ProPublica’s Emerging Reporters Program provides support and mentorships to college students who are pursuing careers in investigative journalism and need additional training and financial support to help advance their goals.
Participants receive a $9,000 stipend, a trip to the annual NICAR investigative journalism conference, occasional training and presentations by speakers. They’ll also be paired one-on-one with ProPublica journalists who can help counsel them on stories, build their connections in the industry and expose them to the varied paths for careers in investigative journalism. Past Emerging Reporters have gone on to work at The New York Times, The Associated Press, Fresnoland, Capital B, The Tributary and other outlets.
Our goal is to encourage the next generation of journalists who seek to shine a light on abuses of power and produce stories of moral force that provoke change. In choosing the class, we look for students who demonstrate an early dedication to journalism as a career, through internships, work at local news outlets or work at campus publications. And where those opportunities — which are often unpaid — aren’t accessible, we look for other ways the student has shown an eagerness and a drive to learn the craft.
The 2025-26 academic year’s class of exceptional student journalists are from schools in California, Pennsylvania, Florida and Georgia. Throughout the application process, we were impressed by their commitment to local news, their desire to pursue immersive training opportunities in newsrooms across the country and their dedication to careers in investigative journalism.
Meet our 2025 class:
Annabelle Ink
Originally from Oahu, Hawaii, Annabelle Ink studies English at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. Now in her senior year, she works as the creative director at The Student Life, the campus newspaper, and as the editor-in-chief of Agave Review, the campus literary and art magazine. She has done extensive reporting on political activism at the Claremont Colleges, covering student protests, arrests and administrative actions. Annabelle has also interned at Honolulu Magazine, Honolulu Civil Beat and the Claremont Courier. She is interested in exploring the intersection of creative and journalistic writing and in telling stories that challenge power structures and inspire human connection. After college, she hopes to pursue investigative journalism full time, using gender as a lens through which to report on criminal justice, climate change and resistance movements.
Gabriel Velasquez Neira
Gabriel Velasquez Neira is a senior studying journalism at the University of Florida. He is passionate about audio and data journalism. In addition to his studies, Gabriel works as an intern at WUSF-FM in Tampa and as a deputy editor at WUFT-FM in Gainesville. He has reported on topics like the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Hurricane Milton and state politics for WUFT. Gabriel was previously a general assignment reporting intern at The Daytona Beach News-Journal and as a news intern at NBC 6 in Miami.
Kahlie Wray
Kahlie Wray is a junior at Pennsylvania State University studying digital and print journalism and English. She is the managing editor of The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s student-run news outlet, where she assists in leading a team of reporters and editors in covering campus news. She is also an intern with Centre Daily Times, where she focuses on covering stories across the Centre County townships. Kahlie is working on a yearlong collaborative project investigating rural public health with a cohort of student journalists. Earlier this year, she participated in a six-month internship in Brno, Czech Republic, where she reported on religion and the expat experience for a local newsroom. She’s passionate about local journalism and its role in uplifting and informing communities.
Lee Ann Anderson
Lee Ann Anderson is a senior journalism major with a specialization in data and investigative journalism at the University of Florida. She’s driven to tell narrative, in-depth investigative stories on topics ranging from technology to business while incorporating the voices of marginalized groups. Anderson participated in the summer 2025 Carnegie-Knight News21 fellowship at Arizona State University, where her coverage of federal immigration policy was published in the Associated Press and picked up by 60 publications across the country. Anderson is an intern at The Hill in Washington, D.C., covering breaking news and pursuing enterprise stories. At UF, she was an officer of the student chapters of the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Press Photographer Association and the Florida Magazine Student Association. Anderson is an ambassador of UF’s College of Journalism and Communications and is a part of the Dean’s Student Advisory Council. She has also participated in UF’s Fresh Take Florida program, a political and investigative news service housed at the university that publishes students’ work across the state, and as a freelancer for Mainstreet Daily News in Gainesville.
Safa Wahidi
Safa Wahidi is a senior at Emory University studying political science and creative writing. She was an opinion editor and a columnist at The Emory Wheel, where her writing won national recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists. Off campus, Safa has worked at Forsyth County News, CNN International and her hometown newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her reporting interests include local government, political accountability and food access. Safa is especially passionate about investigative journalism at the city level and hopes her reporting can encourage readers to stay involved with their communities.
Cedeem Gumbs contributed research.
