Uplifting BIPOC journalists,
empowering their audiences
ALTAVOZ LAB mentors, trains and uplifts BIPOC reporters to pitch, produce and publish impactful local accountability reporting projects at community outlets that serve Black, Indigenous, immigrant and other communities of color in the U.S. Our goal is to nurture journalists of color who are well prepared to report on their communities and to create a robust talent pipeline of the best and brightest BIPOC journalists.
Neglected and Exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in state’s air monitoring system
By Alejandra Martinez & Wendy Selene Pérez, Altavoz Lab Fellows
Our Mentors
2022 Cohort
About the Founder
As a journalist, filmmaker, and producer, Valeria Fernández amplifies the stories of marginalized communities. She started her career at a small Spanish-language newspaper in Phoenix, Arizona, and quickly learned how to write for immigrant communities — rather than just about them. She transitioned to writing for English-language media, including The Guardian, Pacific Standard, Latino USA, and PRX’s The World. Valeria won the American Mosaic Journalism Prize for her reporting on marginalized communities.
As a former professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Valeria helped develop the next generation of Latinx and immigrant journalists. Now, as managing editor for palabra., a publication created by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, she’s taking that work to the next level. She sees these journalists as vital for democracy and she aims to lift up their talent and wisdom.
Founding Partners
