasztor

Senior Editor and Writing Coach
- Email david.pasztor@texastribune.org
David Pasztor is a senior editor, overseeing coverage of demographics, voting and criminal justice, and writing coach. Over three decades, David worked for the Kansas City Star; the Dallas Times-Herald; New Times Inc., a publisher of alt-weeklies; and the Texas Observer. David initially retired in 2008 but was lured back into journalism in 2014, when he first joined the Tribune as a night news editor and projects editor. He retired for a second time in 2016, but was lured back to the Tribune in 2019 as a part-time story-editor. He returned full-time in 2022. Read Articles by David Pasztor
Jonathan Peacher

Full-stack Engineer
- Email djpeacher@texastribune.org
- @_djpeacher
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.
Alex Powers

Analytics & Data Manager
- Email alex.powers@texastribune.org
Alex Powers is The Texas Tribune's analytics & data manager, focused on developing an internal data strategy and architecture that can help the Tribune leverage insights from data to best serve and inform Texas. He has worked as an EMT, a GED teacher, and an analytic consultant for clinics and hospitals. Through his health and education work – and as a longtime reader of the Tribune – he has seen firsthand how state policy impacts everyday lives, and he is very excited to use his skills to further our mission.
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
Terry Quinn

Chief Development Officer
- Email tquinn@texastribune.org
- 512-716-8613
Terry Quinn is a sixth-generation Texan and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked as a volunteer and professional for over 23 years to raise funds for many nonprofit organizations in Austin and around Texas, most recently The Nature Conservancy of Texas and The Contemporary Austin. For the Tribune, Terry leads the work with the foundations and the individuals whose philanthropic support make the mission of the Tribune possible.
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.
Roxanne Rodriguez

IT Support Specialist
- Email roxanne.rodriguez@texastribune.org
Roxanne Rodriguez joined The Texas Tribune in April 2022 as an IT support specialist. She supports multiple departments at the Tribune, applying her specialized skills to operations and infrastructure. Previously, Roxanne worked as a technology support specialist at the Lackland Independent School District in San Antonio. Roxanne received her BBA in cybersecurity from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a minor in digital forensics.
Brandy Ruiz

Fellow
- Email brandy.ruiz@texastribune.org
- @brcndy
Brandy Ruiz is a summer 2023 audience engagement fellow. Previously, she launched the TikTok account for nonprofit news outlet El Paso Matters, reported on border culture in English and Spanish for Minero Magazine, participated in the 2021 National Association of Hispanic Journalists student project, interned at NOWCastSA and explored identity in a story for Dallas public radio station KERA and The University of Texas at El Paso’s Borderzine. Born in San Diego, Brandy recently graduated from UTEP with a degree in multimedia journalism and minors in political science and marketing. When she’s not watching social media for newsrooms, you’ll likely find her scrolling through TikTok.
Sumaya Saati

Development Officer
- Email ssaati@texastribune.org
Sumaya Saati is a Development Officer at The Texas Tribune. She earned her undergraduate degree from UT Austin and graduate degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Sumaya has legislative and policy experience including working at the Texas State Senate during the 80th legislative session. She brings nearly 10 years experience in fundraising for organizations including Thinkery and UT Austin's College of Natural Sciences, and earned her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential in 2019. She is a native Austinite, a third-generation Texan, and a long-time fan of the Tribune.
Pooja Salhotra

East Texas Reporter
Pooja Salhotra joined the Tribune in 2022 as its first-ever East Texas reporter. Based in Lufkin, she covers a vast region that borders three states and stretches north to Texarkana and south to Beaumont. 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
Rebecca Schneid

Fellow
- Email rebecca.schneid@texastribune.org
- @becca_schneid
Rebecca Schneid is a 2023 Austin-based reporting fellow. A Duke University graduate, she was born and raised in South Florida. She studied English, journalism and gender studies and worked as a writer for the 9th Street Journal and Form Magazine, photo editor at the Duke Chronicle and DJ at WXDU-FM radio station on campus. She has previously worked at the Los Angeles Times, Durham’s alt-weekly Indy Week, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Elle and The Guardian. She also writes poetry, for which she’s won an Academy of American Poets University Prize.
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. 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
- Email sonal.shah@texastribune.org
- @SonalRShah
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.
Dan Simmons-Ritchie

Front-End Engineer
- Email daniel.simmons.ritchie@texastribune.org
Dan Simmons-Ritchie is a front-end engineer at the Texas Tribune. He works across departments to design, build and implement the user interface systems of the Tribune's website and other digital products. Before he was a software engineer, Dan was a journalist for eight years, specializing in investigative reporting and data analysis. He's earned more than a dozen journalism awards over the course of his career, including a 2013 Sigma Delta Chi Award for public service journalism and a 2016 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for investigative reporting. Born and raised in New Zealand, Dan moved to the U.S. in 2011. He has a bachelor's degree in English literature and media studies from Victoria University of Wellington.
Stephen Simpson

Mental Health Reporter
Stephen Simpson joined The Texas Tribune in February 2023 as its first mental health reporter. 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
Evan Smith

Co-Founder and Senior Adviser
- Email esmith@texastribune.org
- @evanasmith
Evan Smith is a co-founder and senior adviser at The Texas Tribune, where he served as CEO from 2009 to 2022. He’s also a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, where he works closely with the leadership teams of nonprofit news organizations around the country. Previously he spent nearly 18 years at Texas Monthly, stepping down in August 2009 as the magazine’s president and editor in chief. Evan is also the host of “Overheard with Evan Smith,” a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations around the country. A native of New York, he is a graduate of Hamilton College and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Jacarious Stanley

Fellow
- Email jacarious.stanley@texastribune.org
Jacarious Stanley is a 2023 events fellow. He is a graduate of Texas State University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and is currently studying for a teaching certificate at Huston-Tillotson University. In his free time, he can be seen playing at venues around town as he loves to emerge himself in the vast music culture that Austin has to offer.
Patrick Svitek

Political Reporter
Patrick Svitek is the primary political correspondent for The Texas Tribune. Patrick logged countless miles on the 2016 campaign trail, covering the many Texas angles of the momentous presidential race. He previously worked for the Houston Chronicle's Austin bureau. He graduated in 2014 from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He is originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Read Articles by Patrick Svitek
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

DevOps Engineer
- Email suraj.thapa@texastribune.org
Suraj Thapa joined The Texas Tribune in November 2022 as the DevOps 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 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.
Ethan Thomas

Fellow
- Email ethan.thomas@texastribune.org
- @EAThomasMedia
Ethan Thomas is a 2023 copy editing fellow based in Austin. Ethan was a staff photographer and reporter for the University of Texas at El Paso’s bilingual publication, Minero Magazine, covering topics such as business and politics. He was secretary of the university’s National Association of Hispanic Journalists chapter. Ethan was born and raised in El Paso and graduated from UTEP in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism. When there are no deadlines approaching, Ethan can be found playing music, taking photos or at karaoke.
Joe Timmerman

Fellow
- Email joe.timmerman@texastribune.org
- @joet1mm
Joe Timmerman is an Austin-based summer 2023 photography fellow. Joe is a recent graduate of Ohio University, where he earned degrees in visual communication and journalism. Previously, Joe interned at the Cincinnati Enquirer and worked as a contract photojournalist and writer for The Columbus Dispatch and EcoWatch. A native of Cincinnati, Joe is most drawn to in-depth, collaborative storytelling that uplifts communities and shines light on important issues.
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. 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. Read Articles by Perla Trevizo
Alexa Ura

Demographics Reporter
Alexa Ura is the demographics reporter for The Texas Tribune. She covers the complex dynamics of race, ethnicity, wealth, poverty and power and how they are shaping the future of Texas and Texans, in the long and short term. Alexa started at the Tribune as a reporting intern in 2013 before graduating from The University of Texas at Austin and joining the staff full time. Originally from Laredo on the Texas-Mexico border, she is a native Spanish speaker and is based in Austin. Read Articles by Alexa Ura
Francisco Uranga

Fellow
- Email francisco.uranga@texastribune.org
- @PatxiUranga
Francisco Uranga is a 2023 Austin-based summer reporting fellow. He is a student in the bilingual journalism program at the Craig Newmark Journalism School at the City University of New York. Uranga previously worked as an economics reporter for El País in Spain and studied at the El País School of Journalism. He was the editor and co-founder of Visión Desarrollista, a digital magazine focused on economic development in Argentina, and has hosted a radio program on current affairs, including foreign policy and economics, at a university station in Argentina. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Buenos Aires.
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. Read Articles by Allyson Waller
Matthew Watkins

Managing Editor of News and Politics
Matthew Watkins is managing editor of news and politics, overseeing the day-to-day planning for news coverage. He began working at the Tribune in 2015 and previously served as a reporter, breaking news editor and politics editor. He also worked as a reporter at The Dallas Morning News and The Eagle in Bryan-College Station. He graduated from Texas A&M University and lives in Austin, where he grew up. Read Articles by Matthew Watkins
Susie Webb

Fellow
- Email susie.webb@texastribune.org
- @skwebb73
Susie Webb is a summer 2023 data visuals fellow based in Austin. A senior at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she is studying journalism, global studies and data science. She has worked as the data editor and city and state editor for The Daily Tar Heel, where she’s helped build the paper’s online multimedia presence. Previously, she was a metro news reporter for The Charlotte Observer and the editor of Potomac Local News. Susie is from Fredericksburg, Virginia and loves to hike and rock climb.
Jared Williams

Fellow
- Email jared.williams@texastribune.org
- @jared_willyy
Jared Williams is a summer 2023 fellow on the events and live journalism team. Jared is majoring in political science at Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta. Pflugerville, Texas is his hometown, and he's excited to work from the Tribune's Austin office. He has a keen interest in storytelling, a deep appreciation for the power of media and is eager to dive into the Lone Star State's political scene.
Todd Wiseman

Senior Editor, Video and Multimedia
Todd Wiseman is the senior editor, video and multimedia, at The Texas Tribune. Todd previously worked at the Austin School of Film and Synthetic Pictures and interned for director Richard Linklater. At The Texas Tribune, Todd helped develop the Stump Interrupted series, which won a national Edward R. Murrow award. He also co-produced the award-winning documentary "Beyond The Wall." A Fort Worth native, he graduated from the University of Southern California with a dual degree in film and English. Read Articles by Todd Wiseman
Stephanie Wolf

Audio Producer
Stephanie Wolf is a freelance audio producer and reporter based in Denver who most recently covered arts, culture and religion for Louisville Public Media, an NPR affiliate. Her work in Kentucky included A Critical Moment, an radio documentary examining how the United States and Germany teach schoolchildren about the painful parts of their histories. Read Articles by Stephanie Wolf

Matt Adams

Olivia Alafriz

Emily Albracht

Noah Alcala Bach

Andy Alford

Rebekah Allen

Liam Andrew

Carla Astudillo

Rob Avila

Tara Ballew

James Barragán

Morgan Bennett

Kayla Bennett

Ellen Burris

Darla Cameron

Sewell Chan

Fabiana Chaparro

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Matthew Choi

Lexi Churchill

Anna Colletto

Kiah Collier

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Clair Croslin

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Justin Dehn

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Erin Douglas

Robert Downen

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Chris Essig

Matt Ewalt

Joshua Fechter

Irma Fernandez

Alex Ford

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Pu Ying Huang

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Dan Keemahill

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Chuck Lindell

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Evan L’Roy

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Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera

Matthew McCrary

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William Melhado

María Méndez