District of Columbia

Kayla Benjamin

Kayla Benjamin is a journalist at The Washington Informer, a multimedia news organization in the metro Washington, D.C. area. Prior to this, she was an assistant editor at Washingtonian magazine, and reported on the arts, travel, real estate and politics. As an intern with Current, a national trade publication covering the public media industry, Benjamin wrote a feature story about public radio stations’ climate coverage initiatives, which was included in the Pew Research Center’s newsletter on media and on Mediagazer’s Twitter. Benjamin, a graduate of American University, is passionate about solutions journalism, environmental policy and dark chocolate.

Lindiwe Vilakazi

Lindiwe Vilakazi reports for The Washington Informer, a multimedia news organization serving African Americans in the metro Washington, D.C. area. Previously, she was a contributing editor at Acumen Magazine, a Washington-based publication featuring investigative stories that examine eugenics, African-American history, social movements and popular culture. Vilakazi says that she is an investigative journalist whose work highlights the lives and stories of those groups of people who often go unnoticed in the mainstream news. Her freelance work has appeared in several digital and print publications.

The Washington Informer

The Washington Informer Newspaper Co. Inc. is a multimedia, award-winning organization founded in 1964 in order to highlight positive images of African Americans. Its motto is EDUCATE, EMPOWER, and INFORM. The paper serves metropolitan Washington D.C. through its weekly print edition and weekly email newsletter and via its website.

Anchorage Daily News

The Anchorage Daily News is the most-read paper and news site in Alaska, with a mission to hold a mirror to the state, hold officials and institutions accountable and provide robust, high-quality news and information. A history of public service journalism, this news organization has earned three Pulitzers for public service, the most recent in 2020 in collaboration with ProPublica.

The Washington Informer

The Washington Informer is a multimedia news organization, founded in 1964, and offering coverage of positive news about the African American community in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The Informer reaches more than 50,000 readers through its print and digital channel, including its award winning website; 7,500 subscribers to its daily email newsletter, and thousands of social media followers and fans.

Washington City Paper

Washington City Paper has been D.C.’s hyperlocal news authority since 1981. In print, online, and on social media, it covers community news, education, health, food, the arts, entertainment and local politics.

Natalie Hockaday

Natalie C. Hockaday covers Food Insecurity and Health for The Washington Informer in Washington D.C. She is a first-year corps member with Report for American and a recent graduate of Old Dominion University. In college she worked for her student news organization, the Mace & Crown, and was Editor-in-Chief her senior year. During her role as Editor-in-Chief, Natalie and her staff published the university’s first Black History Month issue highlighting the stories and contributions of those within the campus community. During her time in college Natalie was a public relations and marketing intern and a multi-media intern for two companies in Washington D.C. Natalie always had interest in sharing stories since a young age when she learned photography from her father and later learned videography and editing. Natalie has a passion for storytelling and sharing the multiple experiences within the community.

The Washington Informer

The Washington Informer Newspaper Co. Inc. is a multimedia, award-winning organization founded in 1964 in order to highlight positive images of African Americans. Its motto is EDUCATE, EMPOWER, and INFORM. The paper serves metropolitan Washington D.C. through its weekly print edition and weekly email newsletter and via its website.

Dee Dwyer

Dee Dwyer is a photojournalist at the DCist in Washington, D.C. where she focuses on minority communities. She holds a BFA in Filmmaking and Digital Production from The Art Institute of Washington and has studied at The Art Institute of Miami. After graduating in 2012, Dwyer traveled to Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil and several states documenting daily life. Dee’s work has been exhibited at Photoville, Photoschweiz, and at The DC Arts Center and The Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center. Her work has been published on the sites of BET, Allure, W magazine, The Daily Mail, MetroUK and others.

Aja Beckham

Aja Beckham reports for DCist, a digital publication that covers the District of Columbia and the people who live there rather than the federal government. She covers minority communities east of the Anacostia River. A graduate of the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana with a degree in social work, Beckham has been a journalist in Chicago for the last three years as the Economic Justice Reporter for Free Spirit Media, which provides teens and young adults in communities of color with hands-on media production experience. She has also been an Early Career Journalist with City Bureau, a non-profit civic media platform on Chicago’s South Side. She was also an assistant to the CEO of the National Urban League. She was chosen for a State Department exchange student program in Indonesia and has also studied in China and Thailand.