(Vashon Jordan Jr./Office of the Mayor)
Storytelling Highlights
Along the way, a student of life, I challenged myself to learn more.
I’ve taken that to heart with my storytelling.
I read the data to understand who we’re reaching, and who we’re not, then use that insight to grow the audience with intention. I edit across photo, video, and audio, shaping stories that actually land.
And I manage multiple projects at once, making sure each one hits its purpose, not just its deadline.
Above all, everything stay committed to building bridges, values and work that is centered on truth, culture, and community.
Cicero Independiente
Cicero Independiente is a pioneer in journalism rooted in community.
As it’s first journalist volunteer, in my five years I’ve had many roles the organizations many milestones: hiring of a full-time staff, fundraising, community building events, organizational duties including the official non-profit status development, and award-winning journalism projects.
Serving as Operations Coordinator (2024-2025) I led the community research of candidates, interview process, development of content for the applicants, and newsroom training of CI’s inaugural Board of Directors.
As a journalist I led investigations on police spending, grief after civil unrest, opinions on government issues, and more.
Chicago Public Media
I joined Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ (CPM) team as a contractor producer, vertical video editor for social media.
This role was exciting. Learning and working with the many departments at CPM, reporters, editors, and producers with a variety of stories, breaking news, and branding content.
During the experiment, I contributed to a 31% increase in video output, helping drive audience reach from 1.4 million to 6.1 million.
Operating in a fast-paced, breaking news environment, I balanced independent execution with cross-team collaboration, often stepping in on short notice to deliver timely content.
Lastly, this role also helped inform strategies at CPM and sustainable growth.
Media Innovation Leadership Academy (MILA)
Northwestern’s MILA is a professional development program that trains emerging journalists and media leaders in innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership to build more equitable and sustainable newsrooms.
At MILA I built a deeper understanding of the community I serve while developing new skills in innovation, product development and business strategy to help strengthen and evolve newsrooms.
Throughout the program, I showed measurable growth across key areas, including research and insights, content strategy and leadership. I led a winning “Shark Tank” pitch.
The experience strengthen how I think about sustainability in local news and equipped me with the tools to help guide myself through ongoing challenges, especially as the media landscape continues to shift.
Bylines
Time Out, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Pulitzer Center, NBC News, Block Club Chicago, Pulitzer Center, LATimes - De Los, Latino Rebels, Huff Post, Firefox - Mozilla.