New York's Go-To Source for Immigration News

Our Team

Mazin Sidahmed

Executive Director and Co-Founder

Mazin Sidahmed previously worked for the Guardian US in New York during the 2016 US elections, where he covered a variety of issues including surveillance and criminal justice, as well as the rise of hate crimes following the election. Mazin left the news desk to join the award-winning Guardian Mobile Innovation Lab where he helped develop new mobile-specific story formats. He started his career writing for The Daily Star in Beirut. He reported on the Syrian refugee crisis, weapons transfers to Lebanon and the plight of migrant domestic workers. Upon moving to the U.S., Mazin also contributed to Politico New York where he covered real estate, with a focus on the New York City Housing Authority, and City politics.

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Max Siegelbaum

Co-Founder, Special Projects and Investigations Editor

Max Siegelbaum began his career in post-revolution Egypt, reporting on politics and culture. He is a graduate of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University and has written for local newspapers in Denver and Pittsburgh, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and STAT, among others. His reporting for Documented led to the divestment of millions of public dollars from private prisons and contributed to policy changes in New York State. He has won awards from the Deadline Club, the Edward R. Murrow awards and was nominated for a Livingston Award. He oversees the editorial content at Documented.

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Ethar El-Katatney

Editor-in-Chief

Ethar El-Katatney brings extensive news product experience to elevate Documented's growing range of products aimed at serving immigrant communities with news and information. Most recently, at Bloomberg, Ethar served as News Product Strategy Lead for the Americas. Previously, she was the former Young Audiences Editor at the WSJ and the executive producer overseeing the AJ+ newsroom, the digital video arm of Al-Jazeera she helped pilot, launch and lead. Ethar has received a CNN African Journalist of the Year Award, a Samir Kassir Freedom of the Press Award, and an Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Journalist Award. She is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The Brown Institute for Media Innovation, and sits on the board of the Online News Association.

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Rebecca Neuwirth

Chief Strategy Officer

Rebecca Neuwirth has spent her career in nonprofits, focused on building volunteer communities, raising funds, communications and strategic partnerships. She has held leadership roles at Define American, Upwardly Global, and AJC; senior development positions at the Center for Popular Democracy and JDC; and ran a small foundation, Thanks To Scandinavia, where she currently serves on the Board. Rebecca is on the Advisory Board of the Jewish Studies Center at Baruch College and is helping to build a community garden in her neighborhood. She received an MA in Education from the Free University in Berlin, and a BA from Yale University.

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Nicolás Ríos

Chief Product, Education and Research Officer

Nicolás Ríos is an Emmy-nominated multilingual Chilean journalist, who holds a Master in Digital Media Innovation from New York University and a B.S. in Social Communication from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He worked as a reporter and a documentary fixer for Vice Media; as an international news reporter, senior editor and broadcaster for CNN Chile, and as a freelance reporter for BBC World Service (UK), El Mercurio (Chile) and Daily Trust (Nigeria). After moving to New York City in 2018, he worked with Documented, Axios and Quartz on projects that involved making audiences central to content creation and product development. He has also worked as a consultant for five Chilean newsrooms as they planned to launch membership revenue efforts.

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Sapir Ashkenazi

Director of Operations

As a Certified Online Business Manager with an MSW in Organizational Leadership and Management from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in NYC, Sapir specializes in helping mission-driven organizations and businesses streamline their operations and enhance their impact. With a strong background in the nonprofit and government sectors, she brings a unique perspective to operational management, blending strategic insight with hands-on experience navigating complex organizational challenges. Her expertise lies in creating efficient systems that empower organizations to focus on what matters most - making a difference. From project management to team coordination, she ensures that every aspect of an organization’s operations aligns with its goals and mission. As Documented’s Director of Operations, Sapir supports the strategic direction of the newsroom by identifying missing systems and policies, managing projects, and ensuring team support while meeting day-to-day operational needs.

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Madeline Faber

Deputy Communities Editor

Madeline Faber is an engagement journalist dedicated to building relationships with underserved audiences in New York City. She is the Deputy Communities Editor at Documented and a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism's Engagement Journalism M.A. Previously, she was executive editor of High Ground News, a publication that created embedded reporting in Memphis neighborhoods. She has also worked in audience development with the Philadelphia Inquirer and Memphis-based MLK50. She is an award-winning reporter with experience covering economic justice and development.

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Clarissa A. León

Deputy Editor

Clarissa A. León is a Colombian American journalist, editor and educator originally from Reno, Nevada, and now based in New Jersey. Most recently, she acted as editorial director for the Pittsburgh-based PaydayReport.com, a nationally recognized labor publication. Following years of writing and reporting, with work appearing in Newsweek & The Daily Beast, The Nation and Salon among many others, she received her Master of Fine Arts in nonfiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh. While there, in addition to teaching and writing, she acted as the managing editor of the award-winning literary arts journal, Aster(ix) Journal.

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Kay Dervishi

Development Manager

Kay Dervishi is a Development Manager with Documented, focused on grant writing and fundraising. She previously reported on philanthropic trends and impact as a staff writer at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where much of her work was republished by the Associated Press. She started her career as a reporter at City & State New York and its sister publication, New York Nonprofit Media. While there, she covered local and state politics in New York, produced a daily newsletter for nonprofits, and wrote and edited the magazine’s power lists. A New York City native, Kay holds a bachelor's degree in political science and journalism from the University of Richmond.

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Akel Aguad

Tech Lead

Akel Aguad is a Full-stack Developer Engineer with over 9 years of experience who has been working closely with media outlets since 2020 to build technology solutions that strengthen democratic institutions and independent journalism. He specializes in developing custom systems, web platforms, and digital tools that help news organizations engage audiences and manage operations more effectively. Prior to joining Documented, he developed technology infrastructure for Ciper Chile, a Chilean investigative journalism non-profit, and was behind the web operations for N Prensa, Chile''s first Twitter-first media outlet. At Documented, he focuses on WordPress development and front-end engineering to support the organization''s mission of informing immigrant communities and holding power accountable. Akel is passionate about the intersection of technology and storytelling, believing that developers and journalists share a common goal of creating meaningful impact through their craft.

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Amir Khafagy

Report for America Member, Senior Labor Reporter

Amir Khafagy is an award-winning New York City-based journalist. He is currently a Report for America corps member with Documented. Much of Amir's beat explores the intersections of labor, race, class, and immigration. His writing has been featured in The Guardian, Vice, The New Republic, Bloomberg, Prism, The City, The Appeal, Dame, The American Prospect, Jacobin, and In These Times. Additionally, Amir has worked as a researcher for the critically acclaimed podcast Serial. He has been awarded Type Investigations 2021 Ida B. Wells Fellowship, The Newmark J-School 2021 Education Reporting Scholarship, The International Center for Journalists COVID-19 Reporting Award, The New Economics Reporting Fellowship, The Economic Hardship Reporting Grant, The Talk Poverty Writer Workshop Fellowship, The Asian American Writers Workshop Open City Fellowship, and The AARP Freelance Fellowship. He also was a finalist for the Institute for Nonprofit News 2022 Breaking Barriers Award. Amir holds a BA in Urban Studies and an MA in Urban Affairs from Queens College. A lifelong New Yorker, Amir was born and raised in Jackson Heights, Queens into a working-class, Muslim, immigrant family. His mother is Puerto Rican and his father is an immigrant from Egypt.

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Maria Arce

Program Manager

María Arce is a media leader with extensive experience in engagement journalism and reporting with communities in the aftermath of natural disasters. Before joining Documented, she worked as an Engagement Journalism Trainer for America Amplifed and as an Editorial Coach for Global Press. She served as the Multiplatform Director of El Vocero de Puerto Rico, Deputy Digital Director of GFR Media, and Digital News Director at Univision, among other media outlets. She was selected as an RJI Innovation Fellow 2023-2024 and a Knight Wallace Fellow 2022-2023 to develop guidelines for covering natural disasters in small newsrooms. She won several international journalism prizes, including the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation Award, and the King of Spain International Journalism Award, on two occasions.

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Eileen Grench

Immigration Enforcement Reporter

Eileen Grench writes about immigration enforcement for Documented. Previously, she covered the impact of the criminal justice and immigration systems on communities in New York City, Houston, and beyond. Eileen also worked as an investigative reporting fellow at the Global Migration Project, where she reported for outlets such as The New Yorker, The Intercept, The Nation and Documented. She was a 2021 Livingston Award finalist for her coverage of inequities in child welfare, and won the Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Award in Local Investigative Reporting. Eileen graduated from Columbia University School of Journalism and is also an Olympic fencer representing Panamá. Reach out to Eileen Grench at eileen.grench@documentedny.com or securely at eileen.grench@protonmail.com

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Julia Malleck

Newsletter Writer

Julia Malleck is a journalist from Brooklyn, NY. She has previously written for Quartz and Digital Frontier on topics spanning technology, labor rights, international affairs, business, and pop culture. She earned her BA in international relations and English literature from Tufts University, and master’s degrees in public policy from Peking University and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Julia has previously lived in Beijing and London. She now lives in New York City.

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Denia Perez

Latino Community Correspondent

Denia Pérez is the Latino Community Correspondent at Documented. She is an immigration lawyer by training and longtime activist in the immigrants'' rights movement. Denia''s experience as a DACAmented person and her parents'' experience in removal proceedings profoundly impacted her desire to attend law school and serve her community. In 2018, she became the first DACAmented person admitted to the Connecticut bar and has dedicated her professional life since then to ensuring that policies and resources for the undocumented and Latino community are created with intention and input from those communities. She is excited to apply her policy and legal expertise to this role and deepen her connection to the NYC Latino community.

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Rommel H. Ojeda

Community Correspondent, Spanish-Speaking Communities

Rommel H. Ojeda is an award-winning bilingual journalist and Filmmaker based in New York City. He is the Community Correspondent at Documented, focusing on topics affecting the Spanish-speaking Latinx immigrant communities in New York. His works can be seen in Univision, Telemundo, The City, and others. He holds a master’s degree in Bilingual Journalism, with a specialization in Documentary Filmmaking from Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Rommel is the author of several powerful investigations that Documented has published lately.

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Ralph Thomassaint Joseph

Community Correspondent, Caribbean Communities

Ralph Thomassaint Joseph is an award-winning multimedia journalist. Born in Haiti, he started reporting life in the camps after the terrible 2010 earthquake that killed over 200 000 in Haiti. He also covered the cholera outbreak, hurricane Matthew and the Petrocaribe corruption scandal. Ralph Thomassaint co-created the news section of the current most competitive Haitian digital news media, Ayibopost. He studied Law and Sociology in Haiti and holds a master’s degree in Digital Journalism from New York University. As Documented’s Caribbean Communities Correspondent, Ralph conducts audience research and develops a News vertical dedicated to the Caribbean immigrants living in New York.

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Natalia Gutiérrez

Social & Audience Producer

Natalia Gutiérrez is a bilingual engagement journalist passionate about connecting diverse audiences with meaningful journalism that champions community engagement, innovation, and inclusion. Natalia has held audience roles in leading newsrooms across the U.S. and Mexico, including The Associated Press, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Her work focuses on deepening impact, building loyal readerships, and experimenting with innovative storytelling formats — from social media to newsletters and live blogs. Natalia holds an M.A. in Engagement Journalism from CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Originally from Mexico and raised in Venezuela, she now lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, newborn, and two cats, guided by a mission to bridge audiences with trustworthy, high-quality reporting that informs and inspires.

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April Xu

Senior Reporter, Chinese Community

April Xu is an award-winning journalist with more than nine years of experience covering the Chinese community in New York City. Before becoming Documented's Chinese Community Correspondent, she worked at the New York Bureau of Sing Tao Daily, one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers, covering breaking news, health, immigration, education, politics, business, social justice issues and court news. She has been a journalism fellow at USC Annenberg, CUNY, Montclair State University and Asian American Writers’ Workshop. She endeavors to use her bilingual reporting skills to bridge the gap between the Chinese community and mainstream society.

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Aorui Pi

Chinese Community Correspondent

Aorui Pi is an award-winning bilingual journalist and audience engagement producer. She specializes in covering international news, immigrant communities, social justice, and climate issues. Her reporting has appeared in major international publications, including Initium Media, IJNet, Radii, and PBS Frontline. In addition to her reporting, Aorui has led audience strategy and community engagement efforts across multiple platforms, helping newsrooms better serve multilingual and global audiences.

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Lam Thuy Vo

Contributing Investigative Reporter

Lam Thuy Vo is expanding Documented's work investigating sources of digitally distributed misinformation and the harm it creates, as well as our business accountability journalism. Lam first began working with Documented in 2021, helping to make sense of the first tranche of data we received from the New York State Department of Labor after filing a Freedom of Information Law request with them for data on their wage theft investigations. She will be working with Max Siegelbaum, co-founder and Special Projects Editor of Documented. As a journalist who marries data analysis with on-the-ground reporting, Lam examines how systems and policies affect individuals. She is currently an associate professor of data journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Previously, she was a journalist at The Markup, BuzzFeed News, The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera America and NPR''s Planet Money.

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Elite Truong

Product Lead

Elite (e-light) Truong is a journalist and product leader of over a decade of experience in product, partnerships and strategy in national newsrooms and journalism support organizations, including board service to News Product Alliance, Democracy Day and Online News Association. Prior to joining Documented, she was previously the vice president of product strategy at American Press Institute, where she led product and business development of data products and programs that helped local news leaders modernize their editorial and business strategies. Previously, she was also the director of strategic initiatives and the news R&D lab (Lede Lab) at The Washington Post, Sulzberger Executive Leadership fellow at Columbia University, and product manager of partnerships and new platforms at Vox Media. Originally from the Chicago area, Elite now lives with her husband Tate and greyhound, Coconut, in Kensington, MD.

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Board Directors

Josh Benson

Josh Benson is a partner at Old Town Media, a firm that works with publishers, news-related tech companies and journalism funders to maximize impact. At Old Town, he helped launch and incubate some of the most successful independent local publications in America, and he co-manages a fund that invests in news infrastructure. Previously, Josh reported and edited at the Peter Kaplan-era New York Observer and The New York Times before co-founding a publication called Capital New York, which was eventually acquired by Politico. He and his partners subsequently spearheaded Politico's successful, large-scale expansion into state and local coverage.

K.A. Dilday

K.A. Dilday spent many years as a journalist, holding editorial positions at The New York Times Opinion Department, Atlantic Media and Essence magazine, among others. She grew up in Mississippi and has lived or worked in France, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. After attending law school during the pandemic, Dilday became an immigration attorney working with nonprofit organizations. She also serves as an elected member of parent governance at a New York City public school.

Melissa Glass

Melissa Glass has been active in the nonprofit arena for many years. She is currently the Chair of Emma’s Torch. Previously, she served as Co-Chair of the giving circle Allinbklyn and on the Board of the Dodge YMCA, serving as both Chair, and Vice Chair. She also served on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of NYC and on the Board of Trustees of Packer Collegiate Institute as well as President of Packer’s Parent Association. Brooklyn Courier Publications named her one of Brooklyn''s Women of Distinction in 2011. Melissa was a Managing Director at TD Securities where she raised funds for media and telecommunications companies. She is currently CFO of Black Inc.

Michael J. Hirschhorn

Michael J. Hirschhorn is founder & CEO of mebl | Transforming Furniture. mebl develops educational resources for decision-makers in the furniture industry -- with the aim of accelerating its transition toward environmentally sustainable and circular design practices. Previously, from 2008 - 14, Michael served as Executive Director of the International Human Rights Funders Group, a global network of donors and grantmakers committed to advancing human rights. From 2003-08, Michael was Executive Director of the Coro New York Leadership Center in New York City; from 1995-2001, he served as Executive Director of the Literacy Assistance Center, also in NYC; and, prior, he was as an Assistant to the Chancellor of the NYC Public Schools and a Visiting Non-Profit Executive at the Yale School of Management. Michael plays leadership roles on the boards of a number of non-profit education, immigration, arts/design and human rights organizations and grantmaking institutions. He received his BA from Yale University and his MBA & MSW from Columbia University. Michael lives in Brooklyn, with his wife Jimena Martinez in a recently ¨empty nest¨ of their 19-year-old twins.

Christiana Mbakwe-Medina

Christiana Mbakwe Medina is an Emmy-nominated TV writer, journalist and cultural commentator. A South London native and graduate of Columbia Journalism School, she has spent the past decade living in the U.S.. Her credits include The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and the White House Correspondents Dinner. She is currently a writer for season 4 of The Morning Show, and co-host on the Spotify podcast ‘What Now?’ with Trevor Noah.

Dr. Wilneida Negrón - On leave

Dr. Wilneida Negrón specializes in developing and scaling new models for people-centered structural and systemic change in the technology sector, capital markets/finance, and labor markets. She most recently worked at the Ford Foundation, where she led cross-thematic area strategy development between the Gender, Race, Ethnic Justice, Technology and Society, Mission Investing, Future of Work(ers), and Civic Engagement Thematic areas. She is currently the Director of Policy and Research at Coworker.org and consultant with Transform Finance, an NGO working at the intersections of finance and social justice. She is a Data & Society Research Institute Fellow and Senior Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity.

Sonia Lin

Sonia Lin is an advocate for immigrant families, workers, and consumers and a public servant who has helped develop innovative policies and programs at the federal, state, and local levels. As a Senior Fellow at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, she launched an agency-wide initiative on immigrant consumers. She also served as Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel in the New York City Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs under Mayor Bill de Blasio. She began her career shortly after 9/11 as a paralegal at the Legal Aid Society, witnessing firsthand the impacts of backlash on Muslim and South Asian communities. A Root-Tilden-Kern scholar at NYU Law, Lin clerked for Judge Denny Chin in the Southern District of New York and represented workers at Outten & Golden LLP. She also taught in Cardozo School of Law’s Immigration Justice Clinic. Throughout her career, Lin has combined legal expertise, public service, and advocacy to support and empower immigrant populations.

Nazanin Rafsanjani - Chair

Nazanin Rafsanjani has spent her career as a radio, television and podcast producer and media executive. She is the former VP of New Show Development at Gimlet Media and Spotify where she launched many podcasts including the investigative journalism series, Conviction, and news shows like The Journal, Gimlet's daily news podcast with The Wall Street Journal. Prior to that, Nazanin founded Gimlet's in-house advertising studio, Gimlet Creative, where she ran major campaigns for brands like Gatorade, Microsoft, Tinder, Virgin Atlantic and many more. Nazanin has also been a public radio producer at New York Public Radio and a contributor to This American Life, Morning Edition, All Things Considered and On the Media, and a senior producer at The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Nazanin is now a law student at Brooklyn Law School where she co-authored an investigative report about why the New York Asylum Office consistently grants asylum at the lowest rate in the country. As an asylum seeker herself, Nazanin has always been committed to telling stories that humanize immigrants and their experiences.

Rachel Strom

Rachel Strom is a leading media lawyer with Davis Wright Tremaine with extensive experience in the application of First Amendment law. As an early friend to Documented, she has helped to arrange pro bono legal review and provided invaluable advice, counsel and support. In her business, Rachel has represented media companies in defamation, invasion of privacy and copyright matters, including researching and writing dispositive motions, taking and defending depositions, questioning trial witnesses, drafting appellate and post-trial briefs, and presenting oral argument in trial and appellate courts. In addition to helping lead high-stakes litigation matters for traditional media clients as described above, Rachel has carved out a distinct position as a digital media specialist, providing pre-publication review for a host of important new media upstarts.