Meet the 2022 Engagement Journalism Class at the Newmark J-School at CUNY
Doing journalism with, not just for, communities.
Meet the engagement journalism class of 2022, which is excited and ready to engage with communities in new ways that meet their information needs.
Students from this cohort are interested in connecting with communities that gather around issues they’ve been impacted by, such as climate change, environmental injustice, immigration, education, voting and more. And some students will work with communities like caregivers, LGBTQ+ seniors, families with alternative structures, people who have experienced religious trauma, African immigrant communities, Afghan refugees, Black creatives, Southeast Asians living in New York, and more.
Hafeezat Bishi (she/her) graduated from Temple University in May with a degree in communication and social influence and a certificate in Spanish. She has worked as a content and communication specialist for the Temple University Lenfest North Philadelphia Workforce Initiative and did social media election coverage for The Crisis Magazine in November 2020. She also worked as an editorial intern at Resolve Philly’s “Broke in Philly.” She currently works at the Center for Constitutional Rights as a social media communications assistant. Her freelance work has appeared in a variety of publications, including NAACP and Courier Newsroom.
Kellen Bulger (he/him) graduated from Willamette University in 2019, where he majored in environmental science and politics. He was also an editor for the student newspaper, a student-athlete on the cross-country and track teams, and a senator in student government. While living on the west coast, he worked for the Oregon’s environmental department and interned at a few local news publications. Now, he coaches at Mile High Run Club, works at Brooklyn Running Company, and recently did a reporting internship with Pamplin Media Group.
Julia Capizzi (she/her) graduated from Catholic University in 2017, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in musical theatre with a minor in media studies. During college, she enjoyed writing for a number of outlets, including the DC theater publication DC Metro Theater Arts and the Washington Improv Theater online blog. She also served as the Head Writer and Director for #Basic: A Live Sketch Comedy Night for Millennials, and worked as the Writer-in-Residence for CenterStage Theatre Company, Catholic University’s student-run theatre organization. After college, she embarked on a successful career as a professional actor and theatre artist in the Washington, DC area, performing, teaching and directing at numerous theaters in DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia. She has since built a career in sales and marketing at various companies in DC and Baltimore.
Izania Gonzalez (she/her) is a recent graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she majored in sustainability studies. She volunteers with Troy Bike Rescue to help promote sustainability via recycling and upcycling bicycles and individual bicycle parts. She has worked at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Office of Climate Change, where she wrote reports on individual state grant and certification applications, reviewed documents and did research to help develop policies like the newly proposed NYS Climate Action Plan. She has also worked as a research assistant focusing on analyzing heavy metals in urban soil and how to involve the community in the research using participatory mapping.
Zoe Grueskin (she/her) graduated from Williams College in 2014 with a degree in environmental policy. After graduating, she worked as a radio reporter in Alaska, where she covered local and statewide news, hosted newscasts, and produced an interview-based radio show. Since arriving in New York, she has collected interviews for Brooklyn Public Library’s COVID-19 oral history project and written about mutual aid for Bklyner. She also has a background in education and hopes to continue teaching and mentoring. Her professional highlights include teaching a course on comics and graphic storytelling at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Northwest Campus in Nome, Alaska, and leading writing workshops for women incarcerated at the state correctional facility in Juneau, Alaska.
Aina Izham (she/her) graduated from SUNY Albany in 2020 with a degree in journalism. Born and raised in Malaysia, she helped bring about the reestablishment of the SPJ Albany Chapter and served as its Public Relations Chair in the 2019–2020 school year. She’s worked in local news in the Capital Region of New York State, and worked as an Associate Printer at the Albany Times Union for a year, handling incoming pages for print for local publications in the Capital Region. During her undergraduate career, she was actively involved in The Albany Student Press.
Dillon Kondor (he/him) is the guitarist for Dear Evan Hansen, where he is also the guitar programmer for touring productions. Other credits include Jesus Christ Superstar Live on NBC (with John Legend and Sara Bareilles), Kennedy Center Honors the cast of Hamilton in 2018, and singing and playing on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Dillon also toured as the guitarist for Blood Sweat and Tears from 2014–2017. Dillon is a 2008 graduate of Ithaca College with a degree in music composition (BM) and 2011 graduate of Manhattan School with a master’s degree in music composition (MM).
Sarah Luft (she/her) is a writer, digital storyteller and lifelong learner. She is currently a brand and community manager at a nonprofit organization supporting kids living with chronic medical conditions. Sarah has written about mental health for Born This Way Foundation’s Channel Kindness and peacebuilding for The Peace Studio’s “100 Days of Peace” campaign. Ever curious about the stories that shape us, she studied human development and literature at the University of Connecticut. Now, Sarah aims to report at the intersection of culture, ecology, and health.
Amanda McHugh (she/her) graduated from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2009. As a freelance journalist she’s written articles covering festivals including Sundance Film Festival, Desert Hearts and Art Basel Miami. She runs the blog Focal Nomad which explores her own healing and transformation through the exploration of travel, art and events. She was a producer on the Pivot docuseries Life Line Booth, the UPM for the viral musical comedy video “Burning Man: The Musical,” and a producer for the award-winning web series Slice the Series. As associate producer of the upcoming feature-documentary I Know Catherine, the Log Lady, presented by David Lynch, she raised 300k for the Kickstarter campaign.
Julian Roberts-Grmela (he/him) graduated from SUNY Buffalo in 2020, where he majored in philosophy and English. There, he started as a staff writer at the school newspaper, and later became the paper’s senior news editor. Throughout his college career, he also worked as a tutor and editor at the school’s writing center. Last year, he was a full-time substitute teacher. During his time in the Engagement Journalism program, he plans to focus on education.
Angrej Singh (he/him) is a recent undergraduate of Hunter College where he pursued media studies with a concentration in journalism. During his last semester, he reported on stories for The Athenian, a product of the Neighborhood News class at Hunter. Singh has interned as a reporter at the Metro Desk for the New York Daily News, covering breaking news, crime, politics and human interest stories. During his time at Newmark J-School, he aspires to make the language and resources of journalism more accessible, reimagine what journalism could be, work in collaboration with communities about several issues affecting them, listen and have conversations with people most impacted in a variety of complex ways by various issues, and ultimately being responsible to them and creating projects that would be of value to communities.
Christine Zirneklis (she/her) has spent much of her career thus far on the edge of storytelling and information systems, supporting student journalists and science communicators and leading events, using community feedback loops, and developing partnerships. After traveling the country with production company Roadtrip Nation’s education and outreach team, Christine spent a few years with local station PBS SoCal, building relationships with organizations across Los Angeles to support community outreach, events, and youth programs. In 2017, she began working with the National Geographic Society, where she leads online and in-person collaboration opportunities and events for the global community of 6000+ researchers, scientists, and educators who have received grants from the organization. She is a 2013 graduate of UCLA with a degree in global studies and a minor in English.
For more information on the Engagement Journalism Program, visit our webpage. Follow along on Twitter using #EngagementJ.
