Bienvenido todos; welcome to the University of Northern Iowa! This is an exciting time to be back. This year I am proud to be serving as the executive editor for the 2021-2022 academic year. I am a proud Central American to be representing my culture and delivering news in both English and Spanish. This recent semester, we piloted the first Northern Iowan en Espanol, and – fun fact – it’s been 20 years since there’s been a bilingual publication in higher education. It is very important to serve our communities not only in English but also in Spanish. From the contributions in delivering news in two languages we plan to expand this new edition this academic year.

This summer I had the opportunity and privilege to intern at the Iowa Department of Human Rights as an AmeriCorp member, and I worked as the arts & culture editor at Hola Iowa. I had the opportunity to cover news in Des Moines as well as set the foundation of the first Youth Justice Council (a subcommittee of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Council). The intentions of the Youth Justice Council is to involve youth with lived experience in the juvenile justice system to make recommendations to the Juvenile Justice Advisory Council. Youth will be compensated for their work and involvement of the Youth Justice Council and get the opportunity to work with stakeholders in developing change. Within the same internship I also got the chance to be the master of ceremonies for Youth Family Engagement Summit. During my time with Hola Iowa I covered a variety of events around the cit and grew so much as a bilingual journalist. Throughout my time I got to meet professional artists, skater and even authors. From my commitment in delivering news and involvement in my community, I will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Oct. 16, 2021, at the Iowa Arts Center.

I step into this role and take this profession seriously, in delivering the highest quality and as well the most accurate information we can provide.

“As the Executive Editor I make the promise to listen and being present in the UNI community. Our readers are important to use and we value our readers, choosing the Northern Iowan in staying informed.”

The Northern Iowan will continue to serve news in the Cedar Falls community and bring the most up-to-date information. If there’s an idea or story that you feel needs to be covered don’t hesitate to reach our for our team.

The new staff and I look forward to reporting and delivering the news locally.