The Ida B. Wells Society launched the Ida B. Wells Society Investigative Reporting Fellowship, a no-cost, intensive program designed to sharpen the investigative reporting skills of a select group of journalists under the guidance of some of the most accomplished reporters and editors in the industry, in 2025. The fellowship is intended for journalists not presently assigned to investigative teams.
During training, participants will work on projects they have proposed for publication in their respective newsrooms.
2025 Inaugural Reporting Fellows
In 2025, we selected 10 journalists as our inaugural Reporting Fellows. Click each Fellow to learn more about them and their project.
- Caroline Beck
- Zachary Bynum
- Jonathan Custodio
- Gaige Davila
- Williamena Kwapo
- Reynaldo Leaños Jr.
- Daniel Parra
- Tannistha Sinha
- Carrington York
- Kaisha Young
Training
An integral part of the Reporting Fellowship is the training that the Fellows receive from world-class investigative journalists. Trainers covered topics including writing for investigations, backgrounding, sourcing, FOIA and public records, data evaluation and analyzation, web research, fact checking and verification, and more.
Here are some of the trainers who trained and mentored the inaugural cohort:
- Ron Nixon, Society co-founder
- Topher Sanders, Society co-founder
- Corey Johnson
- Nicole Carr
- Tyler Dukes
- Sally Ho
- Kate Howard
- Sandeep Junnarkar
- Stephanie Lamm
- Brittany Mayes
- Charles Minshew
- Brian Nguyen
- Walter Smith Randolph
- Connor Sheets
- Kat Stafford
- Kavitha Surana
- Cheryl W. Thompson
Apply to Be a Fellow
Applications for the 2026 cohort are now open! Learn more here.
