Our Staff

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
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.
Angelica Arinze

Engagement Fellow
- Email angelica.arinze@texastribune.org
- @ArinzeAngelica
Angelica Arinze is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin and is spending her final semester in college as an engagement fellow for the Tribune. She has worked as a reporting intern for The Daily Dot, an intern for the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, lead the diversity & inclusion board at UT’s student newspaper The Daily Texan, and spent the past summer as a communications intern for PEN America, a literary nonprofit. She enjoys strawberry ice cream from Amy’s, paint-by-number kits and listening to Beach House.
Virginia Arrigucci

RevLab Deputy Director
- Email virginia.arrigucci@texastribune.org
Virginia Arrigucci is the deputy director of RevLab at The Texas Tribune. RevLab is a training and innovation program that shares what the Tribune has learned in its history with other newsrooms on the path to sustainability. Before the Tribune, Virginia spent nine years at The Associated Press where she worked on digital products and audience. She is originally from El Paso.
Carla Astudillo

Senior Data Visuals Developer
Carla Astudillo is a news app and data visuals developer with a focus on elections and political data. Previously, 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. Carla was also deputy data visuals editor at the International Business Times. She got her master's degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and her bachelor's degree from the University of Florida. Carla grew up in Florida but is a native of Chile. 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, he 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 COVID-19. A Southern California native, he received his bachelor's degree in history from UCLA. Read Articles by James Barragán
Jason Beeferman

Reporting Fellow
Jason Beeferman is a spring reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune and a junior at Northwestern University where he studies Journalism, International Studies and Latin American Studies. He has previously worked for the Chicago Sun-Times and The New York Post, where he reported for the papers’ metro desks covering city politics, crime and social justice initiatives. A native New Yorker, he is passionate about the workings of city and state governments. He has also written for The Daily Northwestern where he covered Evanston, Ill.’s reparations program. Read Articles by Jason Beeferman
Morgan Bennett

Business Administrator
- 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 previously worked at their hometown newspaper, the Colorado County Citizen.
John Mathew Bernal (JMAT)

Senior Sponsorship Manager
- Email jmat@texastribune.org
John Mathew Bernal (JMAT) serves as the Senior Sponsorship Manager for the Texas Tribune Revenue Team. Born and raised in Austin and a graduate of Texas State University, JMAT has an extensive background in Sales and Marketing. He joins the Texas Tribune team from DoStuff Media, where he successfully designed holistic campaigns for national brands like Jack Daniel's and Budweiser. Before DoStuff, JMAT was part of the Marketing team at SXSW and Brown Distributing Co. For the last five years, JMAT has run an art nonprofit, Chula League, whose mission is to fuel and sustain the arts in East Austin.
Bobby Blanchard

Director of Audience
Bobby Blanchard runs The Texas Tribune’s audience team while strategizing with the newsroom to expand the organization’s reach and engagement across all platforms. He strives to ensure the Tribune is a leading voice every day in the conversation online around Texas policy and politics. A graduate of UT-Austin, Bobby spent his first year out of college at The Dallas Morning News as a reporting fellow, covering Texas politics and breaking news. He got his start in journalism in the poorly lit basement of The Daily Texan, followed by internships at the Houston Chronicle, KUT News and, yes, the Tribune. Born and raised in the Houston area, Bobby is a native Texan. He relies on a steady supply of Tex-Mex and Red Bull to survive. Read Articles by Bobby Blanchard
Jacki Brinker

Director & Experiential Producer, Events
- Email jacki.brinker@texastribune.org
Jacki Brinker is the director & experiential producer for The Texas Tribune's events. A midwest native, she moved to Austin in 2007 to complete a year of AmeriCorps service with all intentions of moving back to her "home." Texas got her good, though — Jacki joined the Texas Roller Derby in 2008, collected an MSSW from The University of Texas at Austin in 2010, and started claiming Texas as her home state by 2011. She brings ten-plus years of experience in event production, relationship building and nonprofit development, most recently producing events and campaigns for Texas Monthly.
Mandi Cai

Designer/Developer
Mandi Cai tells stories with code and graphics as part of the data visuals team. Previously, she created dashboards for scientists at BioBright, a Boston-based biotechnology company, and visualized defense data for Defense Footprint, a project contextualizing the United States' international military presence. She graduated from Brown University in 2017 with a concentration in neuroscience, focusing on the intersection of cognitive science and design. Mandi enjoys murals, freestyle embroidery and animated films. Read Articles by Mandi Cai
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
Anna Canizales
- Email acanizales@texastribune.org
- @annaleonorc
Anna Canizales was a 2021 reporting fellow and a part-time copy editor. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, she was an associate news editor of The Daily Texan, where she worked in various roles covering politics, breaking news and the university’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Anna was a government major and a member of the UT chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Reese Castro

Media Manager
- Email reese.castro@texastribune.org
Reese Castro is the media manager for The Texas Tribune, returning to the Tribune after being the marcom fellow in Spring 2020. She oversees media relations to help raise the profile of The Texas Tribune’s important storytelling. She has a wide range of experience in PR from previous in-house and agency positions across different industries. Reese is Texas born and raised with a degree in public relations and minors in sociology and business public policy from the University of Texas at Austin.
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 is a member of PEN America, the Council on Foreign Relations and numerous journalism organizations. Read Articles by Sewell Chan
Natalie Choate

Chief Communications 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.
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
Timia Cobb

Reporting Fellow
- Email timia.cobb@texastribune.org
- RSS
Timia Cobb is a reporting fellow, a first-generation college student and a senior at Texas State University. She is majoring in journalism with a concentration in media production and a minor in media studies. At Texas State, she served as News Editor at the University Star, the university’s student-run newspaper, Assistant Web Content Manager at the university’s radio station, KTSW 89.9, and worked for Texas State’s official newsroom as a digital content contributor. She has worked with many organizations in various communities, such as Mano Amiga, a social justice organization, The League of Women Voters, Texas State University’s Chapter of NAACP, San Marcos’ Dunbar Heritage Association, and more. She hopes to write and produce content that spreads awareness, is enjoyable, and informs. When she isn’t writing she is catching up on classwork, re-watching her favorite shows, Sex and the City and ABC’s Ugly Betty, reading and ordering too much Doordash. Read Articles by Timia Cobb
Kiah Collier

Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit
Kiah Collier is an investigative reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. She previously worked at the Tribune as a reporter and associate editor since 2015, covering energy and environment through the lens of state government and politics. She was a reporter on “Hell and High Water,” a Peabody Award–winning collaboration between ProPublica and the Tribune that explored the vulnerability of the Houston area to a large, devastating hurricane. In addition to the Peabody Award, she has been honored with the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism, the National Edward R. Murrow Award for best investigation, and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. Read Articles by Kiah Collier
Vianna Davila

Reporter ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit
- Email Vianna.Davila@propublica.org
- @ViannaDavila
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 at The Texas Tribune whose focus is video and audio production. He's been shooting and producing news for more than two decades. At the Tribune, Dehn has been behind the camera for Tribune 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. 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 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 from the University of Vermont. Read Articles by Zach Despart
Sneha Dey

General Assignment Reporter
Sneha Dey 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
Erin Douglas

Environment Reporter
Erin Douglas is the environment 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
Emily Dresslar

Director, RevLab
- 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

Editor for Data Visuals
Chris Essig is the data visuals editor at the Texas Tribune. He leads a team of developers who build charts, maintain public databases and analyze data for reporters to help them 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
Joshua Fechter

Urban Affairs Reporter
Joshua Fechter is the urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy 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
Mitchell Ferman

Energy and Economy Reporter
Mitchell Ferman is a reporter for The Texas Tribune covering energy and the economy from a base in Houston. Before joining the Tribune he was a reporter for The Monitor in McAllen, where he covered cross-border trade, politics and the city of McAllen. He also regularly freelanced from the Rio Grande Valley and beyond for The New York Times, Texas Monthly and Reuters, writing about topics including the family separation crisis and unexpected consequences of the border wall. He graduated from the University of Missouri. Read Articles by Mitchell Ferman
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.
Megan Fletcher

Design Fellow
- Email megan.fletcher@texastribune.org
- RSS
Megan Fletcher is the spring design fellow. She is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studies journalism and religious studies. Megan previously worked as the design editor at The Daily Texan, a graphic designer at UT’s College of Liberal Arts and has interned in the Texas House of Representatives.
Brandon Formby

Night News Editor
Brandon Formby studied journalism at Texas Tech University. After graduation, he worked at The Dallas Morning News, where he covered local politics, suburban government and regional transportation. He joined The Texas Tribune (but remained in Dallas) as its first urban affairs reporter in 2016. He became the Trib’s night news editor (and moved to Austin) in 2019. He doesn't understand Texas cities' taco wars or the inclination to stay loyal to one restaurant; he believes it's OK to love all tacos. Read Articles by Brandon Formby
Brandyn Friedly

DevOps Engineer
Uriel J. García

Immigration Reporter
Uriel J. García is an immigration reporter based in El Paso. Before joining the Tribune, 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 focused on covering the city's immigrant community and criminal justice issues. Originally from Mexico, he 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. Emily previously worked at The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Observer. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri and her master's degree from the University of North Texas. Read Articles by Emily Goldstein
Luis Gonzalez

Executive Assistant
Luis Gonzalez is The Texas Tribune's first executive assistant. He supports the senior management team in carrying out the publication's collective mission. Luis has worked in the government, educational, nonprofit, and private sectors. Previously, Luis occupied positions of increasing responsibility at The University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in journalism, graduating in 2013. He worked at the School of Architecture, in the Office of the President, and Dell Medical School. Most recently, he supported Fluence by OSRAM as the executive assistant to the CEO. Luis also has extensive nonprofit experience. He served on the board of allgo and is active with Any Baby Can. He also participated in the ATXelerator, which trains young leaders for public service. He currently serves as Vice Chair of Austin's Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Luis considers journalism his first love. Originally from Hebbronville in South Texas, Luis has called Austin home since 2009.
Amiee Gonzalez Johnson

Events & Festival Manager
- Email amiee.gonzalez@texastribune.org
Amiee Gonzalez Johnson is the Events and Festival Manager at The Texas Tribune. She comes to us from Mondo, the creative arm of the Alamo Drafthouse. During her time there, she produced MondoCon 3-5 and countless other events at San Diego Comic Con, Texas Frightmare Weekend, Thought Bubble and DesignerCon. She loves her cat (Von), traveling, spending time with family, taking in a film festival whenever she can, the San Antonio Spurs and is a little bit of a sneakerhead. Originally from Brownsville, Texas she's called Austin home for the last 20 years. --
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.
Dave Harmon

Investigative Editor
- Email dharmon@texastribune.org
Dave Harmon joined the Tribune in January 2017 as the editor for the investigative and projects team. After graduating from the University of Texas with a journalism degree, he started his reporting career in the Rio Grande Valley at The (McAllen) Monitor, covering health care and the environment. After a short stint at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he returned to Austin and spent 18 years at the Austin American-Statesman as a reporter, assistant metro editor and finally a member of the investigative team. Read Articles by Dave Harmon
Karen Brooks Harper

Health and Human Services Reporter
Karen Brooks Harper reports on 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.
Jinitzail Hernandez

Video Journalist
- Email jinitzail.hernandez@texastribune.org
Jinitzail Hernandez joined the Texas Tribune as a video journalist in May 2022. 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. Previously, Jini worked in Jerusalem as a press and policy fellow at The Media Line, a nonprofit American news agency. Jini 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 a native Spanish speaker and is interested in using video to tell immersive policy stories through the lives of the people affected.
Emily Hernandez

Reporting Fellow
- Email emily.hernandez@texastribune.org
- RSS
Emily Hernandez is a spring reporting fellow finishing her final year at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is studying journalism, Spanish and sociology. She has previously interned with the Austin American-Statesman and KUT Radio, Austin’s NPR station. She has worked in several positions at The Daily Texan, UT’s student newspaper, including associate managing editor and news editor. Emily is also a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Read Articles by Emily Hernandez
Isabel Herrera

Events Fellow
- Email isabel.herrera@texastribune.org
- RSS
Isabel Herrera is the events fellow at the Texas Tribune. They are a senior at St. Edwards University, where they are majoring in Global Studies and Political Science. Previously, Isabel has worked as a Student Leader with Texas Rising, as well as a fellow with Planned Parenthood and Jolt. Their goal is to increase civic engagement and make both state and local governments more accessible for young people and people of color.
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.
Kalley Huang

Data Visuals Fellow
Kalley Huang is our fall data visuals fellow. She is in her final year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University, where she studies statistics and journalism. Kalley reports for The Daily Tar Heel and has previously reported for The Dallas Morning News, the El Paso Times and The 9th Street Journal in Durham, North Carolina. Read Articles by Kalley Huang
Pu Ying Huang

Photo Editor/Photographer
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
John Jordan

Deputy Photo Editor/Operations Manager
John Jordan does a little bit of everything at The Texas Tribune. From working with our great photographers to editing our directory of elected officials to making fresh guac y queso every Friday, John manages the day-to-day operations at the Tribune and makes sure we have good coffee to drink. Before coming to work at the Tribune, John spent several decades as a touring and recording musician. In 2005, he left the road (well, sort of) to join a statewide political campaign. After that, John joined the Austin bureau of The Dallas Morning News, where he worked for four years before joining the staff at The Texas Tribune. Read Articles by John Jordan
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 at The Texas Tribune. She was previously with the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, where she covered sexual assault, domestic violence and policing, among other things. She 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 lives in Austin with her enormous cat, Grover Cleveland. 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 Education Editor
Terri Langford was born in Oceanside, California. Naturalized Texan. Comes by her tough love of government honestly. She majored in it at the University of Texas. First courtroom stories were in the Atticus Finch-like Lowndes County courthouse in Valdosta, Georgia, where two months into that first job for the Jacksonville-based Florida Times Union, she found herself covering a quadruple murder. Eventually moved to Jacksonville, covering social services and began unpacking the conflicted rules of government social work and public housing redevelopment for readers. Joined the Associated Press in Dallas and worked there and in Houston covering some of the state's biggest trials and complicated legal issues including the Branch Davidian standoff with ATF agents and the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas as well as witnessing several state executions. Worked for the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle, where she covered everything from airport security, civil courts and the 9/11 attacks to the strains of the Texas Child Protective Services system, the state's removal of more than 400 children from their polygamist parents in West Texas, the Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme trial and the world of Medicare fraud in Houston's private ambulance networks. Langford was named Texas Reporter of the Year in 2011 for her work on the connection between private ambulances in Houston and the non-regulated mental health clinics there. Before joining the Tribune in March 2014, she tried her hand at public radio, working for WNYC in Trenton, covering New Jersey government. Read Articles by Terri Langford
Ren Larson

Data Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune investigative unit
Ren Larson is a data journalist who comes to the Tribune from The Arizona Republic, where she reported on elections, immigration, environmental contamination and wildfires. Her 2019 project "Ahead of the Fire," which analyzed nearly 5,000 Western communities for wildfire hazard and human vulnerabilities, won a 2019 EPPY award for innovation, the MIT Knight Science Journalism's Victor K. McElheny award and was a finalist for the Philip Meyer Award. She holds a masters of public policy and an M.A. in international and area studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Before entering journalism in 2015, she worked as a city planner, a case manager and a data analyst. Read Articles by Ren Larson
Eric Lau

Engineering Fellow
Eric Lau is a sophomore at the University of Michigan studying computer science with minors in digital studies and Science, Technology, and Society. Eric is a managing online editor, and was previously a data journalist and web developer, at his student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. He is also a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.
Abby Livingston

Washington Bureau Chief
Abby Livingston joined The Texas Tribune in 2014 as the publication's first Washington bureau chief. In this role, she covers members in the Texas congressional delegation and campaigns back in the home state. A seventh-generation Texan, Abby grew up in Fort Worth and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to the Tribune, Abby worked for NBC, CNN, National Journal and Roll Call. At the Tribune, she won the 2017 National Press Club Award for Washington regional reporting and the Society of Professional Journalists' 2018 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Washington correspondence. Abby is a contributing writer to the Almanac of American Politics and frequently appears on MSNBC, CNN and Sirius XM radio. She also had a role on an episode of "The Bold and The Beautiful." In keeping with the Trib’s great history of hiring softball stars, Abby is a three-time MVP (the most in game history) for The Bad News Babes, the women’s press softball team that takes on female members of Congress in the annual Congressional Women’s Softball breast cancer charity game. Read Articles by Abby Livingston
Brian Lopez

Public Education Reporter
Brian Lopez is the Public Education Reporter for The Texas Tribune. He joined the Tribune in August 2021 after a covering local government at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a little over a year. The Star-Telegram was his first gig after graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington in May 2020 where he worked for the student-run newspaper The Shorthorn. When not on the job, he's either watching or playing soccer. Read Articles by Brian Lopez
Evan L'Roy

Photo Editor
Evan L'Roy is a photo editor at The Texas Tribune, after being a photography fellow in 2021. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Evan has worked as a videographer and photographer for Austin TV station KXAN and The Daily Texan. He has also worked in various roles on commercial and film productions based in Austin. Read Articles by Evan L'Roy
José Luis Martínez

Data Visuals Fellow
- Email jose.luis.martinez@texastribune.org
- RSS
José Luis Martínez is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin and the data visuals fellow. José has worked as a data reporting intern at American Public Media's investigative unit - APM Reports and he was an Emerging Reporter Fellow with ProPublica. Before that, he produced videos for Austin's El Mundo Newspaper, hosted a podcast for Central American News, and worked both at the Voces Oral History Center and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas. He has freelanced for El Faro English and Latin America News Dispatch, where he reported on the undocumented day laborer community. This summer, José will be a data reporting intern at The Wall Street Journal. Read Articles by José Luis Martínez
Natalie Martinez

Audience Producer
Natalie Martinez is the Audience Producer 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

Breaking News Editor
Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera is the breaking news editor at The Texas Tribune. He 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. Before that he worked as a reporter for several English- and Spanish-language publications covering the U.S.-Mexico border, drug violence, immigration, technology and public safety. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UT, grew up in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, 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 criminal justice issues and policy for The Texas Tribune, ranging from coverage on policing and courts to prisons and the death penalty. She came to the Tribune in early 2015 from the Albuquerque Journal, and has previously worked at the Arizona Republic. She is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Read Articles by Jolie McCullough
Kate McGee

Higher Education Reporter
Kate McGee covers higher education for The Texas Tribune. She joins after nearly a decade as a reporter at public radio stations across the country. She most recently covered higher ed at WBEZ in Chicago, but started on the education beat in 2013 at KUT in Austin. She has also worked at NPR affiliates in Washington D.C., New York City and Reno, Nevada. Kate was born in New York City and primarily raised in New Jersey. She graduated 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
María Méndez

Service and Engagement Reporter
- Email mmendez@texastribune.org
- @anxious_maria
María Méndez is a reporter focused on connecting with Texans to help them navigate politics and public policy and find the resources they need. 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 Guanajuato, Mexico, grew up in Austin and speaks Spanish.
Marquis Mills-Cooper

Revenue Lab Project Manager
- Email marquis.millscooper@texastribune.org
Marquis Mills-Cooper joined the Texas Tribune in March of 2021 and is the Revenue Lab project manager. Prior to becoming a project management professional in 2020, Marquis enjoyed a 21-year career in the United States Army as an All Source Intelligence Warrant Officer(Chief Warrant Officer 2). He served in multiple countries and supported combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo with timely and accurate intelligence. Marquis originally hails from Queens, New York, is a father of one daughter and likes writing and going to the gym. He’s also a collector of edged weapons and does volunteer work in his spare time. He’s a student at Austin Community College where he majors in Government. Marquis is happy to be out of uniform and to be here with the Tribune, but will probably still answer to “hey, chief” if you want to have some fun with him.
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
Ashley Miznazi

Multimedia Fellow
Ashley Miznazi is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin and returning for a second semester as a multimedia fellow at The Texas Tribune. She previously worked as a reporting intern for KXAN-TV in Austin and led research at the Dallas-based production company AMS Pictures. She is the host of Darkness, a podcast about the 2018 Austin bombings for The Drag audio production house at UT-Austin and has experience in the photo and video departments at The Daily Texan. Read Articles by Ashley Miznazi
Reese Oxner

Reporter
Reese Oxner is the breaking news reporter for The Texas Tribune. He previously 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
Brooke Park

Reporting Fellow
- Email brooke.park@texastribune.org
- RSS
Brooke Park is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin and will a spring 2022 reporting fellow. She has worked at Community Impact Newspaper, Austin American-Statesman and held multiple positions at The Daily Texan, including news editor. Read Articles by Brooke Park
David Pasztor

Story Editor
David Pasztor has more than 30 years of experience as a reporter and editor, working at various publications in Texas, Arizona and California.
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

Texas Tribune/ProPublica Engagement Reporter
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.
Alana Rocha

Director of News Partnerships
Alana Rocha is the director of news partnerships for The Texas Tribune, where she previously served as a multimedia reporter after working in television and radio news for eight years. Alana has covered politics for stations in Florida, Kansas and Texas and traveled the country reporting from the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaign trails. She has been the lead reporter on several award-winning projects and launched “The Brief,” a daily audio update. A native of Tampa, Florida, Alana received bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from the University of Florida. Read Articles by Alana Rocha
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.
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.
Gustavo San Miguel

Director of Human Resources
- Email gustavo.sanmiguel@texastribune.org
Gustavo San Miguel is the Director of Human Resources for the Texas Tribune. He joined the Tribune in May 2021. A Houston native, Gustavo obtained his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and pursued his graduate degree from St. Edward’s University. Gustavo comes to the Tribune from UT Austin where he was the HR Director for the Moody College of Communication and the HR Manager for the College of Fine Arts. In previous HR positions, Gustavo has worked in locations as diverse as in Afghanistan with the LOGCAP project and the Amundsen-Scott Research Station at the South Pole with the United States Antarctic Project.
Lauren Santucci

Multimedia Fellow
Lauren Santucci is a multimedia fellow at the Texas Tribune. Santucci is a visual journalist with the goal of humanizing social issues through personal stories. She received her masters in photojournalism and documentary filmmaking from Ohio University this year and holds an undergraduate degree in international relations and art history from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Santucci's work has been published by FRONTLINE PBS, NPR, The Guardian, and more. Her photography has also exhibited at Photoville in Brooklyn and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Read Articles by Lauren Santucci
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
Becca Silvas

Copywriter
- Email becca.silvas@texastribune.org
Becca Silvas is a copywriter at the Texas Tribune on the marketing and communications team. Previously, Becca has served as senior communications associate at the World Justice Project in Seattle, WA, and as marketing and communications coordinator at KERA, Dallas' NPR and PBS member station. She earned her master's in mass communication with a concentration in global media from Texas State University in 2016, and a B.A.I.S. in International Studies and B.A. in Spanish in 2014, also from Texas State University. With a longtime passion for public service and writing, Becca has also been a public affairs intern at the U.S. Embassy in London, an AmeriCorps VISTA at the Central Texas Food Bank, and a digital marketing intern at Austin-based firm PR By the Book.
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.
Evan Smith

CEO
Evan Smith is the CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, a pioneering nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news organization whose deep coverage of Texas politics and public policy can be found at its website, texastribune.org, and in newspapers and on TV and radio stations across the state. Since its launch in 2009, the Tribune has won international acclaim and numerous honors, including a Peabody Award, 23 national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association and three general excellence awards from the Online News Association. 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's a graduate of Hamilton College and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Read Articles by Evan Smith
Brady Stone

ENGAGEMENT FELLOW
Brady Stone is a journalism senior at Texas A&M University and a spring engagement fellow. He has worked as a freelance reporter with The Tyler Morning Telegraph and The Bryan College Station Eagle and as a communication intern at A&M's School of Public Health. Previously, Brady was a page designer and assistant news editor at The Battalion, A&M's student-run newspaper, before serving as editor-in-chief from May 2020 to May 2021. Read Articles by Brady Stone
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.
Zahira Torres

Senior Editor for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative
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 a reporter at The Texas Tribune. As the Tribune’s demographics reporter, she covers the intersection between politics and race with an emphasis on the state’s surging Hispanic population. She also covers voting rights issues for the Tribune, where she started as a reporting fellow in 2013. She’s a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Read Articles by Alexa Ura
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 for News and Politics
Matthew Watkins is the managing editor for news and politics for The Texas Tribune. Before becoming an editor, he worked as a reporter at the Tribune, The Dallas Morning News and The Eagle in Bryan-College Station. He earned his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University. Read Articles by Matthew Watkins
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
Lauren Witte

Photo Fellow
Lauren Witte is a junior at the University of Florida and the spring photography fellow. Lauren has worked as a photo intern for the Gainesville Sun and as multimedia editor for the Independent Florida Alligator. She loves photographing human-interest stories, and her favorite project so far involved following around an Ocala, Fla., cowboy for a semester.
Sloan Wyatt

Marketing/Communications Fellow
- Email sloan.wyatt@texastribune.org
- RSS
Sloan Wyatt is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin and the marketing/communications fellow. A Georgia native, she studies journalism with a focus on gender studies and public policy in Texas. Sloan has worked at McCombs Magazine as an editorial intern, The Zebra as a social media intern and various student publications such as The Daily Texan, Afterglow and Moody Magazine.
Olivia Yarvis

Multimedia Fellow
Olivia Yarvis is a multimedia fellow at The Texas Tribune and a junior at Northwestern University where she studies journalism and sociology. The Austin native previously worked as a head research intern and assistant editor at 60 Second Docs, and interned at GBH, the largest producer of content for PBS. Her most recent freelance documentary work was an official selection at the American Documentary Film Festival. She has also been digital managing editor and video editor of The Daily Northwestern. Read Articles by Olivia Yarvis
Andrew Zhang

D.C.Reporting Fellow
Andrew Zhang is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin and the reporting fellow based in Washington, D.C., where he is living and studying as part of the UT System's Bill Archer Fellowship Program. He is returning to the Tribune after working last fall as an engagement fellow, a role in which he wrote a variety of newsletters and programmed social content. This spring, he will report on news in the capital through a Texas lens and author "The Blast," the Tribune's premium politics newsletter. A lifelong Texan, he grew up in College Station before moving to Austin to attend school. Before the Tribune, Andrew was an editor and reporter at The Daily Texan. Read Articles by Andrew Zhang

Emily Albracht

Andy Alford

Rebekah Allen

Liam Andrew

Angelica Arinze

Virginia Arrigucci

Carla Astudillo

Rob Avila

Tara Ballew

James Barragán

Jason Beeferman

Morgan Bennett

John Mathew Bernal (JMAT)

Bobby Blanchard

Jacki Brinker

Mandi Cai

Darla Cameron

Anna Canizales

Reese Castro

Sewell Chan

Natalie Choate

Lexi Churchill

Timia Cobb

Kiah Collier

Vianna Davila

Justin Dehn

Zach Despart

Sneha Dey

Erin Douglas

Emily Dresslar

Chris Essig

Joshua Fechter

Mitchell Ferman

Irma Fernandez

Megan Fletcher

Brandon Formby

Brandyn Friedly

Uriel J. García

Eddie Gaspar

Emily Goldstein

Luis Gonzalez

Amiee Gonzalez Johnson

Catherine Grooms

Dave Harmon

Karen Brooks Harper

Ashley Hebler

Jinitzail Hernandez

Emily Hernandez

Isabel Herrera

Reagan Hicks

April Hinkle

Kalley Huang

Pu Ying Huang

John Jordan

Kassie Kelly

Eleanor Klibanoff

Lomi Kriel

Evan Lambert

Terri Langford

Ren Larson

Eric Lau

Abby Livingston

Brian Lopez

Evan L'Roy

José Luis Martínez

Natalie Martinez

Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera

Matthew McCrary

Jolie McCullough

Kate McGee

María Méndez

Marquis Mills-Cooper

Ayan Mittra

Ashley Miznazi

Reese Oxner

Alfredo Palacios

Brooke Park

David Pasztor

Jonathan Peacher