It’s that time of the year again! If you are an NAHJ San Diego/Tijuana member in good standing*, please review the nominees below, then visit the voting site to cast your vote. You may only vote once for each board position.

Nominees for Chapter President

Carlos Rico, Freelance Journalist
I have been involved with the chapter for the past three years; first as chapter secretary, then treasurer and for the past year as president.

This past year I helped lead the start of a scholarship chapter subcommittee, and the team was able to host the chapter’s first scholarship fundraiser and give out three $500 scholarships. 

I am running again for chapter president because I want to continue our work with the scholarship subcommittee, help organize events to help out veteran Latino journalist, and help mentor student journalist to get more Latinas and Latinos in News! 


Nominees for Vice President

N/A

Nominees for Treasurer

Leonardo Castañeda, Reporter

I’m a reporter with inewsource, an investigative, nonprofit news organization here in San Diego. There I cover education, campaign finance, immigration and more. A long-time San Diegan — I grew up in Chula Vista and graduated from San Diego State University — I know the unique challenges and opportunities for Hispanic reporters in this region. As a treasurer I hope to keep out NAHJ chapter’s finances strong so we can continue providing the networking, training and educational opportunities our members expect.

Nominees for Secretary

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, Reporter and Social Media Manager 

I am interested in becoming the secretary for the NAHJ San Diego/Tijuana chapter because I am passionate about increasing the representation of Latinos in media. I am currently a reporter and social media manager for a bilingual community newspaper, La Prensa San Diego, where I write stories that raise awareness to issues that affect the Latino community. I joined the NAHJ SD/Tijuana chapter and scholarship committee after graduating from San Diego State University where I was the president and founding member of NAHJSDSU. If given the opportunity, I will dedicate myself entirely to the chapter’s mission.

Joanna “Joa” Jacobo Rivera, Multimedia Journalist
Joanna Jacobo Rivera is a multimedia journalist. For the past year she has worked as a Spanish-language freelance journalist covering immigration, gender and gentrification issues that concern the Latino community of Southern California. Joanna moved to San Diego last summer in order to pursue her master’s in Social Innovation from the University of San Diego. Her research focuses on innovative solutions to the current diversity disparities in US newsrooms. 

Prior to moving to San Diego, she worked for La Opinión for three years. Joanna covered local breaking news, wrote feature stories, managed special projects and guided interns into the industry.

I joined NAHJ’s LA chapter when I was in undergrad, at CSUN, and found the organization the most helpful in furthering my journalism career. I met most of my future coworkers as a student and gained incredible experience by being a part of my school’s chapter. This is the very reason why I want to become a part of the board. I believe there are many ways we can pass along our knowledge and experience as professionals to young aspiring journalists. I would love to be a part of that in San Diego and Tijuana.

*To join NAHJ, please visit nahj.org.