The Tribune introduces 11 summer fellows

Ellie Ashby is an Austin-based reporting fellow with the Texas Tribune and Religion News Service. A 2024 graduate of Harvard College, she wrote for The Harvard Crimson as a member of the editorial board, primarily covering religion on campus, and also served as an associate editor of the columns section. Ellie also holds a master of theological studies degree from Harvard Divinity School, where her studies focused on American religious history and American evangelicalism. She is originally from Houston.

Kaiden Chandler is a product fellow at The Texas Tribune. A strong believer in the importance of local news, he works at the intersection of design, technology and journalism to connect audiences with the information they need. Before joining the Tribune, he worked in design and product roles at the Ithaca Times, an alt-weekly in upstate New York, and the Connecticut Examiner, a digital news organization covering local news across Connecticut. Kaiden is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in communication strategy and design at Ithaca College, where he was design editor of The Ithacan, the campus’ student-run newspaper. During the summer, he will be based in his hometown of Mystic, Connecticut. Outside of work, he enjoys distance running and diving into a good book.

Alejandro Santos Cid is a Spanish reporter whose work combines narrative journalism with coverage of the social impact of violence, organized crime, human rights violations, migration and countercultural movements. From 2021 to 2025, he worked in the newsroom of El País in Mexico City. He won the Mexican National Journalism Award in 2023 and was a finalist for the Gabriel García Márquez (Gabo) Award in 2025, among other recognitions. His byline has also appeared in international publications such as Internazionale, Le Figaro, Courrier International, Wired, Divergentes, El Salto and HuffPost. He holds a degree in social and cultural anthropology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and a master’s degree in journalism from UAM-El País. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in bilingual journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. He is based in Austin for the summer. He was born and raised in La Cabrera, a town in the mountains north of Madrid.

Sam Habashy is a Washington, D.C.-based reporting fellow covering Texas’ delegation from Capitol Hill. Sam is from Dallas and is a recent graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and international relations. She served as the founder of Northwestern’s Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists’ Association Chapter, edited for The Daily Northwestern and wrote for the Indianapolis Star, STAT News, Medill News Service, and Dallas’ Advocate Magazine.

Juliana Lightsey is an audience engagement fellow based in Austin. She is a recent graduate of Rice University, where she studied English, political science and social policy, and was managing editor of the student newspaper, The Rice Thresher. Juliana previously worked as a Dow Jones News Fund audience engagement intern for the Houston Chronicle, a trending news fellow for the Barbed Wire and a digital journalism intern for KPRC-2 Houston.

Katlyn Ma is a general assignment reporting fellow based in Austin. A graduate of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, she has worked at the Financial Times and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC). Katlyn grew up in Brooklyn and speaks Cantonese. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting and listening to podcasts.

Itzel Mazariego is a graphic design fellow based in Houston and a recent graduate of the University of Houston, where she studied art and advertising. Throughout her time there, she interned for the university’s athletics department in graphic design, and was creative director for her university’s advertising team in the National Student Advertising Competition, placing second in their district. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, printmaking and hanging out with her dog, Max. Itzel is fluent in Spanish.

Nneoma Mgboji is a marketing and communications fellow based in Austin. Nneoma is a rising senior at the University of North Texas, pursuing a public relations degree in the Mayborn School of Journalism. She volunteers for her school’s on-campus television station, North Texas Television, where she serves as entertainment media coordinator for the late-night talk show, Late Night at North Texas. Previously, Nneoma was a marketing coordinator for UNT’s programming board, University Program Council, and was a media intern at the annual Fort Worth-based festival Mayfest. In her free time, she loves watching movies and messing around on Canva.

Sophia Nabours is a video engagement fellow currently based in Austin. Originally from North Little Rock, Arkansas, she is entering her final year at the University of Arkansas, where she studies multimedia journalism and criminology. Sophia serves as editor-in-chief of the university’s student newspaper, The Arkansas Traveler, where she leads coverage focused on digitally translating crucial storytelling for a student audience. She previously worked as a data journalism fellow for The Marshall Project, reporting on the local effects of Department of Justice grant cuts. Outside the newsroom, Sophia enjoys playing the drums, collecting magazines and city exploring.

Hien An Ngo is a data visuals fellow at The Texas Tribune. Before joining the Tribune, she interned in data reporting roles at CNN and NBCU Local. Most recently, she covered money in politics for OpenSecrets News. Hien An graduated from George Washington University, where she studied data science and political science, and she remains based in Washington, D.C. Born in Paris, France, she grew up in Chicago and speaks Vietnamese.