< Back to people

People: 2023

By Cohort
2024
2023

Leadership

Headshot of Michael Lozano
Michael Lozano
CalMatters
Michael leads CalMatters’ Youth Journalism Initiative supporting scholastic media across California. He previously covered election administration for CalMatters and has written for the Long Beach Post, New America Media and more covering diversity, immigration and community health. In Long Beach, he led VoiceWaves, an award-winning news training program.
Headshot of Waliya Lari
Waliya Lari
AAJA
Waliya is an award winning news producer who spent the last two decades as a leader in newsrooms of all sizes in various parts of the country. Most recently serving as the Director of Programs and Partnerships for the Asian American Journalists Association, she has a keen interest in developing strong journalists, improving newsroom norms and evolving news coverage to be more contextual, inclusive and accessible. All this is rooted in Waliya’s core belief that engaging journalism is the best way to empower and educate the public. She presents at conferences about how newsrooms and communities can work together to improve news coverage of marginalized people and issues. Waliya graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and is an alumna of numerous journalism programs including RIAS German/American Fellowship, Loyola’s Journalism Law School, AAJA’s Executive Leadership Program and the Poynter Institute. She lives in Austin with her husband and three children and documents her love of exploring, cooking, dining and enjoying life in general on Instagram @_WallysWorld.
Headshot of Yi-Shen loo
Yi-Shen loo
AAJA
Yi-Shen Loo is currently the Programs and Special Initiatives Coordinator for the Asian American Journalists Association and a graduate from the University of California, Berkeley with majors in Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies and Ethnic Studies, as well as a minor in Japanese. In her time at Berkeley, she was the co-chief editor of the Asian American Research Journal and a member of the AAPI Community COVID Archival Project.

JCal is a free program that immerses California high school students into the state’s news ecosystem. It is a collaboration between the Asian American Journalists Association and CalMatters.