The National Press Foundation is pleased to welcome 15 journalists from across the country to its second Future of the American Child Fellowship. The fellows were selected from newsrooms large and small for their level of interest in children’s issues and their proposals for future coverage.
The journalism training, the second in a series, will be held May 7-10 in Cleveland. The city hosts two of the nation’s leading medical and research centers – the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital – from which the fellows will receive high-level briefings on child health and development from expert practitioners.
Cleveland also grapples with many of the nation’s key challenges to child well-being: significant rates of poverty, youth violence and food insecurity. The fellows will explore related issues including:
- The impact of COVID-19 on education and child development
- State-level strategies in child welfare reform
- Why child labor policies fail to protect children
- Effective alternatives to the juvenile justice system
- How to center the social determinants of health in child well-being coverage
- Reporting on LGBTQ and gender-affirming care issues for children and youth
- Community-centered approaches to food insecurity
- Comprehensive support for children and youth exposed to violence
The first Future of the American Child fellowship took place in McAllen, Texas, in January. All content from that fellowship is available to journalists and the public.
This second Future of the American Child fellowship program is designed to help journalists master the nuances and complexities of public policies that affect children—and to accurately portray those insights in their reporting.
NPF will open applications for a third Future of the American Child fellowship later this year.
The new “Future of the American Child” fellows are:
Madi Alexander | Politico | Texas
Jennifer Brookland | Detroit Free Press | Michigan
Princesssafiya Byers | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service | Wisconsin
Eli Cahan | Capital and Main | California
Erin Chan Ding | Youth Today | Illinois
Jen Christensen | CNN | Georgia
Rachel Cohen | Vox | Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Gerson | The 19th | Georgia
Jackie Hendry | South Dakota Public Broadcasting | South Dakota
Piper Hutchinson | Louisiana Illuminator | Louisiana
Evan Moore | The Charlotte Observer | North Carolina
Bonnie Petrie | Texas Public Radio | Texas
Mary Pflum | NBC News | New York
Rania Soetirto | NBC News | California
Anna Spoerre | The Kansas City Star | Missouri
Expert presenters include:
Dr. Roy Kim, Head of Pediatric Endocrinology, the Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Edward Barksdale, Chief Pediatric Surgeon, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital
Rebecca Jones Gaston, Commissioner, Children Youth and Families, Health & Human Services
Sixto Cancel, Founder and CEO, Think of Us
Jennifer Sherer, Acting Director, Economic, Analysis and Research Network (EARN), Economic Policy Institute
This fellowship is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Heising-Simons Foundation. NPF is solely responsible for programming and content.
