About this reporting project

The Center for Sustainable Journalism pursues investigative and solutions-oriented reporting on child welfare in New Mexico to inform the public and policymakers about issues impacting young people in the state. Through this work, we aim to shine a light on gaps in care and highlight the efforts of those on the ground who are making a positive difference in the lives of New Mexico’s most vulnerable youth.

Project reporters, photographers and videographers

Cedar Attanasio

Attanasio is a freelance journalist and photographer based in New York City. His work as a reporter for the Associated Press/Report for America corps included immigration breaking news in El Paso, Texas, with multimedia coverage of refugees, economic migrants, Border Patrol agents, and the communities of West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. Attanasio is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and geography from Middlebury College, Vermont.
@viaCedar — LinkedIn — Muck Rack

Gabriela Campos

Campos is a freelance photojournalist based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A native of New Mexico, she was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work has been featured in the Guardian, High Country News, Al Jazeera, VICE, the Daily Beast and numerous southwestern publications. She is also the Digital Enterprise Photographer for the Santa Fe New Mexican. Campos studied at the University of New Mexico.
@gabriela.e.campos — Website: Gabriela Campos Photography

Hannah Hunter

Hunter is a print and broadcast journalist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Currently, she is a reporter for Kokopelli News and a news anchor/sportscaster with KRWG News 22. Hunter is a senior at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, studying for a bachelor’s degree in communication and journalism.
LinkedIn

Javier Gallegos

Gallegos is a journalist and photographer based in New Mexico. He is currently a fellow with the New Mexico Local News Fellowship Program, working at the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper. Gallegos holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from New Mexico State University.
Photography portfolio 

Jo Lutz

Lutz is a freelance journalist based in Silver City, New Mexico. She covers immigration and regional history for publications including Youth Today. Her work has also appeared in The Silver City Daily Press, The Silver City Independent, The Middletown Press and the Old Saybrook Gazette. Lutz is a graduate of Oberlin College, Ohio, with a major in English and a minor in politics. 

Julia Sclafani

Sclafani is a reporter and editor based in New Mexico. Her work focuses on health disparities facing communities in the Southwest. She has been published in the NM Political Report, New Mexico In Depth, Los Banos Enterprise, Las Cruces Sun-News, Searchlight New Mexico, MSN, MSN Canada, Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, the San Diego Union-Tribune and Axios. She was an associate editor for Axios and is currently a content manager for Beyond Type 1. Sclafani is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin American and Caribbean studies and human rights from Columbia University in the City of New York, and a master’s degree in Spanish-language journalism from Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, New York. 
@julia_sclafani — LinkedIn — Muck Rack

Kaelyn Lynch

Lynch is a freelance multi-media journalist and videographer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was recently the editorial fellow and assistant travel editor at Outside for three years. She has also produced several multi-media journalism and education projects with NGOs, government officials and grassroots community groups in Southeast Asia. Her work has been published by Las Cruces Sun-News, Santa Fe New Mexican, Alamogordo Daily News, Carlsbad Current-Argus, El Paso Inc., Outside Business Journal, Outside, Backpacker Magazine, Atlas Obscura, 5280 Magazine, Verge Magazine, Karen News (Thailand) and SevenSeas Media. Lynch is a cum laude graduate of the University of Miami, Florida. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with minors in biology and anthropology.
@kaelyn_lynch — LinkedIn — Muck Rack

Karen Coates

Coates is a freelance investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker based in New Mexico. She was a finalist for a 2020 James Beard Foundation award in investigative reporting, and a Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, Senior Fellow, 2011-2018. She is the author of four books, a contributing editor for Archaeology Magazine and a fellow at the International Women’s Media Foundation. Coates holds a master’s degree from the University of Oregon and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana, with majors in journalism and anthropology.
@RamblingSpoon — LinkedIn — Instagram — Website: Karen Coates

Kristi Eaton

Eaton, a freelance journalist and communications consultant, has reported on refugees creating podcasts to stem gender-based violence, why work is so good for women in Iceland, and immigration policies in the Northern Mariana Islands, among other issues. Her work has been published by the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, BuzzFeed, Conde Nast Traveler, Marie Claire, Ms. Magazine, NBC News, Next City, Poynter, Travel Weekly, and other publications. As a communications consultant, Eaton has partnered with international development organizations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Heifer International, The Hunger Project and The InteRoots Initiative. Eaton holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Arizona State University.
@KristiEaton — LinkedIn — Website: Kristi Eaton

Maura Fox

Fox is a freelance journalist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Originally from San Diego, Fox has written for outlets across Southern California reporting on local breaking news and U.S.-Mexico border issues. Most recently she was an editor at Outside Magazine. Fluent in English and Spanish, she worked in the office of American Citizen Services at the American Embassy in Mexico City. Fox holds a dual bachelor’s degree in English and in global studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
@Maura__Fox — LinkedIn — Muck Rack

Menachem Wecker

Wecker is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. He covers art, religion, and education for Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, Deseret News, National Catholic Reporter, Jewish Daily Forward, and others. A former education reporter at U.S. News & World Report, he is co-author of the recent book, “Consider No Evil: Two Faith Traditions and the Problem of Academic Freedom in Religious Higher Education.” Wecker holds a master’s degree in art history from George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
@mwecker — LinkedIn — Website: Menachem Wecker

Michael Gerstein

Gerstein is a freelance journalist based in Chicago. His work has been in the Associated Press, ABC News, Business Insider, Chalkbeat, Global News, PBS, Salon, U.S. News & World Report, Yahoo News, Detroit News, WWJ-TV (Detroit, Mich.), Seattle Times, the New Mexican, New Mexican Report and other publications. During the New Mexico Legislature’s 2021 session he wrote nonpartisan legislative analysis for a private bill-tracking firm. Gerstein holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Michigan.
@MikeGerstein — LinkedIn — MuckRack — Website: Michael Gerstein Pressfolio

Murat Oztaskin

Ostazkin is a freelance journalist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is on the editorial staff of The New Yorker as a writer, copy editor and web producer. His work has also been published by PBS Frontline, Outside, Modern Luxury Miami Magazine and other publications. Ostazkin holds a bachelor’s degree in English, with an emphasis in creative writing, from Kenyon College, Ohio.
@Murat Oztaskin — Muck Rack

Paul Ratje

Ratje is a freelance photojournalist and videographer based on the U.S.-Mexico border around El Paso, Texas, and southern New Mexico. He started his photography career while living in Asia for six years. His work strives to show the humanity in stories about social problems, including immigration and border issues. He speaks both Mandarin and Spanish fluently. Ratje’s work has appeared in Agence France-Presse, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other publications. Ratje holds two bachelor’s degrees — one in journalism and mass communications, and another in foreign languages, literature and linguistics — from New Mexico State University.
@paulratje — LinkedIn — Instagram — Website: Paul Ratje

Ramsay de Give

De Give is a freelance photographer and videographer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began his career as a photojournalist at the Santa Fe New Mexican before moving to Baltimore and later New York City, where he worked for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. De Give’s work also appears in the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. He returned to Santa Fe to pursue projects in his home state. De Give studied photojournalism at the Brooks Institute in California.
@rdegive — Instagram — Website: Ramsay de Give

Samuel Gilbert

Gilbert is a journalist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Born and raised in New Mexico, his career began in Ramallah, Palestine, where he freelanced for two years before being accepted to the Investigative program at Columbia University’s Journalism School in New York. His work appears in the Washington Post, the Guardian, Outside, Vice, Al Jazeera, New Mexican Magazine and other publications. Gilbert has degrees in anthropology and American studies from the University of New Mexico.
@samuelgilbert1 — MuckRack — Website: Samuel Gilbert

Steve Jansen

Jansen is a New Mexico-based investigative reporter who has won and been nominated for state, regional, and national awards, including the Best of the West, Maggies: Association of Black Journalists Awards. In 2013, his investigation into two crumbling dams in Houston was awarded first place for Best Print News/Feature Story in the Texas statewide Lone Star Awards competition. Jansen is a former staff writer for the Phoenix New Times and Houston Press, and currently reports on child welfare in New Mexico for the Center for Sustainable Journalism. Jansen holds a bachelor’s degree in business finance and marketing from the University of Arizona, and is pursuing a dual bachelor’s degree in Native American studies and American studies from the University of New Mexico.
@stevegjansen — LinkedIn

Tamara Rosenberg

Rosenberg is the founder of Columbus New Mexico News covering Luna County, New Mexico. She collaborates with national publications to highlight issues within underserved communities. Rosenberg holds a bachelor’s degree in English from California State University in Northridge.
LinkedIn — Website: CNM News

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