Spring 2025 Higher Education Media Fellows

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars is pleased to announce its eighth class of journalists named to the Higher Education Media Fellowship, supported by ECMC Foundation. The 15 outstanding journalists represent a variety of news outlets, regions, and media.

The Higher Education Media Fellowship aims to increase the number of journalists equipped with tools and networks to provide more comprehensive coverage of postsecondary education, particularly career and technical education (CTE). Postsecondary CTE is a proven approach to increasing postsecondary attainment and empowering learners with skills and competencies that position them for economically mobilizing jobs, yet its impact is rarely highlighted to the general public.

Fellows cover such topics as higher education, government, AI, agriculture, healthcare and more, and work as newspaper, radio, and TV reporters. Fellows have received recognition and fellowships for their work, such as regional and national Murrow awards, Peabody award, Jon Fleischaker Freedom of Information Award, Rodger Streitmatter Journalism Award and the Eddie Prize, California Local News Fellowship, Nieman Fellowship, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society Fellowship, and Fullbright Berlin Capitol Program

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Each ECMC Foundation Fellow receives an award of $10,000—a $5,000 stipend and $5,000 to support a special CTE reporting project. Fellows will attend an in-person symposium this spring focused on topics related to postsecondary CTE and professional development. Following the symposium, Fellows will complete a CTE reporting project, such as a special report or series.

The funding for this program is a part of ECMC Foundation’s CTE Leadership Collaborative, an initiative focused on bringing together diverse perspectives and equipping CTE leaders with the tools, resources, and skills needed to advance postsecondary CTE. The eighth class of Fellows will publish and broadcast their projects throughout 2025.

Meet the Spring 2025 Fellows

Erin Adler covers higher education for the Minnesota Star Tribune. Prior to that, she covered local government in two suburban counties, though she has also worked in communications and taught English to middle schoolers and adults. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education from the College of St. Benedict and a master’s degree in literacy education from the University of Minnesota.

Renata Birkenbuel covers education as a veteran journalist for various freelance outlets. Previously, she worked as national Education Correspondent for ICTNews.org, covering Indigenous education issues that rarely see the light of day in the mainstream press.

As a full-time Education/Business/Features Reporter at the Montana Standard daily, she won first place in the Montana Press Association for breaking a story about Saudi students cheating at a highly regarded technical university. An industrious contract journalist, she has written for a wide variety of Montana publications, for five different sections of The Seattle Times and several Washington state publications. As the Contract Editor for an online conservation publication, she mentored college writers and recruited freelance writers. For Newsweek, she worked as a Night Writer/Entertainment Writer. As a full-time newspaper reporter, she originally worked as a daily Sportswriter and general assignment reporter. She often teaches college composition courses as an adjunct.

In her free time, Renata loves to float Montana’s gorgeous rivers, take her dogs on adventures, follow women’s sports — especially the WNBA and NCAA — and read great literature. Her puns are legendary and often groan-worthy. Journalism is her first love, but basketball comes a close second.

As the minority business reporter for the Miami Herald, Michael Butler is fascinated with telling inclusive stories that reflect the diversity of the society in which we live. Over his career, Michael has reported on topics ranging from arts and culture to Black business, tech and real estate. The Temple University graduate’s work has appeared in publications such as ESPN’s Andscape, Okayplayer and EBONY. When he is not writing, Michael is an avid music lover and enjoys discussing his Panamanian heritage.

Elsa Cavazos  covers general assignments, education, Latinx issues and more in Napa County for Napa Valley News Group/Highway 29. Prior to that, she served as equity reporter at SoCoNews in Healdsburg, California. Elsa is a recipient of the California Local News Fellowship from UC Berkeley. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Mass Communication and Communication Studies.

Elsa is also a freelance writer besides being a full-time fellow based in Napa, CA. Her work has appeared in Refinery 29, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue México and more. She has also translated from Spanish to English for publications such as The Texas Tribune and The Guardian.

Elsa enjoys writing about human interest stories and any other subject showcasing human emotion and connection (as well as social justice themes and stories filled with diversity and uplifting focuses). Writing and interviewing in both English and Spanish carry the same depth for her, as long as readers feel what she is trying to portray.

Colleen Connolly is a freelance journalist who covers a variety of topics, including higher education and workforce development for Work Shift. Prior to that, she worked as a digital news editor for the Chicago Tribune. Colleen holds a master’s degree in global journalism from NYU and bachelor’s degrees in journalism and anthropology from DePaul University. She also speaks Spanish.

Eliza DuBose virtually covers government accountability for the Mountain-Ear while she serves in the Montana Conservation Corps as a Crew Leader. Last year, Eliza was a fellow in the Fullbright Berlin Capitol Program. In university, Eliza won several school-wide awards for her writing, including the Rodger Streitmatter Journalism Award for Best News Story in both her sophomore and senior year. Eliza holds a degree in Foreign Language and Media Communications from American University with a focus in Journalism and German.

Kelly Field is a freelance journalist who has been covering education for 20 years, including 13 at The Chronicle of Higher Education. She writes regularly for The Chronicle, The Hechinger Report, and other education and mainstream outlets. She has received multiple awards from The Education Writers Association, including the Eddie Prize, and holds a BA in Spanish and Psychology from Colby College and an MA in Print Journalism from Boston University.

B. Denise Hawkins is an award-winning journalist and communications consultant based in the Washington, D.C. area. With purpose, a passport, and a focus on the African diaspora, storytelling has taken her around the world to report on issues she is passionate about — Historically Black Colleges and Universities, health, science, and religion. Her stories and photographs have appeared in media outlets including Black News & Views, a division of the National Association of Black Journalists, Carnegie (Museums) magazine; h, the Heinz Endowments’ magazine, Christianity Today, The Washington Post, NBC BLK, Religion News Service, Howard Magazine (Howard University), Pitt Magazine (University of Pittsburgh), and NEA Today. Stories on a STEM pipeline program and Afro-Cuban education and culture won B. Denise awards from the National Association of Black Journalists in 2020.

B. Denise has worked as a staff writer and editor at Diverse: Issues in Higher Education where she is a contributor; Community College Week; the Syracuse Post-Standard, and NEA Today. She is a 2024 Continuing Fellow with the Gerontological Society of America’s Journalists in Aging Fellows Program. The Baltimore native earned her master’s in journalism from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s in print journalism, with a minor in microbiology, from Howard University.

Grayson Joslin covers local government and education for the Greenfield Daily Reporter in Greenfield, Indiana. Prior to that, he was a freelancing journalist writing for several different newspapers in East Central Indiana, with a focus on municipal government. Grayson graduated from Ball State University in 2024 with a bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in political science following a successful college career (which saw him win numerous awards from various state and national college media organizations for his work).

Michelle Li works as a news anchor in St. Louis at the NBC affiliate, KSDK – TV. Prior to that, she served as a news anchor in Seattle, also at the NBC affiliate. Michelle is the recipient of a Peabody award, a duPont finalist, multiple national Murrows and 10 regional Emmys. She covers primarily consumer issues, but has reported in many capacities, including investigative and general assignment reporting.

Oliver Morrison is an investigative reporter for PennLive, based in Pittsburgh. Prior to that he served as a general assignment and politics reporter for 90.5 WESA, a health and environment reporter for PublicSource and an enterprise reporter for The Wichita Eagle. Oliver has received both regional and national Murrow awards and holds an M.A. in journalism from the Newmark CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.

Emma Murphy covers higher education, health care and Oklahoma’s state Capitol for Oklahoma Voice, a States Newsroom outlet. Prior to working in Oklahoma City, she covered Missouri’s state government for three years. Emma graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia with a bachelor degrees in journalism and political science and a minor in Spanish.

Rae Solomon is a public radio reporter covering rural and small communities for KUNC in Northern Colorado. Her work touches on everything from climate, energy and agriculture, to education, housing and culture. Rae’s work has won awards from the Colorado Broadcasters Association, the Public Media Journalism Association and the Society for Professional Journalism, among others. She holds degrees from Swarthmore College, University College London and SCI-Arc. Before becoming a reporter, Rae was a licensed architect, working in New York City, Denver and Los Angeles.

Kendall Staton covers local government for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Prior to that, she served as the Regional Editor of three community papers in Central Kentucky. Kendall is the recipient of the 2023 Jon Fleischaker Freedom of Information Award and graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2023. She is an Eastern Kentucky native, and proud Appalachian.

Jeffrey R. Young is a freelance journalist covering who gets what opportunities in education and how AI and other technologies are reshaping our world. He was most recently an editor and reporter for EdSurge and hosted the weekly EdSurge Podcast, and he was previously a senior editor for The Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2014 he spent a year as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where he was also a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University and a master’s in communication, culture, and technology from Georgetown University.

About the Institute for Citizens and Scholars

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars cultivates talent, ideas, and networks that develop young people as effective, lifelong citizens. We unite the left, right, and center to develop breakthrough solutions that create stronger citizens in our country, and we bring these solutions to life by forming strategic partnerships with an intentionally diverse group of young people, scholars and education leaders, and civic and business leaders—including the 27,000 world-leading Fellows in our network. Together, we’re on a mission to ensure that Americans everywhere are civically well-informed, productively engaged, and committed to democracy.

About ECMC Foundation

ECMC Foundation is a national foundation whose North Star goal is to eliminate equity gaps in postsecondary completion by 2040. The Foundation’s mission is to improve higher education for career success among underserved populations through evidence-based innovation. ECMC Foundation makes strategic grants and program-related investments to support both nonprofit and for-profit ventures, guided by a strategic framework which aims to advance systemic change by removing barriers to postsecondary completion; building the capacity of organizations, institutions and systems; and transforming the postsecondary ecosystem. Learn more about ECMC Foundation by visiting www.ecmcfoundation.org and our parent company, ECMC Group, by visiting www.ecmcgroup.org.