The Asian American Journalists Association is proud to announce our 2024 scholarship, internship, grant and fellowship winners. This year’s recipients were chosen from a competitive selection of highly qualified candidates who have demonstrated passion and expertise in different areas of journalism. AAJA annually offers up to $20,000 in scholarships and grants to journalism students. Thank you to our judges and sponsors.
White House Correspondents’ Association
This scholarship is co-sponsored by the WHCA and the Asian American Journalists Association.
RECIPIENT: Sejal Govindarao
Sejal Govindarao is a statehouse reporter with the Associated Press. She covers Arizona’s government and politics, with a focus on women. She is a 2024 graduate from George Washington University graduate (GWU), where she majored in political communication and minored in economics. During her undergraduate career, Sejal gained Capitol Hill reporting experience through internships with NBC, POLITICO and the Texas Tribune. She also co-founded and served as the president of AAJA’s george Washington University’s first student group.
Michael Kim Broadcast Fellowship
RECIPIENT: Ajay Patel
Ajay Patel is a recent Temple University graduate and he will be starting a new job in Lexington, Kentucky, as a news multimedia journalist at WLEX. Ajay aspires to be an on-air personality for a major sports network. In college, Ajay received national attention appearing on ESPN 3 as a sideline reporter for Lafayette College basketball games. He also interned with the Philadelphia Phillies when they made a run to the World Series in 2022. Post-season baseball is Ajay’s favorite!
Jimmie & Suey Fong Yee Scholarship
RECIPIENTS: Patricia Duong and Matthew Ho
Patricia Duong is a graduate student at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, majoring in Broadcast and Digital Journalism and Sports Media Communications. As founder and president of Syracuse’s AAJA chapter, she aims to reshape media narratives and advocate for underrepresented communities. She is particularly drawn to combat sports coverage having covered events like the PFL Championships and Most Valuable Prospects. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Lynn University.
Learn more about Patricia here: X | Instagram | LinkedIn | Portfolio
Matthew Ho is a rising senior at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a minor in entrepreneurship. He covers Cal Poly sports and local high school sports for Mustang News and the San Luis Obispo Tribune. He is also a member of the Sports Journalism Institute, where he will be interning for the Southern California News Group as a sports reporter. Matthew also covers Men’s Junior National Team for USA Basketball. He hopes to work as an NBA enterprise reporter after college.
Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship
RECIPIENT: Lorenzo Vasquez
Lorenzo Vasquez is a senior at the University of Florida majoring in marketing with a minor in mass communications. He is currently a student photographer for Florida Athletics and after graduation he hopes to pursue a career in sports photojournalism. His work has been featured in many competitions such as the Hearst Photo Awards and College Photographer of the Year. This summer, he will be interning with USA Baseball in Arizona under their creative and communications teams.
AAJA Sports Task Force-Bleacher Report Social Content Internship
RECIPIENT: Tina Xue
Tina Xue is a rising senior studying history & media studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a senior staff writer & former deputy sports editor of The Daily Californian sports department where she primarily writes columns & covers men’s basketball. She’s also an associate editor at Berkeley’s Undergraduate History Journal. In her spare time, Tina enjoys watching NBA basketball and Formula 1 racing, logging films on LetterBoxd, & spending time with her friends (in that order).
ESPN / AAJA Sports Task Force Internship
RECIPIENT: Anish Vasudevan
Anish Vasudevan is a recent graduate from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He served as the editor-in-chief and sports editor for The Daily Orange, Syracuse University’s independent student-run newspaper. Anish received AAJA’s Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship in 2022. He’s from Cupertino, California, and interned for The Baltimore Banner last summer.
Learn more about Anish here: X
CBS Sports/AAJA Sports Task Force Internship
RECIPIENT: Jordan Pagkalinawan
Jordan Pagkalinawan is a rising junior at Emerson College studying journalism with a minor in sports communication. Originally from Burbank, California, he has been chasing news vans since he was seven years old. He began his sports reporting journey at Loyola High School, covering the varsity basketball team for their newspaper, The Loyalist, and calling games for the John Malloy Broadcast Club.
At Emerson, Jordan chases stories across campus and the city of Boston. He has worked for their newspaper, The Berkeley Beacon, as a staff writer and sports editor. He recently received the Sports Journalism Excellence Award for his story on Emerson’s sports culture. Jordan also contributes to Emerson’s broadcasting outlets, WEBN and Emerson Channel Sports. He spent his spring 2024 semester in the Netherlands, writing stories for the Beacon that highlighted his peers’ experiences abroad. Jordan currently guides the paper’s sports and news coverage as one of two managing editors.
Jordan joined CBS Sports’ editorial team as the AAJA Sports Task Force’s inaugural intern. He is also an editor for Last Word on Basketball, writing about the NBA and focusing on his hometown Lakers. Ultimately, Jordan hopes to take his experience towards a career in the print, digital or broadcasting fields.
Learn more about Jordan here: X | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook
Mary Quon Moy Ing Memorial Scholarship
RECIPIENT: Aina Marzia
Aina Marzia is an 18-year-old independent journalist covering intersectional politics, and an incoming student at Princeton University where she intends to study public and international affairs, journalism and an undecided minor in Spanish/French. Since working professionally at 15 years old, her work has appeared in Business Insider, Yahoo News, The Daily Beast, NPR, Teen Vogue, The Nation, The New Arab, i-D, VICE, Yes! Magazine, Ms. Magazine, The American Prospect, The New Republic, Dazed and more.
Living in the dune of culture that is El Paso, nestled beneath layers of international history and human rights struggles, as a Pakistani, she has grown up seeking an academic environment where she can explore a multicultural existence. In the past, her work has covered issues like US/Mexico border policy, climate reparations, big oil and fossil fuel, the UN Security Council and imperialistic “peacekeeping.”
In June 2023 she spoke about her work at The Nation Puffin Student Journalism Conference and was the youngest speaker at the National Education Writers Association Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. This past year she also received the Jacinta Mary Brunell Award for Commentary Journalism and was a member of the 2023 AAJA JCamp Class in Washington, D.C. When she’s not writing, Aina works with local magazines and nonprofits that protect social justice, including La Semilla Food Center, and the National Student Press Law Center. In her free time, she enjoys playing (losing at) chess, experimenting with henna, hating matcha and documenting the strange experience of having an orange cat.
Learn more about Aina here: X | Instagram | LinkedIn | Portfolio
CIC/Anna Chennault Scholarship
RECIPIENT: Soreath Hok
Soreath Hok is a multimedia journalist with experience in radio, TV and digital production. Her reporting has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She’s received several awards including the 2022 National Edward E. Murrow Award for investigative reporting. A Cambodian-American, Soreath reported on mental health issues affecting survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide. Currently, Soreath is studying creative nonfiction in Fresno State’s MFA program in creative writing.
Learn more about Soreath here: X | Instagram | LinkedIn | Portfolio
ABC News Alexa Valiente Memorial Internship
RECIPIENT: Alicia Tang
Alicia Tang is an undergraduate studying journalism and economics at Northwestern University. While working at Medill News Service in D.C., she covered congressional hearings, Supreme Court arguments and a Federal Reserve interest rate press conference. This year, she also interviewed voters on the ground during South Carolina’s GOP primary. Her work has been featured in The Fulcrum, Times Union, United Press International and more. She values the work of journalism to elevate important stories.
AAJA HQ National Summer Internship
SUMMER 2024 INTERN: Diya Murthy
Diya Murthy is an upcoming junior at Arizona State University majoring in political science & philosophy with a minor in economics. She has had experience working with the private, public and nonprofit sector, beginning as an intern for the City of Chandler’s Human Resources and Law Department. After learning about local politics, Diya expanded her view to state politics, where she interned for the Arizona State Senate, attending on senators during caucus meetings, committee hearings and floor sessions during the voting of bills. Learning about Arizona state politics and minority groups advocating for their rights, Diya was inspired to advocate for the AA/NHPI community on a national level.
Diya interned with the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in Washington, D.C., where she compiled a database of AA & NH/PI elected officials, tracked APAICS sponsors and funds and aided in research for APAICS Technology Summit. She is excited to expand her work in the public, nonprofit and private sector. As a Political Writer for Arizona State University HerCampus Digital Newspaper, Diya enjoys writing political pieces, recently learning more about European Politics after studying abroad in Madrid for a semester. Diya hopes to incorporate her knowledge and experience with local, state, national and international politics in a future career in the political realm.
NBC Universal News Summer Fellowships
RECIPIENTS: Muskaan Arshad, Elysee Barakett, Amber X. Chen, Jinny Kim, Sammi Li and Angela Zhang
NBC News Digital Platforms
Muskaan Arshad is a rising senior at Harvard College, majoring in history and literature with a minor in economics. On campus, she serves as the managing editor for the Harvard Political Review and is a senior reporter covering the Cambridge City Council for The Harvard Crimson. Previously, she interned at GBH News, focusing on education coverage in Massachusetts. She is working as a Platforms intern at NBC News this summer.
Learn more about Muskaan here: X | Instagram | LinkedIn | Portfolio
NBC News Health Unit
Elysee is interning with NBC News’ Health Unit in New York City. She is a student at Brown University, where she studies international and public affairs. Last summer, she was a Digital News Intern at NBC LA, where she pitched and published original stories. She covered everything from a donkey murder investigation to the aspirations of a trailblazing mariachi band. She likes to do yoga and perfect her berry crumble recipe.
Learn more about Elysee here: LinkedIn
KNBC Local Integrated Media
Amber X. Chen is a digital news intern at NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo this summer. She is also a 2024 Puffin student writing fellow focusing on climate change for The Nation, and a proud former VOICES 2023 fellow and 2022 Mary Quon Moy Ing AAJA scholarship recipient. She is a rising junior at UC Berkeley studying sustainable development, city planning and Spanish. At Berkeley, she is a senior staff writer for The Daily Californian, where she previously wrote the sex column. As an independent journalist, her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Teen Vogue, The Guardian, Atmos Magazine, Los Angeles Public Press, Grid Magazine and more.
NBCU Local Audience Development Intern
Jinny Kim is an audience development intern for NBCU Local. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she is a third-year student at the University of Southern California, majoring in journalism with a minor in public health. On campus, Jinny is an assistant editor and staff writer for the Daily Trojan’s opinion section and the director of public relations for Descent Magazine, USC’s APIDA literary and arts publication. Previously, she was an editorial intern for GIRLS’ LIFE Magazine.
WNBC New York Live Intern
Sammi Li is an intern for WNBC New York Live and a second-year student at Northwestern University studying journalism and piano performance. On campus, she creates content for North by Northwestern, Northwestern’s largest student-run magazine, as an assistant managing editor for the digital team and a DEI editor. She is passionate about covering arts and cultural trends through multimedia platforms as well as increasing visibility for underrepresented communities in the media.
Learn more about Sammi here: LinkedIn
MSNBC Summer Intern – The Rachel Maddow Show and Alex Wagner Tonight
Angela Zhang studies journalism and political science at Northwestern University. Angela covered national security for Medill News Service, reporting on Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court. She interned for China Documentary International Media Co. in Beijing and Midstory Media ThinkHub. Her investigative video work has nominated her for a collegiate Emmy. Angela’s driven by the press’ power to inform the public on policy—a movement she hopes to be a leader in one day.
Stanford Chen Internship Grant
RECIPIENT: Sanvi Bangalore
Sanvi is a senior at American University in Washington D.C. and is studying business administration and journalism. She is currently part of the summer 2024 newsroom intern class at The Wall Street Journal, serving as an editorial intern with the Careers and Workplace team. She has previously interned for CNN, where she assisted in the production of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Through a past internship with CBS MoneyWatch, Sanvi wrote articles covering artificial intelligence, corporate wrongdoing, housing and other business topics. She has also reported local news with WJLA.com, where she covered D.C. crime and politics. At college, Sanvi is in the honors program and serves as the treasurer of AAJA’s American University student group.
Learn more about Sanvi here: X
Vincent Chin Memorial Scholarship
RECIPIENT: Russell Leung
Russell Leung is a graduating senior studying journalism, environmental sciences and Spanish at Northwestern University. He spent years reporting and editing at The Daily Northwestern as well as outlets like The Seattle Times and AsAmNews, with his main journalistic interests being news editing, data visualization and telling stories about historically marginalized communities. A lifelong Queens resident, Russell enjoys discussing AP style, climate solutions and the New York Knickerbockers.
Sam Chu Lin Broadcast News Internship Grant
RECIPIENT: Fiona McAllister
Fiona McAllister is a rising junior majoring in journalism, with a minor in sociology, at Elon University in North Carolina. She has a diverse background of journalism experience. Beginning her freshman year, Fiona immediately became involved with student journalism through Elon News Network (ENN). She has served as a main anchor for Elon Local News, Producer of ENN On Air and looks forward to taking on other leadership roles. Fiona is a current member of the Society of Professional Journalists and is a student mentor for high school seniors with the Emerging Journalists Program through Elon. Fiona not only produces broadcast stories, she also writes articles for the ENN website. She has covered off-campus journalistic opportunities, such as the Cheri Beasley Senate Race Watch Party in November 2022. She had also participated in the Associated Collegiate Press Conference in March 2024 in La Jolla, California.
Outside of Elon University, Fiona has been offered a summer internship at WCIV ABC News 4 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina where she will be immersed in an educational newsroom environment. She hopes to share the knowledge and skills she gains in the most efficacious way possible.
William Woo Print and Online News Internship Grant
RECIPIENT: Sonia Rao
Sonia A. Rao is a recent graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied media and journalism, history and Hindu-Urdu. She most recently worked as an intern for the breaking news and education teams at The Dallas Morning News, where she wrote stories about the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, school safety legislation, youth homelessness and more. She previously interned for The Virginian-Pilot and The Charlotte Observer, covering local government, business and features. Rao also held leadership positions at UNC’s student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, where she served as a DEI officer and City & State Editor.
She has also learned from her experiences abroad – she spent last fall interning for Cape Town-based nonprofit news organization GroundUp, where she covered human rights and social justice issues. During a gap year in college, she spent time volunteering in migrant communities in El Paso, Texas and Samos, Greece.
Dinah Eng Leadership Fellowship Grant
RECIPIENTS: Mallory Carra, Alexandria Chhith and Catherine Kobayashi
Mallory Carra is a freelance journalist, podcast producer and adjunct professor with nearly 20 years of editorial experience. She teaches digital, audio and TV journalism at USC Annenberg. Currently, she produces the USC podcast Electric Futures and contributes articles to NBCU Academy’s Equity Lab. Previously, she worked on podcasts at Spotify for over 5 years. Carra is a 2023 ELP alum and a 2024 VOICES co-lead, after serving as an editor/mentor in 2023.
Learn more about Mallory here: X | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Portfolio
Alex Chhith is a reporter at the Minneapolis Star Tribune where she covers the features and homes and garden sections. She likes to write lifestyle pieces ranging from modern dating to growing marijuana and she also writes for the paper’s popular homegazing series. In the newsroom, she strives to amplify diverse voices and advocates for inclusion. Previously, she was the paper’s night reporter, covering breaking news and public safety.
Learn more about Alex here: X | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook
Catherine Kobayashi is a New York-based journalist for Newsline, NHK World’s flagship program. She anchors live programs, including special events such as elections. Catherine also dedicates her time as Co-Chair of the DEI Council at New York Film Academy, where she collaborates on initiatives focusing on curriculum, policies and programming. Catherine holds an MA in journalism from Columbia University and is also a certified digital video editor.
Thank you to the 2024 Scholarship Judging Committee Members:
AAJA gives thanks to the following members for their time and effort serving on the Scholarship and Internship Grant Judging Committee:
Al Young, Allen Cheng, Allen Peng, Alysha Tsuji, Amna Subhan, Anita Hofschneider, Aryanna Prasad, Asia Fields. Bernie Kim, Brady Wakayama, Carolyn Hong, Daniel Tran, Dinah Eng, Elaine Teng, Hayden Kim, Howard Chen, James Koh, Jaren Yang, Joann Ng, Josh Tolentino, Katlyn Alapati, Lauren Kawana, Lily Zhao, Linh Ta, Lori Matsukawa, Mark Kim, Matthew Lee, Maya Blackmun, Melissa Kim, Michele L. Steele, Pablo Iglesias, Pranav Iyer, Raymund Flandez, Ryan Chien, Shehan Jeyarajah, Souichi Terada, Tami Nguyen, Thomas Mangloña II, Tommy Tran, Vik Chokshi, Wendy Lu, Xintian Wang, Xuan Thai and Zoë Comerford.
Thank you to our sponsors and donors
AAJA appreciates the scholarship donors for their continuous legacy in inspiring a new generation of journalists. Thank you to our generous donors Cynthia Chennault, Dinah Eng, Beth K. Erickson, Joe Grimm, Judy Chu Lin, Michael Kim, Lloyd LaCuesta, Matthew and Dorothy Russell, Martha Shirk, Don Yee and Al Young, along with Steve Herman, Sam Hyun and Catalina Camia.
A special thanks to Kathy Black and Alisha Cowan-Vieria at ABC, Autumn Joyner and Gabby Flores-Sanchez at Bleacher Report, Carolyn Hwang and Suzanna Camacho at ESPN, Steven Thomma at the White House Correspondents Association, Tara Morgan at NBC Universal and the Indigenous Journalists Association for supporting AAJA’s scholarship opportunities.
About AAJA’s Scholarships
AAJA annually offers financial support to journalism students through scholarships and internship grants to help offset the costs of education, internships, living expenses and other professional development opportunities. These scholarships are made possible by supporters such as AAJA members, allies and generous donors. Learn more here.
