Daniela Velazquez

Director of Communications

Daniela is the director of communications at ACLU of Missouri. Previously she was an online producer and multimedia reporter at TBO.com, The Tampa Tribune and NBC affiliate WFLA-TV.  She grew up in St. Louis, Mo., and graduated with degrees in journalism and history from the University of Missouri at Columbia. This transplanted Missourican first moved to Florida when she was employed as a public safety reporter in Tallahassee. From 2007 until June, she worked as a breaking news producer in a fully converged newsroom. She writes a biweekly newspaper column about yoga and is training to become a certified instructor on a quest to master a handstand. Daniela also enjoys playing outside in the Florida sun.

Articles

Kenly Elementary School has cut out candy and made the lunch menu even healthier in attempts to combat childhood obesity.

Healthy Hillsborough: Keeping kids healthy

<p>When 11-year-old Shania Lape sees an overweight classmate struggle to keep up, she's filled with sympathy.&nbsp;"They can't run as fast, they can't play the games at school because they're not healthy," said Shania, a fifth-grader at Kenly Elementary in Tampa.&nbsp;Worse yet, not being able to

Fast-food isn't just convenient, it's also more cost-efficient than ever before, as grocery store prices have gone up 5 to 7 per

Healthy Hillsborough: Fast food county

<p>It's 6 p.m. You're tired and hungry. Food is the No. 1 thing on your mind.Your favorite fast-food restaurants line the roads home – McDonald's, Taco Bell, Domino's. So what's for dinner?</p>

Dawn Walton's focus on her son's future gave her the motivation to drop 240 pounds.

Healthy Hillsborough: Making healthy choices

<p>At 364 pounds, Dawn Walton found her breaking point, literally, when she sat down for a meet and greet at her son's kindergarten class.&nbsp;"I felt the chair start to break beneath me," Walton, 35, said. "I knew it would kill him if I broke that chair."&nbsp;She made a bargain with God that day

What factors affect healthy diet and exercise decisions?

<p>I'm honored to be a part of this year's fellows. I learned a lot during our week in Los Angeles and hope to apply that knowledge to my multimedia project. I will be looking at the obstacles that keep some in the lower-income communties of color in Tampa from developing healthy diet and exercise habits.</p>