Center for Health Journalism announces 2025 National Fellows, more than $80,000 in grants

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June 23, 2025

The USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism is pleased to announce the selection of 21 talented and diverse journalists to participate in the 2025 National Fellowship, exploring issues related to children, youth and family well-being and community health across the country.

The Fellowship class includes reporters from print, digital and broadcast outlets, including mainstream outlets such as the Chicago Sun-Times, National Public Radio, the Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker as well as community and ethnic media outlets including Native News Online, Capital B and Verite News.

The 2025 National Fellows will receive months of expert mentoring as they produce ambitious projects in partnership with the Center on a range of health and social welfare topics, including the youth mental health crisis, rural health care challenges, how your Zip Code impacts health and life expectancy, the intersection of unaffordable housing and the child welfare system, what it means for a child to grow up as an immigrant, conditions in juvenile detention, how to rethink prevention approaches for domestic violence, and the health impacts of climate change and environmental hazards.

The competitive program includes a multi-day learning institute that provides insights into how health is shaped by opportunities, community conditions, and structural barriers. Each Fellow will receive a reporting grant ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, and several will receive additional community engagement grants.

This is a time when journalism on child, youth and family well-being is more urgent than ever. This initiative will yield reporting that sheds light on chronic ills and new challenges. We are honored to work with these talented journalists to bring their important stories to light.

The 2025 National Fellowship is generously funded by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The National Fellowship also receives support from the Dennis Hunt Fund for Health Journalism, which is supported by individual donors, and the Kristy Hammam Fund for Health Journalism, an initiative of the Social Impact Fund. The California Endowment provided seed funding that launched the Center more than 20 years ago.

The 2025 National Fellowship will open with a keynote conversation featuring journalist Lee Hawkins, author of "I Am Nobody's Slave: How Uncovering My Family's History Set Me Free," a Harper Collins book and Center for Health Journalism National Fellowship project, involving dozens of oral histories and a decade of historical research. Other highlights of the program include a field visit to Magnolia Place, a unique community hub designed to build resilience for children and families. It is located in a densely populated, low-income immigrant neighborhood of Los Angeles that has 35,000 children within five square miles. Additional panels and discussions during the program will delve into childhood adversity and the science of resilience, trauma-informed approaches for reaching at-risk youth, and how federal funding shifts affect families and communities. Fellows also will learn about data visualization, engaged journalism, strategies for impact reporting, and other journalism best practices.

We are pleased to announce our 2025 National Fellows

Alejandra Borunda, National Public Radio

Eleanore Catolico, Planet Detroit

Jennifer Chowdhury, Prism

Victoria Clayton, The Guardian US

Bryce Covert, The Nation

Max Filby, The Columbus Dispatch

Kelly Garcia, Injustice Watch

Catherine Jaffee, KSUT

Michael Lyle, Nevada Current

Halle Parker, Verite News

Corinne Purtill, The Los Angeles Times