RESUME

Emilie is an award-winning investigative journalist with ten years of professional experience, including seven years writing and reporting about criminal justice. She is a self-motivated and deadline-oriented worker who is passionate about elevating the voices of everyday people. Her ability to distill complex issues and communicate them clearly makes her skills highly transferable to roles in teaching, communication and more.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Investigative Reporter | San Antonio Express-News
April 2022 to November 2024

Utilized data, sourcing and hard-to-get documents to form the basis of a public-interest investigative pieces about drunk driving, police discipline and drug overdoses.
Partnered with beat reporters, developing major scoops on national news events, including the Uvalde school shooting.
Built and maintained relationships with community members, law enforcement and advocacy groups, strengthening the depth and accuracy of investigative reporting.

Criminal Justice Reporter | San Antonio Express-News
September 2016 to April 2022

Developed daily, enterprise and investigative stories that relied on public records, data analysis, public callouts and interviews from a myriad of sources.
Advanced big stories into authoritative and insightful A1 stories during stressful and quickly-changing breaking news events.
Helped lead an expansive investigation into rising domestic violence rates in San Antonio, prompting local officials to spend $3.3 million to hire more prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates to tackle a huge backlog of domestic violence cases.

Beat Reporter | Cincinnati Enquirer
January 2015 to September 2016

Developed daily and enterprise stories on child poverty, social services, business and breaking news; produced compelling news videos for online publication.
Worked on extensive data projects about the national school lunch program that formed the basis of hard-hitting accountability stories.

Hearst Multimedia Reporting Fellow | News21
January 2014 to August 2014

Conducted in-depth research on gun culture, gun rights, and gun control; evaluated the impact of California’s stringent gun control laws and documented the emerging phenomenon of sheriffs declining to enforce gun control laws.
Authored and produced a series of articles and videos that were published by NBCNews.com and The Center for Public Integrity, among others.

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Co-Lead | Teen Team, San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists
January 2021 to Present

Managed a committee of journalists and other professionals to establish the design and structure Teen Team, a high school journalism and mentorship program at the San Antonio Express-News, which was later transferred to the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Developed and executed marketing strategies to promote the program, including creating engaging news articles, blog posts, social media content and video promotions.
Developed and refined curriculum focused on foundational journalism principles, ethics, storytelling techniques and more.
Mentored high school journalists, guiding them in developing strong reporting and writing skills.
Edited and prepared students’ articles for publication in the San Antonio Express-News.

Co-Lead | San Antonio Express-News Diversity & Inclusion Committee
January 2021 to January 2023

Managed a committee of journalists and staff, coordinating meetings, establishing diversity and inclusion objectives and delegating tasks.
Collaborated with leadership and staff to implement diversity-focused policies, programs and events to foster an inclusive newsroom culture.
Oversaw the committee’s communication strategy, including writing regular newsletters, all-staff emails and social media content.

RECENT AWARDS

2024: Texas Managing Editors’ Excellence in Journalism Contest
Second Place, Star Online Package of the Year
Second Place, Deadline Writing

2023: Texas Managing Editors’ Excellence in Journalism Contest
Third Place, Community Service
Second Place, Team Effort
Honorable Mention, Team Effort
Honorable Mention, Star Breaking News Report

2023: Showcase Awards for Enterprise & Innovation in Journalism, The Headliners Foundation
Certificate of Merit, Storytelling

2022: Texas Managing Editors’ Excellence in Journalism Contest
Third Place, Star Investigative Report
Third Place, Star Online Package
Honorable Mention, Community Service

2022: Showcase Awards for Enterprise & Innovation in Journalism, The Headliners Foundation
Silver Place, Investigative Reporting

2021: Texas Gavel Award, State Bar of Texas
Print, Non-Metro

2021: Best of the West Journalism Awards
Second Place, Social Justice Reporting

2021: Texas Managing Editors’ Excellence in Journalism Contest
Honorable Mention, Specialty Reporting

2020: Texas Managing Editors’ Excellence in Journalism Contest
First Place, Team Effort

SKILLS

Public Records
Photography
Videography
Social Media
Public Speaking
Excel
Data Analysis
Mentorship
Website Design

EDUCATION

December 2014 | Arizona State University
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism and Mass Communication
Graduated Magna Cum Laude

December 2014 | Fall Commencement Speaker
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communications