Mya Constantino - 2024 Fellow
"I applied for the Foot in the Door Fellowship looking for support and guidance — that's exactly what I got, plus more! It was helpful to meet with my mentor every month to brainstorm solutions for challenges I was facing in journalism but also celebrate my wins. I learned that your career is unique to you and that you'll take many turns and leaps along the way, and it all matters! All those leaps will be worth it.
Right now, I'm building my writing and editing skills working as a TV reporter in Salt Lake City. My hope is to take these skills and land a reporter role in public radio and continue to tell impactful stories in innovative ways. This goal seems possible because I know my mentor will always be in my corner!"
Stephanie Aceves - 2024 Fellow
"Since starting the fellowship in early 2024, I've had the opportunity to connect with experienced professionals. Through the fellowship, I received sound advice on a variety of topics, including salary, resume and cover letter critiques, and overall career guidance. I've also had the fantastic opportunity to attend the NAHJ conference in Los Angeles. That experience helped me land a job as a digital content producer at KTNV in Las Vegas. I cannot thank the mentors from the LA Press Club enough.
This fellowship is a wonderful opportunity for those needing guidance on advancing their journalism career. My mentor, Nic, is so great and helped me along every step of the way and also encouraged me. This fellowship helped change my life around! This fellowship is an excellent reminder that there are individuals in the industry who want to extend their hands to those who are typically underrepresented in newsrooms. I loved this program!"
Dua Anjum - 2023 Fellow
"The Foot in the Door Fellowship was an incredible support and an unparalleled resource for me. Without the help of Nic Cha Kim, Brittany Levine Beckman, Diana Ljungaeus, Catalina Villegas and the other mentors, I would not be the journalist I am today, and their advice will stay with me forever. Everybody at the Press Club went above and beyond to help me achieve my goals.
Since the fellowship, I was able to get my work visa approved, and I landed an investigative reporting fellowship with a Gannett SoCal paper. My job as an investigative reporter at the Ventura County Star was all about striving to expose injustices and inform people in Ventura County — an opportunity I am truly grateful to have had this early in my career. In this role, I have covered housing, homelessness, education, religion, local government, courts, politics, labor and inequity.
I also won an award at this year's California News Publishers Association's CA Journalism Awards in the religion and faith reporting category for a story about Jews and Muslims finding common ground in the United States in the wake of recent events in the Middle East. I am looking forward to developing expertise in investigative reporting and to continue to tell stories that represent a variety of underserved voices and perspectives."
Jessica Doherty - 2023 Fellow
"The Foot in the Door Fellowship is a truly special opportunity, especially at a time when the industry is facing a litany of challenges. The fellowship was not only an invaluable experience for myself but also for my cohort. Coming together in community with other journalists across beats and mediums gave us new insights into our own work and processes. It also means the world to have a new group of journalists at the same phase of our careers to support one another and navigate the world together.
My direct mentorship with Shana helped me develop my voice as an arts writer, advocate for myself in the workplace and pursue new opportunities. Since the fellowship, I have continued to grow as a local reporter as a writer for Outlook Newsgroup and The Eastsider, writing about local figures, artists and restaurants. I also became involved with the independent Zine community as an editor for The Dry River and writer for Currant Jam, connecting me to the print publishing and visual arts communities in Los Angeles.
After the fellowship, I was proud to say that one of my pieces with Center Theatre Group was nominated for one of the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism awards. This year, one of my colleagues is also nominated for one of the awards for a story I helped edit. I hope that, as an editor, I can continue to uplift and support the writers around me while also honing my craft as a writer — which are both things that the Foot in the Door Fellowship helped me do.
The fellowship reinvigorated my love for journalism and was pivotal in helping me navigate a changing media landscape. It is an invaluable experience for a young career journalist and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of it!"
Steven Vargas - 2022 Fellow
"The Foot in the Door Fellowship helped me make connections and build my network with journalists and editors in the industry. I've been able to find support and guidance from people I never thought I'd be able to connect with so early in my career. The fellowship helped me find my place in the industry by connecting me with reporters covering similar fields. The advice and conversations I had with the people I got to connect with helped me feel more comfortable navigating my career path.
Since starting the fellowship, I've been hired as an arts reporter at the Los Angeles Times after spending the summer as an intern in the Entertainment and Arts section. While in undergrad and grad school at USC, I've focused my work on covering dance, theatre and its intersection with social change. Now I'm able to cover the arts in Los Angeles with a major publication, which is a big step in my career. In the position, I'll also be working on larger projects for the LA Times arts section. During my time in the fellowship, I also completed my master's thesis on dance as a tool for abolition and liberation and graduated in May 2022.
In the future, I hope to continue reporting on the rich and diverse dance culture in Los Angeles while also adding to the conversation as a practitioner myself. Being a dancer and a reporter has helped me connect to dance stories in more intimate and detailed ways. I hope to continue the practice and document the dance scene that is thriving in the city, reporting on everything from queer dance cultures to new innovative contemporary work.
I recommend other journalists apply to the fellowship because it is an incredible opportunity to build your network and meet others in the industry. It also allows you to explore different facets of journalism and the opportunities that are available by meeting other professionals and hearing how they got to where they are today."
Danielle Broadway - 2022 Fellow
"The Foot in the Door Fellowship helped me in numerous ways to improve my writing, network with experts in the industry and even find out about my current Entertainment Reporter position at Reuters. It also helped me make friends and learn from mentors that I continue to be inspired by.
I am very proud to be an LA Press Club award winner and to work at Reuters as an Entertainment Reporter with the phenomenal LA Press Club president, Lisa Richwine. She's helped me so much during my time at Reuters so far and I've written some engaging news stories, covered press junkets and exciting events. I am thrilled to be reporting on the D23 Disney convention and the Primetime Emmys soon. My future goal is to continue as an Entertainment Reporter and become a stronger reporter and help others navigate this industry just as I was helped. I want to continue to advocate for equity as both a journalist and activist.
Without a doubt, I’d recommend this fellowship to others. This is an excellent opportunity in which the mentors ask the mentees what they need and do their best to help. Each mentor, including my central mentor, Shana Nys Dambrot (love her!), went above and beyond with everything they did even while juggling their own work schedules and responsibilities. It was a passion for mentorship that made this such a success. This is a fellowship for those that are ready to see all of the possibilities that are out there to help them grow as writers, professionals and overall people. Plus, it's a lot of fun to meet new friends and mentors!"
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert - 2021 Fellow
"I’m a breaking news reporter with Insider, covering truly a little bit of everything. On any given night, I’ll report on U.S. and international politics, emergencies and natural disasters, or the latest Kardashian baby. Some stories I’m proud of include a report on Meta’s chatbot bugs, the antitrust consequences of Amazon’s Roomba acquisition and the strike efforts of Portland strippers.
I’m looking forward to developing some expertise in my reporting and advancing at Insider for now — my interests are in business and labor issues, criminal justice and law enforcement, as well as conspiracies, hoaxes and misinformation.
I frequently remind myself of the encouragement my mentor offered in one of our early conversations, telling me there’s room for me in L.A. to report on my specialties and interests. Having someone there to answer those “afraid-to-ask” questions and throw their support my way was incredible."
Diego Pineda Davila - 2021 Fellow
"Since finishing the fellowship, I began working at The Independent en Español as the Weekend Editor. In this role, I focus on audience engagement and article management and write culture/entertainment pieces in Spanish and English. I’ve written about the best Spanish-language shows to stream, the rise of the Millennial Loteria game, Latino representation in Hollywood and Colombian singer Elsa Margarita Carvajal. As for the next steps of my career, I hope to continue at The Independent, growing and learning as a journalist. The Español site is still in its early stages, so it has been exciting to see its growth.
What I found the most helpful through this fellowship was connecting with other journalists of color who are just as passionate about news as I am and who are working hard to take their careers to the next level. In a way, it reassured me that I was not alone in my job search and with my goals as a journalist."