Cynthia Gordy Giwa was ProPublica’s marketing director. She came to ProPublica after serving as deputy communications director for Advancement Project, where she developed comprehensive media campaigns for the national civil rights organization and local partners. With an emphasis on using strategic communications as an effective tool for policy change, she managed public awareness efforts that helped move Virginia to restore voting rights for people with felony convictions, pushed Florida lawmakers to abandon legislation that would have restricted voting access for language minorities, and brought North Carolina’s multi-issue “Moral Mondays” movement to national attention.
Cynthia previously worked in journalism for nearly a decade, as a White House correspondent and news editor for Essence magazine, as well as senior political correspondent for The Root. Recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists as the 2009 Emerging Journalist of the Year, her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Slate and NPR.
Editor-in-Chief Stephen Engelberg; health care reporter Caroline Chen; and Andy Slavitt, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, share what they’ve learned that can help all Americans for the days, weeks and months ahead.
In our final installment of the User’s Guide to Democracy, we asked a live panel of congressional experts to help you stay engaged in politics after the midterms have ended.
After the death of Marcia DeOliveira-Longinetti’s son, a New Jersey state agency continued billing her for the student loans. ProPublica’s reporting on these aggressive collections spurred a state law requiring the agency to forgive debts of borrowers who die.
Research scientist Allisa Song didn’t just get outraged when she read ProPublica’s story on medical waste. She organized a dream team of fellow scientists and engineers to invent a solution.
After learning he’d been kidnapped as a child, spared from a massacre carried out by the Guatemalan military, Oscar Ramírez Castañeda faced danger of persecution if deported to his home country. ProPublica’s story prompted U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to grant political asylum to Ramírez and his wife.
Tim Newman was an advocate for his fellow civilian contractors injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping them get medical care. A ProPublica story drew national attention, and policy change, for their hidden plight.
María Eugenia Vela’s husband was killed when a drug cartel swept through their small town in Mexico. For years, she never got answers until a ProPublica story revealed what happened.
Demetrius Smith was wrongfully convicted of murder, but still had a felony conviction because of an unusual plea deal. ProPublica’s story spurred a new hearing for Smith that cleared his criminal record.
Noemi Martinez felt angry and powerless when she was unfairly ticketed and fined for a pedestrian violation. ProPublica and Florida Times-Union reporters gave her hope — and their story led to her receiving pro bono legal representation.
As a student journalist, Christopher Copolillo used Debt By Degrees, ProPublica’s tool for assessing the debt burden colleges put on low-income families, to hold his own university accountable.
Marie McCausland experienced painful symptoms days after giving birth, which she recognized from a ProPublica article on maternal mortality. “ProPublica’s reporting literally saved my life,” she said.
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