Staff
Colleen Connolly (editor-in-chief)
Colleen is a journalist pursuing a master’s degree in journalism and Latin American and Caribbean studies at NYU. She is also a Foreign Language Area Studies fellow studying Quechua. She previously worked as a digital news editor at the Chicago Tribune, where she managed the homepage and social media accounts and published stories about immigration, tourism at Machu Picchu and Chicago history. Her reporting has also appeared in Smithsonian magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review and NBC Chicago.
Alanna Elder (deputy editor, RadioLAND producer)
Alanna is pursuing a master’s in journalism and Latin American and Caribbean Studies and studying Quechua at NYU. She has experience in general assignment reporting for public radio in Alaska and Wyoming and a B.S. in agroecology. Her research interests include land issues, farming, gender and social movements in the Andes.
STAFF WRITERS
Maria Abreu
Maria is a Global & Joint Program Studies master’s student at NYU with a concentration in journalism and international relations. She previously worked as a communication specialist at NextEra Energy, Inc., where she developed and implemented communication strategies and tactics and provided media relations on behalf of the company.
Nicolas is a photographer and researcher specializing in social conflicts and human rights. He is the cofounder of Colombia-based VELA Collective and has been featured on BBC, Bloomberg, America’s Quarterly Magazine and others. VELA’s work uncovering the guerrilla dissident phenomena and paramilitary incursions in northern Colombia forced him to leave the country in 2018. Nicolas now resides and works in New York.
Chase DiBenedetto
Chase is a current Master’s candidate in Journalism and International Relations at New York University, with interests in audio editing, foreign reporting and international human rights regimes. A California native, she received her B.A. from UC San Diego in both International Studies and Anthropology, focusing on humanitarian aid and human rights on the border.
Madeline Gunderson
Madeline is a New York-based journalist and filmmaker pursuing a masters degree in news and documentary at NYU. Her undergraduate thesis, published in collaboration with the UW Center for Human Rights and Los Angeles legal clinic El Rescate, detailed the cycle of violence in migration between Central America, Mexico and the United States. A native of Seattle, she has also worked as an immigration paralegal and volunteered with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Her research interests include migration, human rights and feminism.
Taylor Jennings
Taylor is a graduate student pursuing her master’s degree in journalism and international relations at NYU. Previously, she worked as a communications specialist at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she also completed her BA in English and global studies. She has also done advocacy work writing for The Borgen Project, which aims to spread awareness of poverty alleviation initiatives. Her academic interests focus on international development work and global reporting.
Vaclav is currently pursuing a Masters in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at CLACS. Previously, he completed a triple-BA in Sociology, Spanish and Global Liberal Studies (Concentration in Politics, Rights, and Development) in May 2017. His undergraduate thesis was concerned with the transitional justice system in his home country of Guatemala.
Paola Nagovitch
Paola is a Puerto Rican journalist and student pursuing a double-BA in Journalism and Political Science at NYU. She has interned as an editorial producer for CNN.com Opinion and written for Washington Square News about topics ranging from social issues to the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. Her reporting and research interests include colonial legacies and the relationship between the U.S. and Latin American countries.
Cecilia is a New York-based journalist whose writing focuses on feminism, migration, political art and Latin America. She has bylines in Ms. Magazine, Bitch Magazine, Bust Magazine, The Establishment and Bedford + Bowery. In a former life, she worked as a paralegal at an immigration law firm in Boston. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in journalism and international relations at NYU.
Cameron Oakes
Cameron is a journalist pursuing a bachelor’s degree in journalism and sociology at NYU. She currently works in documentary development and freelances her print/digital reporting. Cameron speaks intermediate Spanish, elementary Italian,and beginner conversational Hebrew and Arabic. Her current bylines appear in Haaretz English, Her Culture Magazine, and Cooper Squared.
Maria Olloqui
Maria is a Spanish undergraduate student at New York University pursuing a double-major in Journalism and Language and Mind, with a minor in Chinese. She speaks Spanish, English, Chinese, and is currently learning Italian. Maria has written for Washington Square News, writing about topics ranging from culture to fashion. She attended a New York Fashion Week show in 2019 as a writer and photographer for WSN. Maria has also interned at Univision News Network for four years. Looking forward, she hopes to cover investigative reporting, fashion journalism, and Latin American research.
Dayana Perez
Dayana is a Colombian-American activist and journalist, who resides in Queens, New York. She has prior experience as a staff writer at City College of New York – The Campus Magazine and Harlem Focus. She recently completed a BA degree from Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at City College of New York as an international studies major and psychology minor. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in political journalism at New York University, with interests in reporting national and international stories on immigration, women’s rights and underrepresented populations.
Melanie Pineda
Melanie is an undergraduate journalism student at NYU double majoring in journalism and Latin American studies. She has worked as a translator in immigration law offices around Washington, D.C., and is currently one of the opinion editors for NYU’s Washington Square News, where she writes about a range of issues pertaining to Latin America and Latinx issues. In addition to being a journalist, she also has ambitions of becoming an immigration and human rights lawyer.
Martha Pskowski
Martha is a journalist focused on environmental justice and urbanism in Latin America. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Journalism at NYU. She worked as a freelance journalist in Mexico from 2015-2019 and was previously a Fulbright fellow. She publishes in outlets including CityLab, The Nation and Yale E360.
Maria Paula Rubiano
Josh Aaron Siegel
Josh is an undergraduate student at NYU double-majoring in Journalism and Anthropology. He has worked in documentary production and writes about history and culture as an intern for Untapped Cities. His research interests include migration and visual culture in Latin America and the Middle East.
Daniela Sirtori-Cortina
Hanaa’ Tameez
Contributors
Founders
Roque Planas (former director)
Roque’s works as editor of the Huffington Post’s Latino Voices vertical, where he covers Latino politics and Latin American affairs. Before joining HuffPost, he worked as a staff writer for the Fox News Latino and the New York Daily News. His work as a freelance journalist has appeared in Foreign Policy Magazine, the World Politics Review, and the New Internationalist. He holds an M.A. in history from Texas State University at San Marcos and earned an M.A. in the global joint master’s program in journalism and Latin American studies at New York University, where he was a Henry MacCracken Fellow.
Andrew O’Reilly (former editor-in-chief)
Andrew’s work has appeared in ESPN The Magazine, Ralph Lauren Magazine, Hemispheres, The New York Times and The New York Daily News among others. He holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Pittsburgh and a joint M.A. in journalism and Latin American studies from New York University. His regional focus in reporting is Mexico and Central America. Andrew now works at Fox News Latino.
Mari Hayman (former editor-in-chief)
Mari is a native of Washington state and earned a B.A. in comparative literature at Stanford University. She holds a master’s degree in journalism and Latin American studies at New York University , where she focused on memory and human rights in Uruguay. Mari now works as as managing editor for Americas Quarterly.
Rachel Brooks-Ames Lachenmeier (staff writer)
Rachel was a Henry MacCracken Fellow at New York University , where she earned a master’s degree in Latin American Studies. She grew up in Austin, Texas, and earned her bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Latin American/Latino Studies. Her past work has focused on Mexico, U.S.-Mexico relations, and Mexican Americans and immigrants in Texas. Rachel is currently earning a doctorate at the Centro Latinoamericano-Suizo at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.