Journalism Graduate Student Wins National A-Mark Scholarship
University of Arizona graduate student Brenda Machado.
Brenda Machado, a graduate student at the University of Arizona School of Journalism, was awarded an A-Mark Foundation Journalism Master’s Scholarship, a national honor recognizing students interested in investigative reporting.
Machado, a first-generation college student from Washington, D.C., earned her bachelor’s degree at Arizona in Global Studies, with a concentration on Latin America and emphases in human rights, migration and refugee issues.
After graduating, she worked for the International Rescue Committee, where she supported family reunification programs and discovered a deeper interest in the writing and data analysis that shaped the organization’s humanitarian work.
Machado chose to continue her education at Arizona and is pursuing dual master’s degrees in Bilingual Journalism and Latin American Studies.
“This [award] will allow me to sharpen my skills,” Machado said. “These types of scholarships help students be able to focus in classes and produce good journalism projects that can help us go into any field we choose.”
Machado hopes to apply her writing, multimedia experience and data-reporting abilities in roles with media outlets or nonprofit organizations focused on human rights and immigration.
“The Bilingual Journalism Program has taught me the importance of local news and journalists who are a part of the communities they’re covering,” Machado said.
In addition to the A-Mark Foundation honor, Machado is a recipient of the Peter W. Likins Graduate Fellowship Award. She also currently serves as the graduate multimedia specialist for the Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry, a communications intern for the ACLU of Arizona and the audience engagement and digital strategist for the Border Chronicle.
The A-Mark Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit that supports investigative journalism nationwide through its master’s scholarships, its A-Mark Prizes for Investigative Reporting and its A-Mark Student Journalism Award for community college students.