The Washington Post 

In Trump’s orbit, some muse about mandatory military service

I dug into The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a nearly 1,000-page blueprint for the next Republican presidency, and found a policy proposal unlawfully requiring students at public high schools nationwide to take a military aptitude test. According to some leaders in Donald Trump’s circle, including former Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, those scores could be used for war readiness. As the lead reporter on this story, I found sources on the ground in various states who had already been unlawfully required to complete the test, showing the human impact of this “proposal” that was perhaps already more than just an idea.

This piece drove the conversation in Washington as even Trump posted about it on Truth Social. Our coverage helped lead to congressional crackdowns on Project 2025 – including the formation of the Stop Project 2025 Task Force in the U.S. House of Representatives – and more coverage of the blueprint overall. 

School media, Butler University

Exclusive interview with Yusef Salaam, exonerated member of "The Central Park Five"

I moderated a conversation with Dr. Salaam discussing the U.S. criminal justice system, prison reform and race biases within the prison industrial complex. Dr. Salaam, who spent nearly a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit, is now a member of the New York City Council.

The Detroit News (Freelance)

Anti-Trump group urging Democrats to crossover for Haley in S.C., Michigan primaries

I earned a front-page spot in the publication’s print newspaper for breaking this story about a super political action committee targeting crossover voters in Michigan. My first time reporting on southern politics, I spoke with voters and experts who all wondered the same thing: where, if any, are the crossover voters? By following the money, I discovered an anti-Trump group targeting left-leaning and moderate voters in an attempt to influence the Republican nomination. The group had already operated in several states and was active in Michigan ahead of its primaries, which came right after the elections in South Carolina.

The Connecticut Examiner

UConn Faculty Question Contractor's Role in Budget Cuts

This data-driven story was the first deeply reported piece connecting a specific consulting group to proposed budget cuts in schools across the nation. Even months later, faculty and students still turn to this piece when discussing the impact of outside firms on cost-cutting decisions at the University of Connecticut. I've built such strong rapport with my sources that they continue to reach out with updates, even after I left the publication.

This story came to fruition because I noticed a growing trend of budget cuts in higher education nationally and wanted to explore its human impact and localize the issue for the publication. After interviewing faculty, students and experts at the university about proposed cuts, each source expressed skepticism about the same consulting group. After investigating further, I found that this group had also been criticized at other universities, making me the first to deeply report on the firm.