Since we launched seven years ago, CalMatters has carved out a leadership role at the center of the media ecosystem in California, establishing ourselves as a trusted brand and “go-to” hub for in-depth news and information on statewide issues. Our work has led to changes in policy, new legislation, investigations and discussions at the Capitol, in political groups and beyond — and created an awareness of important issues that aren’t getting covered anywhere else.
Our team has been recognized and honored with top state, regional and national awards from ONA, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the National Press Club, the Public Media Journalists Association, the Institute for Nonprofit News, the Edward R. Murrow Award, SPJ NorCal, Best of the West and California News Publishers.
Avriana Allen
Full Stack Web Developer
Avriana Allen is a Full Stack Web Developer for CalMatters. Previously, she has worked for The Texas Tribune as an engineering fellow. Avriana holds a bachelor’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University where she double-majored in journalism and statistics.
Anna Almendrala
Audience Engagement Manager
Anna Almendrala is audience engagement manager at CalMatters. Previously she has worked in content engagement and curation, was a health care reporter at Kaiser Health News, and a health and lifestyle reporter at HuffPost, where she created and hosted a podcast about infertility and alternative family building. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, NPR, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and other outlets. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Denise Amos
Deputy Editor
Denise Smith Amos leads our statewide California Divide team. Before joining CalMatters she was the editor of the watchdog and accountability team at the Union-Tribune in San Diego. She has been a reporter, columnist and editor at newspapers in Orlando, Tampa Bay, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Jacksonville. Denise is a Philadelphia native who earned her B.A. in journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. More by Denise Amos
Adam Ashton
Deputy Editor
Adam Ashton is a deputy editor supervising CalMatters’ coverage of health care, mental health and criminal justice. Adam previously led the local news staff as assistant managing editor at The Sacramento Bee, prioritizing coverage of homelessness, public safety, education and underserved communities. He has worked as a reporter and editor in West Coast newsrooms since 2004, including assignments covering local government in the San Joaquin Valley for The Modesto Bee and Merced Sun-Star, as well as covering the military and veterans in western Washington for The News Tribune of Tacoma. Adam reported from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on several assignments for the McClatchy Washington Bureau. More by Adam Ashton
Yousef Baig
California Voices Editor
Yousef Baig is the California Voices Editor for CalMatters, managing the nation’s first-ever opinion section offered by a state-level nonprofit newsroom. Yousef was previously the Assistant Opinion Editor at The Sacramento Bee where he authored award-winning editorials and columns covering a variety of state and local issues. Prior to that, he spent nearly six years working for newspapers in the Bay Area, working in the news, features or sports sections at The Press Democrat, Petaluma Argus-Courier and Napa Valley Register, exploring California communities up close. He is a Poynter fellow, Asian American Journalists Association member and studied journalism and sociology at the University of Georgia. More by Yousef Baig
Rachel Becker
Water Reporter
Rachel Becker is a journalist reporting on California’s complex water challenges and water policy issues for CalMatters. Rachel has a background in biology, with master’s degrees in both immunology and science journalism. She previously reported on climate change and air pollution for CalMatters, and contributed to early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well. Before joining CalMatters, Rachel was a staff reporter at The Verge, and her byline has also appeared in outlets including National Geographic News, Smithsonian, Slate, Nature and the YouTube series MinuteEarth. More by Rachel Becker
Deborah Brennan
San Diego and Inland Empire Issues
Deborah Sullivan Brennan is the San Diego and Inland Empire reporter for CalMatters, in partnership with Voice of San Diego. She writes about life, politics, the economy and environment in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Throughout her career, Deborah has covered elections, government, the environment and education for newspapers throughout Southern California. She has a master’s degree in journalism and an undergraduate degree in peace and conflict studies from UC Berkeley. Deborah lives in North County San Diego with her husband, a wildlife biologist, and children. She speaks English, French and Spanish. More by Deborah Brennan
Jennifer Burger
College Journalism Network Editor
Jennifer Burger is the editor of the College Journalism Network, a fellowship program at CalMatters for student journalists throughout the state. She guides students through the process of reporting on how state policy impacts college affordability, civil rights, student support, workforce development, and other key issues. For 10 years, she advised student media and taught journalism courses at Cal State Bakersfield, including government and data reporting, features writing and multimedia. There, she received the Outstanding Lecturer award and led the student news organization, The Runner. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Sacramento State University and a master’s in journalism from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. More by Jennifer Burger
Julie Cart
Environment Reporter
Julie Cart is a projects reporter on CalMatters’ environment team who focuses on wildfires and natural resources. Julie’s work for CalMatters has received numerous national and regional journalism awards, including from Best of the West and the Society of Environmental Journalists. In addition, Julie and colleague Bettina Boxall won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for their 2009 Los Angeles Times series on wildfires in the West. In 2023 she won the international Covering Climate Now award, which honored her four-part series in CalMatters documenting the mental health crisis among the crews that fight California’s wildfires. Julie came to CalMatters after a long career at the Los Angeles Times, where she held many positions: sportswriter, national correspondent and environment reporter. She has reported from numerous countries, including South Africa, Argentina, Cuba and throughout Europe. More by Julie Cart
Neil Chase
Chief Executive Officer
Neil Chase is the Chief Executive Officer of CalMatters. He was formerly Executive Editor at The Mercury News and the East Bay Times and has worked as a journalist at the San Francisco Examiner, Arizona Republic, CBS MarketWatch and The New York Times. More by Neil Chase
Evelyn Chavez
Associate Events Producer
Evelyn helps build CalMatters’ editorial events program, including Sacramento Sessions, CalMatters Live and the Ideas Festival. Originally from Salinas, Evelyn now lives in Sacramento after moving here to study International Relations at Sacramento State. Before working for CalMatters, Evelyn helped manage and produce all special events at Sutter Health Park.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (fluent), French (intermediate)
Ben Christopher
Housing Reporter
Ben Christopher covers housing policy for CalMatters. His favorite reporting assignment so far: Touring the various two- and three-story structures that have sprouted up across San Diego under the regulatory guise of “accessory dwelling units” thanks to that city’s one-of-a-kind program. Prior to taking over the housing beat in the spring of 2023, Ben wrote about elections and politics for CalMatters, covering four election cycles, including the 2021 gubernatorial recall campaign. Ben has a past life as an aspiring beancounter: He has worked as a summer associate at the Congressional Budget Office and has a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Oakland where he enjoys riding his bike, baking (and then eating) pies and working on his repertoire of dad jokes. More by Ben Christopher
Marla Cone
Deputy Editor
Marla Cone is a deputy editor who supervises CalMatters’ coverage of environmental issues. She is one of the nation’s most experienced environmental journalists, and her work has won several national awards, including two Scripps-Howard Meeman awards. Previously Marla was senior editor/environment at National Geographic Magazine, where she was one of the editors of the gender project that was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. She spent 18 years as an environmental reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where she covered air pollution and then pioneered the environmental health beat. She also was a senior editor for Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, where she led an initiative investigating Trump administration science policies. Her book Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic was a finalist for a National Academies Communications Award. She taught at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she was the first Hewlett Foundation fellow for environmental journalism. More by Marla Cone
Robin Cortez
Robin Cortez is a Membership Intern at CalMatters. Robin is pursuing a journalism degree with a concentration in marketing and advertising in Sacramento. She has collaborated with companies across two internships to secure brand deals, increase online visibility and grow engagement across social media channels.
John Osborn D'Agostino
Data and Interactives Editor
John Osborn D’Agostino is the Data and Interactives Editor at CalMatters. He’s passionate about experimenting with different ways to tell digital stories. In particular, John enjoys telling stories with game mechanics: he spearheaded “Gimme Props”, an interactive that allows users to explore how they may want to vote on certain ballot measures, designed and developed a game that allows prospective students to explore the complexities of financing college, and allowed users to explore how they would spend California’s record surplus in 2022. Previously, John worked with The Hechinger Report, EdSource, the East Bay Express, Berkeleyside, and the North Coast Journal. He graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. More by John Osborn D’Agostino
Kelly Davis
Development Director
Kelly focuses on major gift donations and identifying new supporters of our organization. Before joining CalMatters, she worked as the Director of Fundraising for March of Dimes and as the Development Director for Girl Scouts Heart of Central California. Previously, she worked in marketing at Sacramento Magazine as well as Guild Mortgage. She started her career working for NBC Universal in New York City as a Page in the prestigious Page Program. Kelly is a Sacramento native and graduated from California State University Sacramento with a BA degree in Communications.
Andrew Donohue
Investigative Editor
Andrew Donohue is the investigative editor at CalMatters. Previously, he served as executive editor of projects at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, where he helped lead digital, audio and video projects that forced major change, including Rape on the Night Shift, Amazon: Behind the Smiles, All Work. No Pay. and Reveal’s immigration reporting. He worked on teams that were twice named Pulitzer Prize finalists and won Investigative Reporters and Editors, Edward R. Murrow and Online News Association awards, among others. Before that he was the editor of Voice of San Diego, a pioneering local news nonprofit.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (fluent)
Nigel Duara
Justice Reporter
Nigel Duara joined CalMatters in 2020 as a Los Angeles-based reporter covering poverty and inequality issues for our California Divide collaboration. Previously, he served as a national and climate correspondent on the HBO show VICE News Tonight. Before that, he was the border correspondent at the Los Angeles Times based in Phoenix, deployed to stories across the country. He is a longtime contributor to Portland Monthly magazine and graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (intermediate); Mandarin (beginner) More by Nigel Duara
Adam Echelman
Community College Reporter
Adam Echelman covers higher education for CalMatters, focusing on California’s 116 community colleges and how they influence the state’s future. He works in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on strengthening higher education coverage in local communities. In his reporting, students drive every story. He’s traveled across the state, from Mojave to the upper north, examining why colleges rely on incarcerated students and later, why rural LGBTQ students don’t feel safe on campuses. Before joining CalMatters, he worked as an equity reporter at the Modesto Bee, where his coverage of environmental injustice received a California News Publishers Association award. Adam has extensive experience as an education leader. For five years, he served as the executive director of Libraries Without Borders, a nonprofit organization that helps expand access to information. He’s a graduate of Yale University and is fluent in Spanish and French. More by Adam Echelman
Trevor Eischen
Product Manager
Trevor Eischen is a product manager at CalMatters. He previously worked in Washington, D.C., as the social media editor at POLITICO, where he strategized digital promotion efforts during the tumultuous 2016 election and the first year of the Trump administration. He started in the POLITICO newsroom as a web producer in 2013. A graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, Eischen is originally from Sleepy Hollow, Illinois, where every Halloween a person dressed up as the Headless Horseman rides around a giant bonfire. In his spare time, he enjoys going on impromptu road trips, seeing the nation’s statehouses and being a Luxembourger.
Wendy Fry
California Divide Reporter
Wendy Fry is an Emmy-winning multimedia investigative journalist who reports on poverty and inequality for the California Divide team. Based in San Diego and Mexico, Wendy has been covering the California border region for more than 15 years and covers immigration, reparations and issues affecting San Diego-area families. She’s a board member of the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and has reported for the Watchdog team at the San Diego Union-Tribune from 2009 to 2012. For television, she worked as an on-air reporter, investigative producer and assignment editor at NBC San Diego from 2013 to 2018 — where she helped launch an investigative team and Telemundo20, the Spanish language news station — before returning to print journalism, covering Mexico and Baja California for the Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2022. A graduate of San Diego State, Wendy speaks English and Spanish. More by Wendy Fry
Thomas Gerrity
Engineering Manager
Thomas Gerrity is a data scientist and product manager for DigitalDemocracy. Before joining CalMatters, he was employed as a software engineer by the Institute for the Advancement of Technology and Public Policy (IATPP) at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Since 2018, he has worked with Cal Poly faculty members and students in developing automated systems for surfacing news from legislative data. Born and raised on the central coast of California, Thomas has a Masters in Computer Science from Cal Poly. When not coding, he enjoys hiking, biking, and repairing industrial refrigeration systems.
Kristen Go
Editor in Chief
Kristen Go is the Editor in Chief of CalMatters. She previously worked as the executive editor and vice president of news at USA TODAY, managing editor of digital at the San Francisco Chronicle and has worked at The Arizona Republic and The Denver Post. She grew up in California’s central valley and lives in the Bay Area. She is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno.
Miguel Gutierrez Jr.
Visuals Editor
Miguel Gutierrez is the Visuals Editor at CalMatters. Previously Miguel was The Texas Tribune’s photographer and photo editor, where he raised the bar for telling visually rich stories about government and politics. An Illinois native who is fluent in Spanish, Miguel previously worked in New York as a multimedia producer for the state attorney general’s office. He has two master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin in journalism and Latin American studies and a bachelor’s degree in Latin American and Latino studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has also worked as a multimedia producer at KUT Radio, Austin’s NPR station, and was a video production fellow at Brave New Films in Los Angeles.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (fluent), Brazilian Portuguese (intermediate), Italian (intermediate)
Vicki Haddock
Managing Editor
Vicki Haddock came to CalMatters as its managing editor in 2016. A veteran of Bay Area journalism, she had been senior writer for the San Francisco Chronicle’s Insight analysis section, Sunday editor of the San Francisco Examiner, political editor at the Oakland Tribune, and founding editor of California Magazine’s online news site. She holds a degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a certificate in digital media from UC Berkeley’s Advanced Media Institute. More by Vicki Haddock
Mary Franklin Harvin
Audio Editor
Mary Franklin Harvin is CalMatters’ first-ever Audio Editor. She came to CalMatters from KQED-FM in San Francisco, where she was a producer and reporter for the statewide morning news show, The California Report. She’s also had stints with NPR’s The Kitchen Sisters and KALW-FM. Before finding radio, she worked as a writer for former president Bill Clinton out of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation’s Harlem office. She’s a South Carolina native and earned her graduate degree from the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Adriana Heldiz
Assistant Visuals Editor
Adriana Heldiz is the assistant visuals editor at CalMatters. Her expertise includes photojournalism, video journalism, graphic design and motion graphics. She’s passionate about visual storytelling that helps inform underserved communities and promotes civic engagement. Prior to joining CalMatters, Adriana worked at The San Diego Union-Tribune and Voice of San Diego. She is based in San Diego and was born and raised in Chula Vista. Adriana is an alumni of San Diego State University and Southwestern College, and is proud to be a first-generation Mexican-American. More by Adriana Heldiz
Lauren Hepler
Investigative Reporter
Lauren Hepler is an investigative reporter at CalMatters focused on labor issues and California’s housing crisis. She has spent the past decade covering housing, labor and climate issues for the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Guardian, the LA Times and others. Lauren has also worked as a fixer, a translator and a researcher for the BBC, Der Spiegel and on the book “Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America.” Her work has won awards from the Sacramento Press Club, the California News Publishers Association and others. She grew up in Ohio, graduated from George Washington University and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and is based in Los Angeles.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (fluent) More by Lauren Hepler
Kristen Hwang
Health Reporter
Kristen Hwang is a health reporter for CalMatters covering health care access, abortion and reproductive health, workforce issues, drug costs and emerging public health matters. Prior to joining CalMatters, Kristen earned a master’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in public health from UC Berkeley, where she researched water quality in the Central Valley. She has previously worked as a beat reporter for The Desert Sun and a stringer for the New York Times California COVID-19 team. More by Kristen Hwang
Ana B. Ibarra
Health Reporter
Ana B. Ibarra covers health care for CalMatters. Her reporting largely focuses on issues around access to care and affordability. She joined CalMatters in 2020 after four years at Kaiser Health News. She started her reporting career at McClatchy’s Merced Sun-Star. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and other state and national news outlets. More by Ana B. Ibarra
Khari Johnson
Khari Johnson is part of the economy team and is CalMatters’ first tech reporter. He has covered artificial intelligence since 2016. Khari previously worked at WIRED, VentureBeat, and Imperial Beach Patch. In the past he’s talked about how AI can harm people with NPR, The Beat with Ari Melber on MSNBC, onstage at WIRED’s 30th anniversary, and at the Democracy Summit at Howard University. He was born and raised in San Diego, and graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism and minor in political science. He lives in Oakland. More by Khari Johnson
Carolyn Jones
K-12 Education Reporter
Carolyn Jones covers K-12 education at CalMatters. A longtime news reporter, she’s covered education for nearly a decade, focusing on everything from special education to state funding policies to inequities in student achievement. In 2023, she spent five weeks in Albania as a Fulbright Specialist working on media literacy and promoting a free press. Previously, she worked at EdSource, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune, covering government, breaking news, the environment and other beats. Jones attended public schools in California, where she got her start in journalism at the San Rafael High Red & White, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in English. A longtime Oakland resident, she has two children and a Siberian husky. More by Carolyn Jones
Sameea Kamal
Capitol Reporter
Sameea Kamal covers politics for CalMatters, with a focus on democracy, representation and accountability. Her award-winning coverage of California’s 2020 redistricting — the once-a-decade redrawing of congressional and legislative districts — inspired her to focus not just on the politics of electing people to office, but what they do when they get there. Before joining CalMatters, Sameea was a fellow with IRE, the association for investigative reportors and editors, and worked as a News Desk editor at the Los Angeles Times, where she helped guide news coverage and digital strategy with a focus on politics. She worked in a similar role at the Center for Public Integrity, a national investigative newsroom. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mass communications with a minor in public policy from UC Berkeley, and her master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is based in Sacramento.
Other languages spoken: Urdu/Hindi More by Sameea Kamal
Marisa Kendall
Homelessness Reporter
Marisa Kendall covers California’s homelessness crisis for CalMatters. With more than six years of experience navigating this complex topic, Marisa has won multiple awards for her sensitive, comprehensive coverage. Before joining CalMatters, Marisa covered housing and homelessness for the Bay Area News Group (including The Mercury News and East Bay Times), where she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the deadly Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland. Prior to that, she covered high-stakes court cases in Silicon Valley for The Recorder. Marisa started her career covering crime and mayhem in Southwest Florida for The News-Press. A Bay Area native, Marisa lives in West Oakland. She’s a graduate of American University, and enjoys swimming, biking and reading novels when she’s not out on assignment.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (Intermediate) More by Marisa Kendall
Jeremia Kimelman
Data Reporter
Jeremia is a data journalist who uses code and data to make policy and politicians easier to understand. He was previously a graphics editor at the COVID Tracking Project and a data journalist at NBC News covering elections and national politics. He grew up in California and is excited to be back home after an extended time as a New Yorker. When he isn’t on the computer you can find him out in the garden or on a bicycle. More by Jeremia Kimelman
Alexei Koseff
Capitol Reporter
Alexei Koseff covers Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Legislature and California government from Sacramento. He joined CalMatters in January 2022 after previously reporting on the Capitol for The Sacramento Bee and the San Francisco Chronicle, where he broke the story of Newsom’s infamous dinner at The French Laundry restaurant. He has written about California politics and government for more than a decade, twice winning the Sacramento Press Club award for best daily Capitol beat reporting. A native of the Bay Area, Alexei is the proud product of bilingual education. He attended Stanford University, where he graduated with degrees in American Studies and journalism.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (fluent) More by Alexei Koseff
Jeanne Kuang
Capitol Reporter
Jeanne Kuang is an accountability reporter who covers labor, politics and California’s state government. Previously, she wrote about homelessness and economic inequality as part of CalMatters’ California Divide team. Her reporting for a series examining long waits and low payouts for workers who claim they are victims of wage theft was honored with awards from the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California chapter and the Best of the West. Jeanne came home to California to join CalMatters in 2022. Prior to that, she covered politics in Missouri for The Kansas City Star. She was also a city hall reporter for The News Journal in Delaware, and before that she wrote about criminal justice issues for Injustice Watch in Chicago. Jeanne grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, graduated from Northwestern University and is now based in Sacramento with her cat, Potato.
Other languages spoken: Mandarin (fluent) More by Jeanne Kuang
Lynn La
Newsletter Writer
Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters’ flagship daily newsletter with more than 150,000 subscribers. Prior to joining CalMatters in March 2023, she wrote for the education technology startup Guild and was a senior editor at CNET. She also covered public health at The Sacramento Bee as a Kaiser media fellow and was an intern reporter at Capitol Weekly. Lynn is based in the Bay Area. She graduated from UC Davis and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Other languages spoken: Vietnamese (basic) More by Lynn La
Alejandro Lazo
Climate Reporter
Alejandro Lazo writes about the impacts of climate change and air pollution and California’s policies to tackle them. He’s written about the state’s groundbreaking electric vehicle mandate, the oil industry’s efforts at capturing carbon from fossil fuels, and how California’s climate programs have created a robust cow poop industry. Alejandro is particularly interested in how the most vulnerable in society are faring in the midst of rapid global warming. Alejandro joined CalMatters after an eight-year stint as a California-based national reporter for The Wall Street Journal, a four-year run as the housing reporter for The Los Angeles Times and two years as a business reporter at The Washington Post. He is a native Californian, originally from the San Joaquin Valley.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (fluent) More by Alejandro Lazo
David Lesher
Senior Editor
Co-Founder David Lesher is a veteran California journalist and state policy expert. He co-founded CalMatters in 2015 and led the organization as Editor/CEO until December 2018, when he continued to serve as Editor-in-Chief until May 2023. Previously, he was Director of Government Affairs at the Public Policy Institute of California, a non-partisan think tank focused on state policy issues. Lesher has more than 25 years of journalism experience, largely at the Los Angeles Times where he was a political writer, state Capitol reporter and assistant national editor for the White House campaign. He also has served as Editor of California Journal magazine and as California Director for the New America Foundation. More by David Lesher
Halona Leung
Director of Operations
Halona Leung oversees the business and people operations at CalMatters. She has experience in research grant administration, business operations, budget management, and communications from her prior work at UC Davis. She brings a commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the workplace and in interactions with our greater community. Halona has a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of California, Davis.
Robert Lewis
Investigative Reporter
Robert Lewis focuses on investigations and accountability reporting. Before joining CalMatters he worked at print and public radio outlets across the country including WNYC-New York Public Radio, Newsday and The Sacramento Bee. His investigative reporting has garnered some of the industry’s highest honors including a George Polk Award, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and Sigma Delta Chi Awards. More by Robert Lewis
Zeke Lihosit
Ad & Sponsorship Sales Manager
Zeke focuses on increasing philanthropic support for our work. Before joining CalMatters, he worked in a similar role at California Rangeland Trust. Previously, his career has been in development at University of San Diego and University of Arizona, as well as in SaaS sales at Classy.org. Zeke’s first language was Spanish and he is fluent. He is a graduate of Northern Arizona University and earned his master’s degree in history at University of San Diego.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (Intermediate)
Kate Looby
Chief Development Officer
Kate puts her passion for democracy to work by cultivating the support that enables our work. She came to CalMatters from a similar role at the Center for Investigative Reporting – Reveal, and before that she spent a decade in development work at the Sierra Club. She previously led Planned Parenthood in her native South Dakota and was a candidate there for secretary of state. When she’s not working with donors and funders, you’ll find Kate creating meals to enjoy with family and friends, reading, working out, or playing with her two standard poodles.
Michael Lozano
Youth Journalism Initiative Manager
Michael Lozano leads CalMatters’ Youth Journalism Initiative amping California’s journalism education-to-industry pipeline. He has lead youth journalism programs since 2012, mentoring diverse youth to share their voice and land their stories in major media. He has reported on diversity, elections, immigration and community health for CalMatters, New America Media, the Long Beach Post, ImpreMedia’s national network and others. He is based in Long Beach.
Other languages spoken: Spanish More by Michael Lozano
Byrhonda Lyons
Investigative Reporter
Byrhonda Lyons is a national award-winning investigative reporter for CalMatters. She writes and produces compelling stories about California’s court and criminal system. Her reporting has uncovered how California bounces around mentally ill prisoners, the lack of diversity among local judges, and how state police ignored a Ninth Circuit opinion and continued an asset forfeiture procedure towing people’s vehicle for 30-day tows.
Byrhonda’s work aims to hold politicians accountable and educate Californians about the ins and outs of their state government. Her work has appeared on the PBS NewsHour and in local newspapers throughout California. She won a National Headliner Award for her work during the 2018 elections. She has also received multiple awards from the California News Publishers Association (CNPA) and was a finalist for an Online News Publishers Award.
Before joining CalMatters, Byrhonda was a freelance video producer and worked as a digital media specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. She was also an editor for the San Quentin News, a prisoner-run newspaper in California.
Byrhonda is a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and Arkansas’ oldest historically Black college, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. When she is not working, you can catch her at an art gallery and searching archives for trailblazing women who have been left out of history books. More by Byrhonda Lyons
Bryndon Madison
Development Manager
Bryndon works to increase fundraising and support of the journalism produced by CalMatters. He has a background in journalism, political campaigning, and nonprofit development, having served most recently with Northern Valley Catholic Social Service. He has a BA in Sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara.
Myra Marayag
Development Director
Myra Marayag works with the Development team to cultivate current and new donor relationships. Previously, she worked as head of Partnerships and Public Affairs at LA Times and has extensive experience working with Fortune 500 companies across many facets of partnership marketing — including philanthropic development, community engagement, revenue growth, event sponsorship, influencer marketing, media sales and media buying. She has held leadership positions across media organizations (CBS, LA Times), influencer networks (Defy Media) and advertising agencies (TeamOne/Publicis Groupe, Beyond Interactive/Grey Advertising).
Other languages spoken: Tagalog (conversational)
Kevin Marsden
Full Stack Web Developer
Prior to joining CalMatters, Kevin worked as the IT manager and web developer for the California Lawyers Association. He has also worked as a support engineer at Automattic. Before jumping into the world of technology, Kevin spent more than ten years working in government finance. He has a degree in economics from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Felicia Mello
California Divide Reporter
Felicia Mello covers the state’s economic divide, including such issues as affordable housing, labor rights and environmental and social justice. Prior to joining the California Divide team in 2023, Felicia covered higher education for CalMatters and founded the CalMatters College Journalism Network, an Eppy Award-winning fellowship program that trains student journalists to cover education policy from the ground up. Born in the Bay Area and based in Oakland, Felicia holds a master’s degree from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. She has reported from locations as diverse as Las Vegas and Quito, Ecuador, contributing stories to The Washington Post, The Nation, NPR and CNN’s Parts Unknown, among others. Before coming to CalMatters, she served as digital editor for Las Vegas’ leading alternative weekly, and was Nevada reporter for the Center for Public Integrity’s nationwide investigation of state government transparency, and a regional editor for Patch.com. Felicia’s work is informed by her family’s immigrant roots and her experience growing up in California’s public schools.
Languages spoken: English and Spanish (fluent); Italian, Portuguese, French (conversational) More by Felicia Mello
Liliana Michelena
Producer
Liliana is a reporter, multimedia producer and former professional soccer player from Lima, Peru. She was a correspondent at the 2016 Rio Olympics for El Comercio, and later covered the aftermath for The Associated Press. Her work has also been published by The New York Times, The Guardian and Spain’s El Pais. Liliana graduated from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in 2013, and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism in 2018.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (native), Portuguese (fluent), Italian (advanced), French (advanced)
Florence Middleton
Visuals Intern
Florence Middleton is a photojournalist, documentary photographer, and cinematographer based in Oakland, California, and is a Visuals Intern at CalMatters. Florence is passionate about telling stories centered on community, women, and culture. She earned her master’s degree from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and is the recipient of the 2023 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellowship and the 2024 Dorothea Lange Fellowship.
Jenna Milbrodt
Development Intern
Jenna Milbrodt is the Development Intern at CalMatters. Jenna is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Government and Spanish with a Legal Studies sequence from Claremont McKenna College. On campus, she works as a teaching assistant for the Modern Languages Department and as a campus ambassador for the Council on International Education Exchange. She has also worked as a mentor for low-income high school students and as a senior counselor for Tom Sawyer Camps.
Arfa Momin
Data Journalism Intern
Arfa Momin is the Data Journalism Intern at CalMatters. She studies both computer science and geography at the University of California, Berkeley and is a first-generation college student. Arfa serves as the Data and Graphics editor at The Daily Californian, her student news publication. She is passionate about bringing code and data to journalism to tell impactful stories about technology, environment, and society. Originally from Texas, she is currently based in the Bay. More by Arfa Momin
Shaanth Nanguneri
News Intern
Shaanth Kodialam Nanguneri comes to CalMatters as an intern on the health and justice beat. They are a rising senior at UCLA, studying geography and communication, and they were born and raised in the Bay Area. As a student, they have written for their campus newspaper, The Daily Bruin, as well as The Sacramento Bee, the Orange County Register, and The Nation. More by Shaanth Nanguneri
Shyla Nott
Product Manager
Shyla Nott is a product manager at CalMatters, based in San Diego. Previously, she was the digital content manager at inewsource and a producer for All Sides with Ann Fisher, the live public affairs talk show on WOSU Public Radio in Columbus, Ohio. In 2014, she produced the testimonies of second-generation Holocaust survivors as part of an international oral history project, which is archived in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s online collection. Shyla has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and international studies from the University of Iowa and her master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Sergio Olmos
Investigative Reporter
Sergio is an investigative reporter for CalMatters. He previously worked as a freelance reporter for The New York Times, NPR, Oregon Public Broadcasting and The Guardian, among others, reporting from here in the U.S. and the war in Ukraine. He also created the Dying for a Fight podcast series for OPB, which led to the arrest and successful prosecution of the killer of a well-known Portland activist.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (fluent) More by Sergio Olmos
Jenna Peterson
News Intern
Jenna Peterson joins CalMatters as an intern with the Politics team through the Dow Jones News Fund digital media program. She recently graduated from the University of Southern California, where she majored in journalism and political science. In her time at USC, she served as editor in chief of the Daily Trojan and held internships with VTDigger, LAist and the Los Angeles Times. More by Jenna Peterson
Hans Poschman
Transcription Manager
Hans Poschman is the Transcription Manager for a new CalMatters project and is based in San Luis Obispo. He has previously worked for the state legislature and in state and local government. He has a Masters in Public Policy and a Bachelors in Political Science from Cal Poly.
Richard Procter
Assistant Editor
Richard Procter is an editor at CalMatters in charge of housing, homelessness, technology and economy coverage. Prior to joining CalMatters he was the editor-in-chief of SF Weekly and an editor at the San Francisco Business Times. His work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, Forbes, and Polygon. He has won several awards for his journalism, both as a reporter and editor. He is a graduate of UC Davis and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. More by Richard Procter
Sonya Quick
Director of Membership and Engagement
Sonya builds bridges between the community and CalMatters as director of membership and engagement. Previously she managed engagement, fundraising, marketing, digital storytelling and UX at Voice of OC, a nonprofit news agency in Orange County, Calif. where she grew dramatically grew reader engagement and revenue. She is also an adjunct professor of digital journalism at Chapman University. Previously she worked for a decade at the Orange County Register as an editor and reporter across a variety of innovation areas including mobile, social media, web development, disaster coverage, infographics, technology and community news. She has been awarded infographics, news website design, news article design and social media engagement in reporting. More by Sonya Quick
Matthew Reagan
Assistant Editor, College Journalism Network
Matthew Reagan is the assistant editor of the CalMatters College Journalism Network, a fellowship program for California college journalists who cover statewide higher education issues and policy. He’s a proud alumni of the College Journalism Network, where he chronicled California students and universities navigating the peak of the COVID pandemic. As a fellow he pursued stories on communities he’s passionate about including Latinos, student parents and college athletes. Matthew has led collaborative news endeavors since his time at Occidental College, where before graduating he was the founding editor of the Northeast Los Angeles Neighborhood Reporting Partnership. When he’s not mentoring reporters or editing copy, you can find Matthew riding his bike around the Eastside of Los Angeles or in his seat at BMO stadium.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (basic) More by Matthew Reagan
Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
California Divide Reporter
Alejandra Reyes-Velarde is a California Divide reporter writing about policy and poverty from Los Angeles. She specializes in social mobility, labor issues, access to technology, immigration and more. She began her career at the Los Angeles Times, where she produced award-winning work on major news events and marginalized communities. She was part of an award-winning team covering Southern California fires and the Borderline bar shooting in 2018. She also was the CCNMA Ruben Salazar Award recipient for a series about the pandemic’s impact on Latino communities.
Reyes-Velarde is a Los Angeles native born to Mexican immigrant parents. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s in legal studies from UCLA School of Law. She is fluent in English and Spanish. More by Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
Foon Rhee
Deputy Managing Editor
Foon Rhee is CalMatters deputy managing editor, working with reporters who cover politics and also editing our WhatMatters daily newsletter. He oversees coverage of the Legislature, the state Capitol and elections, including our award-winning Voter Guide. During his four-decade career, Foon has focused on local and state government and political campaigns. He covered City Hall and the North Carolina legislature for The Charlotte Observer. He then became a local and political editor at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. At the Boston Globe, he was city editor and then deputy national political editor for the 2008 presidential campaign and for President Obama’s first year in office. In 2010, Foon came to California as an editorial writer and columnist at The Sacramento Bee. In late 2018, he became editor at the Sacramento News & Review before joining CalMatters in March 2021. He’s a graduate of Duke University (and diehard Duke basketball fan), and was a Freedom Forum fellow in Asian studies at the University of Hawaii and Poynter Institute ethics fellow. More by Foon Rhee
Justo Robles
California Divide Reporter
Justo Robles was born and raised in Lima, Peru. Since graduating from Rutgers University, he’s worked as a newsroom producer at Spanish-language television networks including Telemundo and Univision, earning Emmy awards in New York and California. As a bilingual reporter, he’s written from South America, Central America and Mexico. His work has been published in The Guardian, NBC News, CBS News, KQED, CNN, El Tímpano and Revista El Malpensante.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (fluent), Portuguese (intermediate) More by Justo Robles
Anat Rubin
Investigative Reporter
Anat Rubin is an investigative reporter for CalMatters. Her reporting on the criminal justice system has been published by ProPublica and The Marshall Project. She is based in Los Angeles. More by Anat Rubin
Ryan Sabalow
Digital Democracy Reporter
Ryan Sabalow is a Digital Democracy reporter for CalMatters. A graduate of Chico State University, he began his career covering local news for the Auburn Journal in Placer County and The Record Searchlight in Redding. He spent three years in the Midwest at The Indianapolis Star where he was an investigative reporter. Before joining CalMatters, he primarily covered California water and environmental policy at The Sacramento Bee. A lifelong hunter and outdoorsman, Sabalow spends as much time as possible in Siskiyou County, where he grew up. He’s married and has two daughters, two lunatic cats and a duck-retrieving chocolate lab named Spooner. More by Ryan Sabalow
Sapna Satagopan
Senior Director of Product
Sapna Satagopan is senior director of product at CalMatters, where she works across teams to grow and engage users with our news products. Sapna believes in democratizing access to the news and in building impactful news products. She most recently co-founded Xyza: News for Kids, a subscription news platform for young readers. Her professional career began in technology consulting, followed by roles in strategy, research, and consumer insights at digital and branding agencies. Originally from India, Sapna has an MBA from UC Davis along with degrees in Physics and Linguistics. She serves on the advisory board of the Statewide News Collaborative and the API Local News Innovation Advisory Committee.
Levi Sumagaysay
Economy Reporter
Levi Sumagaysay covers the California economy for CalMatters with an eye on accountability and equity. She reports on the insurance market, taxes and anything that affects the state’s residents, labor force and economy. Before joining CalMaters, Levi was a tech and business reporter and editor. She has written and edited stories about the rise of the dot-coms, the booms and busts of Silicon Valley and technology’s effects on everything, including the news media. Levi was born in the Philippines and has lived in the Bay Area since the 1980s. She is a graduate of the San Francisco State journalism department. Her stories at MarketWatch on the tech economy and about janitors at Facebook won awards from the San Francisco Press Club; her tech news stories and commentary at the Mercury News won awards from Editor & Publisher and the Peninsula Press Club; she has received two National Press Foundation fellowships; and was a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund editing intern.
Other languages spoken: Tagalog (fluent) More by Levi Sumagaysay
Vasuki Sunder
Jr. Product Designer
Vasuki joined CalMatters after working as an analyst at Accenture and as a freelance UI/UX design consultant. She graduated from the University of California San Diego in Cognitive Science with a specialization in Human-Computer Interaction. She lives in Cupertino and enjoys film photography, creating digital art and reading.
Larry Valenzuela
Photographer
Larry is based in Kerman, in California’s Central Valley. A passion for documentary filmmaking led him into videography and photography on campus publications at Fresno City College and Fresno State University. He went on to become a writer and photojournalist for the Fresno Bee and joined CalMatters in 2022 as a CatchLight Local Fellow. More by Larry Valenzuela
Dan Walters
Opinion Columnist
Dan Walters is one of most decorated and widely syndicated columnists in California history, authoring a column four times a week that offers his view and analysis of the state’s political, economic, social and demographic trends. He began covering California politics in 1975, just as Jerry Brown began his first stint as governor, and began writing his column in 1981, first for the Sacramento Union for three years, then for The Sacramento Bee for 33 years and now for CalMatters since 2017. Dan is also the author or co-author of two books about California, “The New California: Facing the 21st Century” and “The Third House: Lobbyists, Money and Power in Sacramento.” He is a frequent radio show guest and occasionally appears on national television, commenting on California issues. Walters began his career in 1960 at the Humboldt Times in Eureka, California, a month before his 17th birthday, first as a newsroom aide and later as a police beat reporter. Having found his calling, he not only turned down a National Merit college scholarship but dropped out of high school, lacking one required class – ironically civics – to qualify for a diploma. Before moving to Sacramento to cover politics, he was the managing editor of three small daily newspapers. He has two adult daughters and three grandsons. More by Dan Walters
Ben Warner
Director of Sponsorships
Ben works with past, current and future business partners to help create strategic opportunities with advertising and sponsorships across CalMatters growing communication channels. He’ll help partners make informed decisions about our products and services and ultimately help them reach the California decision-makers and voters that matter the most to their campaigns. Ben has an extensive background in digital and analog publishing, event management and building omnichannel advertising programs that focus on solutions. He also oversees the Coast Film Festival in Laguna Beach and is an advocate for outdoor recreation.
Jocelyn Wiener
Health Reporter
Jocelyn Wiener is a projects reporter with a focus on mental health and health care who explores the intersection between government policies and people’s lives. Her work has won numerous regional and national awards. Her reporting about the breakdown of the state’s mental health system for CalMatters was honored with a National Headliner Award. She has worked as a reporter in her native California for more than two decades. After graduating from Stanford University, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to do research in El Salvador. She spent the next year and a half working with children and teenagers on the Salvadoran streets, which inspired her decision to pursue a career in journalism. She earned a master’s degree at Columbia University’s School of Journalism and spent several years as a staff writer covering poverty for The Sacramento Bee. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, Kaiser Health News and other regional and national publications.
Other languages spoken: Spanish (conversational) More by Jocelyn Wiener
Erica Yee
Data Reporter
Erica Yee is a data reporter who collaborates frequently with the health, education, inequality and environment teams. She joined CalMatters as an intern in 2020 and then stuck around as part of the growing Data and Interactives team. Sometimes her days look like meticulously poring over spreadsheets. Other times they consist of designing and coding engaging graphics and tools to help Californians better understand their home and their neighbors. She was part of CalMatters teams who won awards for a drought and water tracker, wage theft series and multimedia project on high schooler experiences of COVID-19 inequality. Erica earned a degree in journalism and information science from Northeastern University. As a student, she interned at the San Francisco Chronicle, CNBC and Boston.com. She is based in Oakland. More by Erica Yee
Louise Yokoi
Director of Foundation Relations
Louise builds and expands CalMatters’ relationships with foundation partners. Prior to joining CalMatters, she worked as Director of Development at EdSource. Previously, she worked as a consultant with a diversity of education, arts, environmental, and social justice organizations in the Bay Area. Before working in the nonprofit field, Louise was an educator in California public schools. Louise, a Bay Area native, has MBA and MA degrees from John F. Kennedy University and BA from University of California, Irvine.
Yue Stella Yu
Politics and Campaign Reporter
Yue Stella Yu covers politics for CalMatters, with a particular focus on campaigns, elections and voters. She will be a lead reporter covering the November election, including the U.S. Senate race, congressional contests and key statewide issues. Before joining CalMatters, Stella covered state and local politics in Michigan, Tennessee and Mississippi while dabbing in investigative stories. In 2023, her reporting revealed the highly unregulated housing conditions for Michigan dairy farm workers and the lack of state actions to protect workers. She won first place in investigative reporting in press association contests in Tennessee, Mississippi and Missouri. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 2017. She is based in Sacramento.
Other languages spoken: Mandarin (fluent) and Korean (conversational) More by Yue Stella Yu
Denise Zapata
Deputy Editor
Denise Zapata is a Deputy Editor at CalMatters, leading our coverage of K-12 schools and higher education. She is a veteran journalist who has spent most of her career covering California’s education issues, first as a reporter and then as an editor for several teams that included at least one education reporter. Before joining CalMatters, she was senior editor at EdSource. Prior to that, as associate editor for The Center for Investigative Reporting, Denise was part of one team that won a George Polk Award and another that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She began her journalism career at The Bakersfield Californian, where she reported on several topics, including higher education. She later became an assistant city editor, then city editor at the paper. After that she became an assistant metro editor at the San Diego Union-Tribune, overseeing regional teams in north, east and south San Diego County. Denise is a Bay Area native and a graduate of Santa Clara University. More by Denise Zapata
Olivia Zhao
Audio Producer
Olivia Zhao is CalMatters’ audio producer. She came to CalMatters from the California Report Magazine at KQED, where she tells stories that make California and its people unique. She had previously interned at PEN America, Marketplace, and Reuters. Olivia holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in audio.
Other languages spoken: Mandarin (fluent), French (intermediate)
Mikhail Zinshteyn
Higher Education Reporter
Mikhail Zinshteyn reports on higher education for CalMatters. His coverage tackles state legislation, financial aid, labor issues, student demands, campus housing and college affordability. His work on examining why the California State University system struggles to graduate its Black students was a finalist for the Sacramento Press Club Awards in 2023. Before joining CalMatters, Mikhail worked as a reporter at EdSource and freelanced for Inside Higher Ed, The Hechinger Report, The 74 and The Atlantic, among other outlets. He also worked as a program manager for the Education Writers Association. He’s been covering higher education as his primary beat since 2015. His path into professional journalism began with unpaid internships that he subsidized with evening and weekend shifts at restaurants. Mikhail earned a bachelor’s from Union College and a master’s from the London School of Economics. Scholarships, work-study, Pell grants and loans funded his education. He was born in the Soviet Union and is fluent in Russian. More by Mikhail Zinshteyn