Join us in welcoming Renaissance Journalism’s 2024 LaunchPad NextGen Fellows. This national initiative, now in its second year, strives to empower early-career journalists who are passionate about reimagining journalism through the lens of equity and social justice.
The 2024 cohort is composed of nine talented early-career journalists who were selected through a competitive application process that included a written application and interview. The fellows are from Alaska, California, Connecticut, Oregon, Illinois, New York, North Dakota and Pennsylvania. They have a broad range of journalism experience working as independent journalists and as staff reporters at diverse media outlets, such as Grist, High Country News, ICT (Indian Country Today), Amsterdam News, Prism and The Nation, among others.
The nine-month fellowship begins on Oct. 21, 2024, with an intensive three-day learning experience in the San Francisco Bay Area. During the fellowship, the journalists will investigate a wide range of critical topics.
“We are thrilled to welcome such a multi-talented group of early-career journalists to LaunchPad,” said Valerie Bush, executive director of Renaissance Journalism. “We were blown away by the breadth of their experience, the depth of their understanding of their proposed reporting topics, and their passionate commitment to community-centered and investigative journalism. We can’t wait to see their powerful reporting projects come to fruition.”
Each fellow will receive a $5,000 grant to offset living expenses while conducting their research and reporting. They will also be paired with a journalist mentor who will work with them as a group and individually to hone their reporting projects and strengthen their reporting skills.
Meet the 2024-2025 LaunchPad Fellows:
- Farrah Anderson
- Mara Cavallaro
- Jessica De La Torre
- Taayoo Murray
- B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster
- Maria Rose
- Meghan Sullivan
- Ray Uyeda
- Wendy Wei