Simone Garza is covering economic mobility in the African-American community in Wichita, Kansas for The Community Voice. Garza’s reporting career had its start at the University of Iowa in 2019, when she enrolled in the school’s mass communication and journalism programs. There, she reported on research projects for The Daily Iowan, held two internships for digital marketing, with a woman-owned business and blogging for environmental research. Garza holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in philosophy.
Beat: Economic mobility in the African-American community in Kansas
The RFA reporter will cover a beat we call "African American business and Black financial empowerment." We see this beat as playing a key role in the economic mobility of the African-American communities we serve. We look at the other news and the television media and what we rarely see are stories about Black entrepreneurs and professionals. In our mission statement, we emphasize 'shining a light on positive role models and positive cultural images" and "helping others to help themselves." This beat addresses both of those stated goals.