DIGITAL PORTFOLIO
I spent 19 years as a staff reporter at The New York Times covering sports, breaking news, and immigration. Since taking a buyout from the paper, I have been teaching at The School of The New York Times, writing freelance pieces for The Times, and consulting with individuals to publish opinion pieces. As the director of journalism for Define American, I created a toolkit for responsible immigration reporting and wrote a groundbreaking report on local immigration news. For those projects, I helped create the video and social media assets.
The following portfolio curates my work in these diverse areas:
When nearly 2,000 DACA recipients across the country had their renewal applications rejected despite having sent them weeks in advance of the deadline, I uncovered the truth: the mail was delayed and the government was responsible. In part because of the attention my scoop created and the scope of the problem, the government reversed their policy and allowed the young people to reapply. They were able to stave off deportation.
Post Office Fails to Deliver on Time, and DACA Applications Get Rejected
In Reversal, Immigration Agency Will Consider Delayed DACA Requests
Number of DACA Applications Stuck in the Mail Tops 900
At Least 1,900 Immigrants Were Rejected Because of Mail Problems
Syrian Refugees Rejected, Rerouted and Resettled - Reporters Notebook, The New York Times, Nov. 23, 2015
Fifty Years Ago, Billie Jean King Won Equal Pay — but She's Not Done Yet, July 15, 2023, The New York Times
I am working with the City University of New York’s Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE) to promote their research and bilingual teaching challenges in New York’s classrooms. I helped shape, edit, and land three opinion pieces in three respected publications. I am currently editing two more Op-Eds.
Quality Bilingual Education Programs are Essential for Teachers, Students. By Tamara Alsace and Cecilia Espinosa, Albany Times-Union, Feb. 23, 2024
We Are Facing a Migrant Mental Health Crisis. More School Social Workers Could Help. By Ashley Busone Rodriguez, Feb. 5, 2024
To Solve Teacher Shortages, Let’s Open Pathways for Immigrants so They can Become Educators and Role Models. by Daniela Alulema, The Hechinger Report, Nov. 14, 2023
I give Opinion Writing workshops at local libraries, and through this avenue, this children’s author became my client. With my help, Emma Otheguy has since published both pieces that she has pitched.
Commentary: 'All are welcome here'? Then build more housing
My Book Was Segregated by Scholastic Until it Wasn’t. Will Anything Change?
From March 2021 to December 2022, I was the Director of Journalism Partnerships at Define American, a nonprofit organization that works to humanize the media’s narrative around immigration. I mentored immigration journalists, created a toolkit for reporters and photographers in the field, and conducted a study with my colleagues on the coverage of local immigration news in one state.
Define American’s original research on one state’s news ecosystem — North Carolina — offered urgent lessons for journalism to improve its reporting on local immigrant communities.
As published in Poytner.
Publicity Tweet
I posted this from my personal account, since Define American’s communications department was in transition. Impressions:8,694, Engagements 234
For six years I have taught at The School of The New York Times, a pre-college summer academy with a gap year program. From “Writing the Big City: Immigration in New York” to “Sports Storytelling,” my classes focus on the humanity behind the policies and statistics. I teach “Liz’s 10 Rules for Writing” and arrange unique field trips with high-level speakers. We cover a naturalization ceremony at the Brooklyn Federal courthouse and speak to the chief judges as well as new citizens. We cover games and get press box tours of the Mets, Nets and New York Liberty.