Meet the Fellows-ICFJ Professional Fellows from Latin America, Fall 2020

Name: Anamaria Arroyo

Organization: Radio Infinita

Country: Guatemala

Born and raised in Guatemala City in 1986, Anamaría was a storyteller from a young age. Almost by chance, she was hired as a lifestyle reporter in Diario Digital, later Canal Antigua Digital, a digital news source in Guatemala City. There, she grew as a digital reporter and digital shorts producer. She moved on to write for Prensa Libre, and as a freelancer for other companies. She currently works for Radio Infinita/ConCriterio in the digital department.

Name: Desirée Yépez

Organization: Fundamedios

Country: Ecuador

Desirée has specialized in in-depth journalism. She’s a former fellow of Agência Pública (Brazil) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). She has written for newspapers, magazines and portals including Expreso, El Comercio, Extra, El Telégrafo, Revista Vanguardia, La Barra Espaciadora, Ecuador Chequea, SoHo, El Mundo (Spain), The Clinic (Chile), Revista Late (Latin America), and Univision (USA). When she’s not writing, she conducts training in digital tools and fact-checking. She has been a speaker at journalism forums in Ecuador, the United States, and Colombia. Recently, the German Cooperation, through its PreViMujer program, chose Desirée as one of the notable women for their 2020 calendar, which recognizes women in Ecuador who play important roles in favor of women’s rights, minorities, and equality.

Twitter @desireeyepez

Name: Cecilia Carolina Santos Murga

Organization: Sunrise Salvador Development

Country: El Salvador

Cecilia is a bilingual marketing professional with over ten years of experience in retail, telecommunications, and industry loyalty programs. She is passionate about developing digital media content, social channels and engaging in media entrepreneurship. In the summer of 2019, Cecilia co-founded the growing Salvadoran podcast Voz De 2. Cecilia is eager to grow the project in a sustainable manner. Besides recording her podcast, Cecilia enjoys multicultural experiences, traveling, and improving her surfing skills!

Twitter @CeSaints

Name: Claudia Gutiérrez Montano

Organization: El Placer del Saber

Country: Mexico

Claudia is a passionate marketing and digital content specialist. She took courses in marketing at the University of Colima in Mexico and studied abroad at the University of Calgary in Canada. She also obtained a digital marketing certificate from the University of Texas at Austin. With more than five years of experience, Claudia has worked at a marketing agency, news agency, e-commerce and software consultancy, and a creative production company. Claudia founded "El Placer del Saber” the first Mexican media that promotes responsible and pleasurable sexuality since 2011. Recently, El Placer del Saber represented Mexico in the 2nd Cohort of New Ventures Lab 2019 of Chicas Poderosas NGO in Brazil and was chosen as one of the nine finalists of Premios IDEA 2019, sponsored by Planned Parenthood LATAM. Claudia supports social-impact projects, so this year she’s also building a Mexican community of digital female leaders with Chicas Poderosas. She believes in the power of collaborative work and constantly looks forward to improving herself by learning from new experiences.

Twitter @chikleypega

Name: Diego Granda
Organization: Radio Vision Jujuy
Country: Argentina

Diego is a 31 years old journalist living in the border between Argentina and Bolivia. He was a Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) fellow. He produced Argentina cross border trafficking (Al Jazeera English), a documentary about human traffic, and has published short reports for CNN. He worked as a storyteller at LA NACION Media Group for many years and now he is back to his birth town, Jujuy, where he works as a TV and radio journalist. Diego, who was recently elected to the board of directors of FOPEA (Foro de Periodismo Argentino), is interested in being able to build out a network of ties between colleagues from the Latin American region.

Twitter: Diego_Granda

Name: Dunia Orellana
Organization: Freelancer
Country: Honduras

Dunia Orellana is an investigative reporter, filmmaker, editor born and working in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She got her degree in Journalism in 2010. She worked for 13 years for La Prensa Journal in San Pedro Sula as a multimedia editor. She has taken many courses, workshops and diploma courses in digital journalism and social networks, investigative and data journalism, and communication for development with Internews, GOJoven International and IWMF. She has been dedicated for more than sixteen years to in-depth journalism for print media and digital platforms. Since 2015, she works as a freelance journalist and filmmaker for Central American, South American and European independent media organizations. As such, she covers human rights violations with a focus on gender-based violence and LGBTIQ+ groups. She won a scholarship to study documentary filmmaking at the Universidad Juan Carlos III in Spain for one year and obtained her Master's degree in Documentary Filmmaking in 2012. In 2019 she directed, wrote, edited and produced the short documentary film "What it means to be LGBTI in Honduras". She is currently working for En Altavoz, Reporteros de Investigación, El Tiempo de Colombia, Adictos a la Verdad, among other media outlets. She is also a consultant for several independent media and development organizations.

Name: Felicitas Carrique

Organization: SembraMedia

Country: Argentina

Felicitas is an Argentinian journalist who works as an innovation director for SembraMedia. She is in charge of projects related to design, optimization, performance and development. In that role, she manages SembraMedia’s tech needs and projects, including many websites where the organization generates resources relevant for media entrepreneurs such as a media directory and an online school. She is also the lead for an initiative called SembraTec that provides funding and consulting for media to implement digital tools that can drive engagement and help develop new revenue streams. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications, studied web layout, and specializes in media, business, technology and innovation. In the past, she worked as a part of the Infobae’s Innovation team, as an independent content creator for digital startups and developing content for search engine optimization. She also collaborated with La Nación, TechCrunch, Buena Vibra, El Economista and other Argentinian media outlets. Felicitas is currently teaching entrepreneurial journalism at Universidad Católica Argentina. She has conducted workshops on media business models and project management as a part of the multiplatform program dictated by FOPEA (Foro de Periodismo Argentino).

Twitter @felicarrique

Name: Jesus Arney Mesa Mosquera

Organization: El Espectador

Country: Colombia

Jesus graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Universidad Javeriana, Colombia, in 2016. He currently works at the leading Colombian newspaper, El Espectador, as an international reporter where he covers international news and writes mostly about Latin American politics and the Venezuelan migration crisis. Since finishing his studies, he has dedicated his career to digital and print media. His first job was at El Espectador as an intern for the science and health desk, and following that, he moved to Diario La República, the leading economics publication in Colombia. After a brief spell at La Republica, he moved to Revista Semana, the leading political magazine in Colombia, where he worked as a digital journalist for a year. He then returned to El Espectador in 2018 to work as an international journalist for the newspaper. For over two years, he has covered world news, but mainly the Venezuelan political situation and the migration crisis in Colombia. In 2018, Jesus was awarded the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism fellowship for his project “Venezuelan Migration: A mental health challenge.”

Twitter @JesusMesa

Name: Jodie Madelaine Padilla Lozano

Organization: INECEM, Directed by Carmen P. Padilla

Country: Ecuador

Jodie is a professor of the Catholic University and scientific researcher at the institute of research and innovation INECEM of Guayaquil and the University of Buenos Aires, where she obtained a postgraduate degree in economic sciences. She is a member of the group of researchers in Ecuador that works with the Harvard Business School network under the direction of Michael Porter and she is a member of an innovation experts committee in Valencia, Spain, where she obtained her postgraduate degree in innovation. She has been a mentor of startup Grind of Google for Entrepreneurship and professor at ESPOL. She is also the founder of “Team Matilde,” a digital female union spot and social awareness campaign about the legacy of Matilde Hidalgo, the promotion of sorority, and the equal participation of women and men. She is an activist who pushes for a greater female presence in leadership positions. Jodie is the first data science director of the organization Girls in Tech Ecuador. This last achievement was possible because she won first place in the Global Writing Contest “Share Your Voice” from Girls in Tech HQ San Francisco, which emphasizes volunteering, academic excellence, and activism. In 2020 she became the first Ecuadorian female to be part of the outstanding professionals' network of the World Economic Forum and is currently the Vice Curator of Guayaquil Hub, the community of young leaders "Global Shapers" from the World Economic Forum - since she was trained at the Annual Curatorship Meeting, Geneva.
She was selected for a scholarship at the first-ever Climate Reality Leadership Corps Global Training whose founder and chairman is the former US Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore.

Twitter @jodiepl

Name: Julia Gavarrete

Organization: Revista Gato Encerrado

Country: El Salvador

Julia is a Salvadoran journalist with ten years of experience in newsrooms and documentary production. She worked for Diario El Mundo, Diario1.com, and has been published in local media outlets such as Revista Factum and Alharaca Contenidos. In 2020, she joined the Revista GatoEncerrado newsroom. She specializes in political issues, violence and its impact on vulnerable communities. After working as a reporter for local newspapers, in 2015 she decided to become an independent journalist supporting investigations carried out by foreign media like CNN, The New Yorker, USA Today, The Intercept, Al Jazeera and Univision Noticias, She has focused on investigative reporting related to corruption, gender issues and migration. In 2019, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) included her name as one of 19 women changing journalism. She graduated from Social Communications at Universidad Centroamericana “José Simeón Cañas” (UCA), with post-graduate studies in Latin American politics (Cuba), peace journalism in conflict zones (Israel), and solidarity economies (Mexico).

Twitter @PetizaGavarrete

Name: Leonardo Grinspan
Organization: Radio Panama
Country: Panama

Leonardo has been a journalist since 2010. He decided to enter this career because of his interest in giving the real news to the people. In his short but intense career, he has the opportunity to be correspondent to important events, such as Presidential Meetings of Panamanian President in Israel, USA, and Russia. He worked covering Rio De Janeiro´s Olympic Games in 2016, and the Russia World Cup in 2018. Also, he covered events on the Gaza Strip crisis in 2014, and in Fidel Castro´s state funeral in La Havana, Cuba, working for Prisa Radio Group. Leonardo is the founder of Sin Filtro, the first YouTube radio program for Investigative journalism in Panama. He is the News General Producer of Radio Panama and the Prisa Radio´s international correspondent.
Twitter: @leogrins

Name: María Alejandra Garcia Espichan

Organization: Grupo El Comercio

Country: Peru

María has been a journalist since 2016, most recently working for Peru 21 journal from Grupo El Comercio in Peru, since 2018. She became involved in journalism many years ago as a photographer, writer and interviewer for a cultural website. She worked as a creative redactor and in public relations for a publicity agency in Lima. She also taught English at a school for four years.

Twitter @mjgrsp

Name: Maria Claudia Davila

Organization: Mutante

Country: Colombia

María has a degree in social communication with a specialization in audiovisual production from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá, Colombia. At university, she obtained an average grade of 4.8/5, and one of her documentaries was selected in “Ventanas” for an audiovisual contest among the national universities. She studied at Santa Maria High, one of the most recognized bilingual high schools in Colombia. Currently, she is the Conversation Manager and one of three journalists at Mutante. Recently, she was selected with 15 other journalists by the Fundación Gabo to assist in a one-week Solutions Journalism workshop to become a trainer on the subject. Before Mutante, she worked for VICE Colombia and PACIFISTA, collaborating on gender, culture and environmental news. She also has collaborated with El Espectador, publishing pieces on sexual violence and indigenous communities. In 2017, she was a communications intern at the Colombian Embassy in Indonesia.

Name: Maurício Ferro

Organization: Poder360

Country: Brazil

Maurício graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and is a reporter in the capital city of Brasília. He covers the Brazilian president, Mr. Bolsonaro, for the digital journal Poder360. He also developed a political newsletter called Correio Sabiá that he sends from Monday to Friday on WhatsApp to more than two thousand daily readers. He did an extension course in Economic Journalism at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and many investigative journalism courses at the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji). He was an intern, trainee and reporter at O Globo, one of the biggest newspapers in Brazil. He also worked for Estadão as a reporter, and for Record TV as a producer.

Twitter @mauricioaferro

Name: Maximiliano De Rito

Organization: RED/ACCION

Country: Argentina

Maxi is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a product manager for RED/ACCION, his work lies at the intersection of journalism, user experience, design, software, analytics, marketing and business. Maxi has experience developing cutting-edge products and designing media platforms in an integral way. He is passionate about using new technologies and innovative design to tell stories in a powerful and impactful way.

Twitter @maxiderito

Name: Natalia Gutiérrez

Organization: Ruido en la Red

Country: Mexico

Natalia is a digital media editor in Mexico City. She has a proven track record working at the intersection of journalism, communications and community building. She is an advocate for black women and is currently launching a newsletter in Spanish about feminism and mental health called “Colectiva.” She was a founding member of the news site mexico.com, and prior to that she worked at The New York Times en Español as a growth audience editor, where she explored the best practices to grow, develop and retain loyal audiences in Latin America. Natalia is currently working as the audience engagement strategist for the multimedia platform Ruido en la Red, focused on transforming the latest news into engaging videos for social media. Since 2019, she is an organizer for the local group of ONA Ciudad de México where she expects to build a strong community of journalists throughout Mexico.

Twitter @natsinats_

Name: William Reyes
Organization: TVES Honduras
Country: Honduras

William Reyes is an Audiovisual Director and Producer based in Honduras. He currently works as content director at TVES Honduras (Digital Entertainment Platform) and at his own production company Opida, in which he has produced many short films that have been awarded and shown at important international film festivals around the world. He studied a bachelor's degree in Communication and Advertising, also he has worked as a producer in TV shows and directed many advertising campaigns in Honduras.

Name: Yajaira Chung
Organization: Historiería
Country: Costa Rica

Yajaira Chung was born in San José, Costa Rica. She studied journalism and graduated in 2007 that same year she started working as a reporter in Noticias Columbia, one of the most longest-running radio broadcasting news in Costa Rica. After a year of working as a reporter, she left journalism to work in a family business. In 2009 she went to Beijing, China to learn Mandarin at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). She returned to Costa Rica in 2010 and started working on Revista EKA, a business magazine where she developed most of her professional work. She started as a freelance journalist then as an editor and from 2015 to 2018 as the director of the magazine, website, and events. In 2018 she quit her job at Revista EKA and found Historiería, a startup dedicated create content using storytelling.