ProPublica announced on Wednesday that Cassandra Garibay and Ashley Clarke have joined the crowdsourcing and engagement reporting team.
“I was so heartened by the incredible applicant pool for our engagement reporter position,” said Ariana Tobin, ProPublica’s crowdsourcing and engagement team editor. “Our field has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, and we are so excited to have hired two journalists working at the cutting edge of it. Ashley and Cassandra have both done exceptional, thoughtful, creative work reporting on and with communities facing some of the most pressing issues of our time. I can’t wait for people to see how they level up our coverage of housing, education, immigration and more.”
Garibay is a Bay Area-based engagement reporter who plans to work on community-sourced investigations related to issues like housing and health equity. She comes to ProPublica from the bilingual news outlet El Tímpano, where she was a senior housing reporter, leading investigations into topics including how exposure to lead-based paint has impacted Latino communities in Oakland, California. Her work there was driven by citizen-fueled science, text message outreach, data analysis, research partnerships and community events.
Before her time at El Tímpano, Garibay was the California engagement editor at the University of Southern California’s Center for Health Journalism, working with journalists across the state to center the communities they covered and reach audiences in innovative ways. She previously reported on housing, health and local government for the Fresno Bee, Fresnoland and the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
“I am thrilled to join the team and excited to help crowdsource investigations and center communities at the heart of important issues across the country,” said Garibay.
Clarke plans to cover issues that impact low-income individuals and families, particularly those living in urban communities, focusing on topics like housing insecurity and homelessness, education, transportation and environment. She comes to ProPublica from Bloomberg Industry Group, where she covered law firms and worked with a product team to test and write prompts for machine learning tools designed for reporters.
Prior to her time at Bloomberg, Clarke worked as an audience engagement editor at the Center for Public Integrity, where she both reported and worked with reporters to build relationships with communities. She also managed collaborations between CPI and local newsrooms, including the award-winning investigation “Unhoused and Undercounted,” which focused on the lack of support for public school students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. She was named the Institute for Nonprofit News’ 2023 Nonprofit Newcomer of the Year for shaping how the CPI reports on impacted communities.
Clarke began her career in local television news at NBC in Washington, D.C., where she continues to be based. She is an adjunct professor at American University’s School of Communications and serves on the board of the Washington Association of Black Journalists. She will be with ProPublica through at least this fall.
“I’m honored to be working alongside such a talented team of journalists who are committed to doing work that drives impact and changes lives,” said Clarke. “I’m so excited to dig in and contribute to the mission.”
