Our reporters have immigrant roots and can straddle two cultures to tell stories often unseen by the mainstream media.

Valeria Fernández, reporter, is an independent journalist in Phoenix, Arizona. She worked for La Voz newspaper for the last six years covering the immigration beat. The National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP) named her the 2004 Latina Journalist of the Year and recognized her sustained coverage of Proposition 200, Arizona’s first immigration law. In 2009, her series on the Maricopa County Sheriff’s immigration raids in Hispanic neighborhoods was commended with another national award by NAHP. Her articles on immigration have been published in La Opinión and Colorlines magazine, and honored numerous times by the Arizona Press Club and the Arizona Newspaper Association. She is currently a guest contributor on Race Wire. Valeria was born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, and moved to the United States in 1999. [ Go to Valeria's stories / Go to Valeria's audio archive ]

Catalina Jaramillo, reporter, is a staff writer for the oldest Spanish-language daily in America, El Diario/La Prensa, in New York City. She holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from Universidad Catolica in Chile and a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Catalina worked in Chile for El Mercurio and she created her own magazine called Caracter. She also was a full time teacher for journalism undergraduates at Universidad Alberto Hurtado, in Chile. For El Diario/La Prensa she has covered immigration, crime and her most recent beat is politics. Catalina was a Fi2W Political reporting fellow covering the 2010 election season in New York. [ Read Catalina's stories / Go to Catalina's audio archive ]

Mohsin Zaheer, reporter, is a Pakistani-American journalist and editor based in New York whose work spans two decades. He won the New York Community Media Alliance’s Ippies Award in 2009 and has been the beneficiary of numerous Pakistani-American awards. Zaheer joined Daily Khabrain, Lahore (the Urdu-language newspaper with the largest circulation in Pakistan) in 1989 as staff reporter, eventually becoming the Deputy Editor of Reporting. Zaheer moved to the U.S. in 1999 and joined the staff of Sada-e-Pakistan, an Urdu-language weekly, as Editor and set a new trend for Pakistani-American media by reporting on local issues and activities taking place in the U.S. He covered the 9/11 attacks, wide raging issues within the Pakistani-American community in a post 9/11 era, and the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan. Zaheer also launched the Pakistani American community’s first online newspaper in 1996, “The Pakistani Newspaper” (www.pn.com.pk), and continues to contribute news stories and columns to Daily Khabrain, Lahore. Zaheer earned his Master degree in Political Science and History from the University of Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan. Mohsin was a Fi2W Political reporting fellow covering the 2010 election season in New York. [ Read Mohsin's stories. Go to Mohsin's audio archive ]

Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, reporter, was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland. In 2001 she moved to the U.S. and currently lives in Queens, NY. She works for Nowy Dziennik/Polish Daily News, where she covers stories about Polish immigrants. Ewa has received many fellowships and awards, including John Jay College’s Justice and Community Reporting Award as well as numerous Ippies – awards given to ethnic press journalists every year by the New York Community Media Alliance. Her series of radio pieces “Polish Immigrants in a Changing City,” produced by WNYC and Feet in Two Worlds, won the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2007 New America Award. She has been featured in many media outlets including The New York Times, the New York Daily News, and CUNY TV. Ewa graduated from the University of Warsaw with an MA in Polish Studies in 2000, and she also holds an MA in Anthropology from Hunter College in New York. Ewa was a Fi2W political reporting fellow covering the 2010 election season in New York. [ Go to Ewa's stories / Go to Ewa's audio archive ]

Annie Correal, reporter, Annie Correal is a reporter who covers New York City for the oldest Spanish-language daily in America, El Diario/La Prensa. Before beginning to write in Spanish in 2009, Annie reported for The New York Times metro section. She holds an undergraduate degree in comparative literature from Princeton University and a graduate degree in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Her first radio documentary, about kidnappings in Colombia, was broadcast on This American Life and Radio Netherlands Worldwide. She has produced radio pieces for All Things Considered, Latino USA and WNYC. She has discussed her reporting on The Brian Lehrer Show, Morning Edition and Latino USA. Most recently, she has been reporting from Louisiana on the oil spill clean-up.  [ Go to Annie's stories / Go to Annie's audio archive ]

Peter McDermott, reporter, was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and has lived in Queens, New York, since 1993. He has been an associate editor at the Irish Echo since 2004. Peter is a 2011 Fi2W education reporting fellow. [ Go to Peter's stories].

Sujeet Rajan, reporter, is editor of the Indian Express North American edition, based in New York, and is the anchor for Eye on South Asia, on Crossings TV. Rajan is author of a collection of poems titled ‘Voices Everywhere,’ and he is currently working on a collection of short stories. Sujeet is a 2011 Fi2W education reporting fellow. [ Go to Sujeet's stories.]

Rong Xiaoqing, reporter, is a reporter for the Chinese language newspaper Sing Tao Daily New York, covering a variety of topics from health, immigration, politics, business and social services. She also contributes to some English and Chinese language publications in the U.S. and in Asia. [ Go to Rong's stories.]

Erwin de Leon, reporter, is a Policy Researcher and writer based in Washington, DC who files a weekly column for Feet in Two Worlds. He writes on immigration, LGBT, and nonprofit issues. You can follow him on Twitter at @ErwindeLeon. [ Go to Erwin's stories.] [Go to Erwin's audio archive ]

Necla Polat Demirci, reporter, is a freelance Turkish television journalist, currently based in New York City. She produces short documentaries and news pieces for various Turkish-American news outlets. Her latest piece on Turkish student pedicab drivers won second place in the video category at the 2011 Ippies Awards in New York City. She was an associate producer-writer for TRT International (Turkish Government TV) in New York, has reported for a number of newspapers and has worked as a media consultant for several companies in Istanbul, Turkey. She is now pursuing her masters degree in Communication Arts at New York Institute of Technology. [ Go to Necla's stories.] [Go to Necla's audio archive ]

Cristina DC Pastor, reporter, is the managing editor of Philippine News, the oldest newspaper serving the Filipino American community in the U.S. She published a book, “Scratch the News: Filipino Americans in Our Midst” (Inkwater, 2005), which is a celebration of ordinary citizens at the center of extraordinary stories. She is a Fi2W Business and Economics Reporting Fellow. [ Go to Cristina's stories]

Von Diaz, reporter, is a native of Puerto Rico and spent most of her life in Atlanta, GA. She is a reporter for the Latin America News Dispatch. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, she earned a B.A. in Women’s Studies and focused her research on women in Latin America and the developing world. She has worked in community advocacy and communications for a variety of nonprofit organizations focused on women and children. She is currently pursing a dual M.A. in journalism and Latin American and Caribbean studies at New York University. Von is a FI2W LGBTQ Reporting fellow. [ Go to Von's stories]

Lan Trinh, reporter, a multi-lingual ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, Lan Trinh fled to China at the age of eight and immigrated to America at ten. Since graduating from NYU in Journalism/Communications, Trinh has been a TV producer and journalist working in entertainment, news and documentaries for network and cable in the U.S. and Asia. Most recently, Trinh was a producer at ABC News in New York City.

Martha St Jean, reporter, Martha St Jean is a New Yorker through and through. She currently freelances for a large news network, where she works in the producing of documentaries. She received her masters from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Before that she attended New York University, attaining a BS in Culture and Communication studies. She loves teaching high school students the art of writing and encouraging them in their noble pursuits. She loves a good book, coffee, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ramaa Reddy Raghavan, reporter, is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism. She received two other Masters degrees, in Clinical and Industrial Psychology (NYU), after which she worked in the area of human resources, specifically in banking and consulting. Ramaa is also a classical Indian dancer and has performed for various festivals in the New York metropolitan area.

Monika Fabian, reporter, is a freelance journalist who writes about New York’s Latino community and Latin American culture. Her articles have appeared in El Diario/La Prensa, Hora Hispana, Metro, New York Daily News, NYPress, and Time Out New York. Monika is a Bronx-native with roots and family in Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Monika was a Fi2W Political reporting fellow covering the 2010 election season in New York. [ Read Monika's stories. ]

Larry Tung, reporter, is a native of Taiwan, Larry Tung was a political reporter for the English-language Taiwan News before moving to New York in 2000. Upon receiving his M.F.A. in Television Production from Brooklyn College, he has been a journalist, an independent documentary filmmaker and an educator. His films have been shown in numerous film festivals in North America and Europe. Currently he writes a column on immigrant communities in New York City for the Online Journalism Award-winning Gotham Gazette. He also teaches video production at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. Larry was a Fi2W Political reporting fellow covering the 2010 election season in New York. [ Read Larry's stories. Go to Larry's audio archive ]

Fi2W Staff:

John Rudolph, executive producer, is a radio journalist with more than 30 years experience as a program host and producer of documentaries and news reports. John produced the award-winning documentary Feet in Two Worlds: Immigrants in a Global City, which was the debut for the Feet in Two Worlds project. Since 1999 he has worked with WNYC to chronicle the life of the city in programs such as Six Months: Rebuilding Our City, Rebuilding Ourselves, a documentary series that explored the impact of the 9/11 attacks, and New York in Black and White: The Sixties, Civil Rights and the Ocean Hill-Brownsville Crisis, named “Best news special/documentary, First Place” for 2000 by the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association. He produced and hosted Culture Lessons: Stories of Students at Manchester Central High School, winner of the 2007 RTNDA/Unity award. This documentary, produced for New Hampshire Public Radio, tells the story of a public high school with a large immigrant and refugee population. [ Go to John's stories / Go to John's audio archive ]

Jocelyn Gonzales, technical director and senior producer, is a freelance radio producer in New York City. Her work has been featured on WNYC News, Studio 360, Soundcheck, Marketplace, Weekend America, Sound Money, Radiolab, Musicians Radio, Ear Studio, the Bowery Poetry Club, Minnesota Public Radio, Strange Music and Re:Sound. She was part of the team that created Studio 360, and she was the producer for Dish, Now Hear This! and The Conversation on WNYC. Jocelyn is a full-time faculty member at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in the sound design department, and was the principal advisor to the campus radio station, WNYU AM/FM, for several years. [ Go to Jocelyn's stories ]

Sarah Kate Kramer, website editor, is a freelance radio reporter, multimedia producer, editor and photographer. As a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco from 2007-2008 she conducted an oral history project about the memory of colonialism. Previously, Sarah worked as a StoryCorps facilitator and as an independent producer. She currently works with WNYC Radio, Next American City and Feet in Two Worlds. Her website is www.whatisbeau.com [ Go to Sarah's stories ]

Former Contributors:

Jelena Kopanja, reporter, is a graduate of New York University’s Global and Joint Studies Program, with concentrations in Journalism and Latin American Studies.  She was born in Bosnia, from where she brought her love of good coffee and baklava. Prior to her graduate work, she was involved in immigrant communities as an ESL volunteer instructor and an interpreter for Spanish and Bosnian. [ Go to Jelena's stories / Go to Jelena's audio archive ]

Diego Graglia, former website editor, is an Argentinean-born bilingual, multimedia reporter and editor who has often written about the convergence of the U.S. and Latin America and the intersecting paths of Latinos, Americans and Latin Americans. Currently based in Mexico City, where he is an editor in The Associated Press-World Spanish Desk, he often blogs about immigration reform, Hispanic media and immigration policy. Since 1997, he has written in Spanish and English for newspapers and magazines in the United States and many Latin American countries, including Clarín (Argentina), El Mercurio (Chile), The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J). and the Daily News (New York). He holds degrees in journalism from Universidad Nacional de Misiones and Universidad Catolica Argentina, and master’s degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and New York University’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. [ Go to Diego's stories / Go to Diego's audio archive ]

Martina Guzmán, reporter, has for the past 15 years specialized in creative production with an emphasis on stories by and about Latino communities. She developed the content for the Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato, an exhibition that will tour six North American destinations starting in 2010 and she produced and directed the accompanying documentary Las Momias, The Eternal Residents of Guanajuato. In 2006, she produced Milagros: Made In Mexico, a 60-minute documentary about women, migration and microeconomics in Mexico. Martina also has extensive marketing and PR experience and as a screenwriter, she co-wrote 13 episodes of Nuestro Barrio, the first Spanish-language telenovela to air on English-language television in the U.S. Martina holds a B.A. in Political Science and Communication from Madonna University, an A.A. in Photography from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit; and a Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University. In 2008, The Associated Press of Michigan honored Martina with an award as the Best Individual Reporter. She currently works as a feature reporter for WDET, the NPR affiliate in Detroit, Michigan. [ Go to Martina's stories / Go to Martina's audio archive ]

Pilar Marrero, reporter, is Los Angeles newspaper La Opinión’s political editor and columnist, a radio talk show host, and international news service writer. Marrero has been a reporter for La Opinión since 1990, where she has extensively covered the city government, immigrations, and state and national politics. She is currently co-host of ‘Nuestra Voz,’ a groundbreaking public affairs program in Spanish for KPFK-Radio Pacifica in Los Angeles and a writer for both BBC World Service and Pacific News Service. Pilar was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She graduated in Communications from Andrés Bello Catholic University in 1986, with a specialization in print journalism. An avid world traveler and music lover, she resides in Los Feliz, Calif. [ Go to Pilar's stories / Go to Pilar's audio archive ]

Aswini Anburajan, reporter, covered Barack Obama’s presidential bid for NBC News, MSNBC and the National Journal magazine. Prior to that, Aswini was an associate producer at ABCNews.com. She grew up in Connecticut after immigrating from India at the age of four with her family. As an international relations major at Brown University, she focused on the shaping of identity and its relation to ethnic conflict. During the 2004 presidential campaign, she was an organizer in New Hampshire for Dean for America and later became an opposition researcher for the Kerry-Edwards campaign. [ Go to Aswini's stories / Go to Aswini's audio archive ]

Eduardo A. de Oliveira, reporter, an immigrant from Brazil, is a full-time health reporter for New England Ethnic News. He has covered issues such as Latinos and diabetes, childhood obesity, female genital circumcision, heart surgery with robotic technology and smoking. Additionally, he is a radio reporter for Portuguese-language WSRO (650 AM) in Framingham, Mass. He also writes a column about immigration topics for the Nashua Telegraph, a mainstream daily newspaper based in southern New Hampshire. [ Go to Eduardo's stories / Go to Eduardo's audio archive ]

Suman Raghunathan is an experienced immigration and public policy analyst and consultant, with expertise spanning the grassroots, advocacy, and policy worlds. Her background includes crafting immigration policy agendas for progressive groups such as Demos and the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy; writing and producing policy reports on issues affecting immigrant children and families for the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School; and serving as the interim executive director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, a grassroots organization serving South Asian immigrants in New York City. She writes about a wide variety of immigration policy issues that affect newcomer communities. [ Go to Suman's stories ]

Maibe González Fuentes is a Venezuelan journalist who worked for leading publications in her home country before moving to New York City in 2001. From 2002 to 2004, Maibe worked as a staff reporter for the Spanish-language newspaper Hoy, where she covered local politics and the mayoral office. In 2005, she worked as Spanish-language spokesperson for the Democratic mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer. After the campaign, she served as a press liaison for community and ethnic media for the Manhattan Borough President’s Office and the New York City Department of Education. Maibe is a former Independent Press Association Ethnic Journalist Fellow. She holds a BA in Journalism from the Central University of Venezuela and a master’s degree in Urban Policy and Management from The New School University. [ Go to Maibe's stories ]

Odette Keeley is New America Media‘s chief of staff, broadcast and online news anchor and producer. She hosts and produces NAM’s weekly radio newscast, “Stories from the Ethnic Media” on “New America Now,” airing on 91.7 FM-KALW in the San Francisco Bay Area; and also anchors NAM’s monthly TV show, “New America Now” on Comcast On Demand. Odette graduated cum laude with a BA in Communications from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. [ Go to Odette's stories ]

Our parent organization

The project is based at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School, a nonpartisan institute dedicated to advancing innovative public policies that strengthen neighborhoods, support families and reduce urban poverty. Its tools include rigorous analysis; skillful journalistic research; candid public dialogue with stakeholders and opinion leaders; and strategic planning with government officials, nonprofit practitioners and community residents.

Andrew White, the Center’s director, is a co-founder of the New York Community Media Alliance, and has contacts throughout a network that includes scores of ethnic and mainstream publications. White is a journalist whose writing on politics, policy and urban issues has been published in The New York Times, Newsday, El Diario and elsewhere. The Center’s applied policy research routinely generates extensive coverage in the mainstream and ethnic press, including The New York Times, the Daily News, The Haitian Times, Desi Talk, Muslims Weekly, Sing Tao Daily, Filipino Express and El Diario, and on public radio and both English- and Spanish-language television.