2023 Scholarships Winners

The Deadline Club, the New York City chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, is pleased to announce six winners in its 2023 scholarship competition.

The six winners have demonstrated an extraordinary dedication to storytelling in underrepresented communities and uphold the standards of truth and fairness. Each will be presented with a $2,500 scholarship acknowledging their journalistic accomplishments at the 2023 Deadline Club Awards dinner. Click here to learn more.

Undergraduate Winners

Edward Franco

Edward Franco is a sophomore at New York University, where he’s majoring in journalism and social-cultural analysis with a focus on broadcasting. He is currently studying abroad at NYU Florence in Italy, where he’s focusing on reporting on local issues. Edward has previously worked at NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt as a news intern who assisted with detailed reporting on national stories. As an Emma Bowen Foundation Fellow, he continues to intern at CBS News 6 Orlando with Graham Media Group during his summers. Edward was a student reporter for The SPJ News during MediaFest22 and was the video director for Washington Square News, NYU’s independent newspaper. He is proud to be a Colombian American who hopes to continue in a career as a television reporter covering politics, education, and transportation.

Elliot Heath

Elliot Heath is a senior at Townsend Harris High School in Queens. He will be attending Columbia University in the fall with an intended double major in English and Film Studies. As an editor-in-chief of his school newspaper, The Classic, he has helped report on sexual misconduct policies within DOE public schools and met with United Federation of Teachers representatives to discuss potential reforms. Additionally, he’s covered COVID in schools and has helped increase multimedia and arts-based coverage in his publication. Elliot has been a firm advocate for student press freedom, lobbying in Albany for the passage of the Student Journalist Free Speech Act. He is also vice president of the Student Advisory Board at Press Pass NYC, an organization that seeks to promote student-run journalism programs in public schools. Elliot hopes to eventually pursue a career in documentary filmmaking.

Aria Young

Aria Young is a student journalist and an incoming senior at New York University. She interned at NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where she pitched stories and assisted producers. At NYU, she is the news director of WNYU 89.1 FM Radio, where she manages student news programs. Aria is also a videographer for Washington Square News. Her narrative audio story “What’s In A Name” was the grand-prize winner of the 2022 NPR College Podcast Challenge. Born and raised in Shanghai, Aria spent her high school years in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her diverse cultural background shaped her storytelling perspectives and cultivated her ability to connect with others. As a journalist, Aria is drawn to stories about identity, inclusion, and belonging. She has produced video pieces on the Chinese immigrant community, labor struggles and gentrification, and more. She is pursuing a career in multimedia journalism and documentary filmmaking.

Graduate Winners

Liset Cruz

Liset Cruz is a student at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she is completing a Master of Science degree with a specialization at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. She’s a bilingual Mexican-American journalist committed to covering underserved communities. Before coming to New York, she earned two degrees from The University of Georgia and worked for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She currently works as a freelance data research reporter for The Marshall Project and as a stringer for The New York Times’ metro desk in New York City. Upon graduation, she will be joining The Associated Press.

Eduardo Salazar

Eduardo Salazar Uribe is a Venezuelan journalist with a postgraduate degree in international communications from a Spanish institution. He has worked as a television reporter and producer for Euronews, RNW, Venevisión, and Vice News. He’s also contributed to outlets including El Nacional, Caracol Noticias, and Deutsche Welle. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY with a double concentration in bilingual / latino communities and international reporting. He works as a stringer for The New York Times and is a reporter and translator for the Mott Haven Herald. This summer he will be interning at CNN international in Atlanta.

Mayara Teixeira

Mayara Teixeira is a Brazilian journalist with a passion for covering human rights stories. With seven years of experience at Rede Globo, the largest media company in Latin America, she has reported on global issues including the consequences of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique and the vote for the legalization of abortion in the Argentine Senate. Her reporting on police violence in São Paulo earned her the prestigious Vladimir Herzog Award for Amnesty and Human Rights. In 2021, she worked on the documentary series “extremistas.br,” which explores the rise of the extreme right in Brazil. Most recently, she was awarded a full scholarship to pursue a specialization in documentary at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York, where she will graduate in August 2023.