Our Staff
Paul Cheung
Chief Executive Officer
@pcheung630
pcheung@publicintegrity.org
Paul Cheung leads The Center for Public Integrity as CEO to reverse the effects of inequalities with investigative journalism. Previously, he managed a multimillion dollars investment portfolio at the Knight Foundation to scale the use of artificial intelligence, improve business sustainability solutions, and combat misinformation. Read more
Kate Myers
Chief Operating Officer
kate@publicintegrity.org
Kate Myers is a creative and experienced leader and coach in the online journalism industry. She is passionate and committed to building the next generation of successful news organizations. Read More
Matt DeRienzo
Editor-in-Chief
@mattderienzo
mderienzo@publicintegrity.org
Matt DeRienzo is editor-in-chief of the Center for Public Integrity. Previously, he was vice president of news at Hearst’s newspapers in Connecticut, and served as the first full-time executive director of LION, a national nonprofit that supports local independent online news publishers. He has also written a monthly column about the media industry for Editor & Publisher magazine. Read More
Alexia Fernández Campbell
Senior Reporter
Inequality, Opportunity and Poverty
@alexiacampbell
acampbell@publicintegrity.org
Alexia Fernández Campbell writes about workers’ rights. Before joining the Center in 2019, Alexia reported on labor issues at Vox, where she used FOIA documents to show how the Trump Organization made minimal efforts to hire American workers before applying for foreign guest workers. Read More
Ashley Clarke
Engagement Editor
@Ash__tag__
aclarke@publicintegrity.org
Ashley is Audience engagement editor for the Center for Public Integrity. She believes that journalism is a powerful tool to connect people from all walks of life. Previously, Ashley worked at NBC4 in Washington as a production assistant and weekend assignment editor. Read More
Amy DiPierro
Data reporter
ADiPierr@publicintegrity.org
@amydipierro
Amy DiPierro is a data journalist at the Center for Public Integrity. She previously reported for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif. and BusinessDen in Denver, Colo. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Stanford University, where she was a Knight-Hennessy Scholar and a fellow at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation. Read More
Alex Eichenstein
Communications and Engagement Associate
@alexeichenstein
aeichenstein@publicintegrity.org
Alex Eichenstein is a communications and engagement associate at the Center for Public Integrity. In 2019, she was the James R. Soles Fellow. She graduated from the University of Delaware with an Honors degree in English, women and gender studies, and political science. Read More
Susan Ferriss
Senior Reporter
Inequality, Opportunity and Poverty
@susanferriss
sferriss@publicintegrity.org
Susan Ferriss is a prize-winning former foreign correspondent who has been investigating treatment of children by the U.S. justice and immigration system, law enforcement and the school-discipline process. Read More
Melissa Hellmann
Senior reporter
@M_Hellmann
mhellmann@publicintegrity.org
Melissa Hellmann is an award-winning reporter who covers racial, gender and economic inequality. Prior to joining the Center for Public Integrity in August 2021, she covered marginalized communities for The Seattle Times. She previously worked at Seattle Weekly, the Associated Press, YES! Magazine, TIME Asia, and SF Weekly. Read More
Kristen Holmes
Senior Finance and Operations Manager
kholmes@publicintegrity.org
Kristen Holmes joined the Center for Public Integrity in 2019 as the grants accountant on the development team. Holmes brings a wealth of accounting experience from her 14 years at The Washington Post Company, where she oversaw budgets for several Post-targeted products, including, the Washington Post Magazine and El Tiempo Latino, previously the Post’s Spanish language weekly publication. Read More
Jamie Smith Hopkins
Editor
@jsmithhopkins
jhopkins@publicintegrity.org
Jamie Smith Hopkins is an editor and senior reporter for the Center for Public Integrity. She joined Public Integrity in 2014. Previously, she spent 15 years as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Read More
Janeen Jones
Design Editor
jjones@publicintegrity.org
Janeen Jones is the design editor for the Center for Public Integrity. Before joining the Center, she worked as a graphic designer at The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and POLITICO. She has also worked at various newspapers as a copy editor, reporter and news editor. Read More
Rui Kaneya
Senior Reporter
Money and Democracy
@ruikaneya
rkaneya@publicintegrity.org
Rui Kaneya is a senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity. Before joining the Center in 2018, he was an investigative reporter for Honolulu Civil Beat, covering criminal justice, immigration and other social justice issues. Read More
Sarah Kleiner
Senior Reporter
Inequality, Opportunity and Poverty
@sarahkleiner9
skleiner@publicintegrity.org
Sarah Kleiner joined the Center for Public Integrity’s federal politics team in 2017. During her 13-year journalism career, Kleiner has reported on a range of topics: state politics, city government, education, mental health, criminal justice, real estate and financial services. Read More
Jennifer LaFleur
Senior Editor
@j_la28
jlafleur@publicintegrity.org
Jennifer LaFleur joined CPI from the Investigative Reporting Workshop where she was data editor. She also teaches data journalism at American University. LaFleur previously was a senior editor for Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, where she managed an award-winning team of data journalists, investigative reporters and fellows. Read More
Carrie Levine
Senior Reporter
Money and Democracy
@levinecarrie
clevine@publicintegrity.org
Carrie Levine joined the Center for Public Integrity in October 2014 as a reporter investigating the influence of money in politics. For four years before joining Public Integrity, she worked as research director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, where she managed a five-person staff that exposed the activities of politically active “dark money” nonprofits and uncovered instances of congressional self-dealing. Read More
Lisa Yanick Litwiller
Director of Audience
@yanicklitwiller
lisa.litwiller@publicintegrity.org
Lisa Yanick Litwiller is the director of audience for the Center for Public Integrity, previously serving in the same capacity for Hearst Community Newspapers. As Hearst Connecticut’s investigative systems editor in 2019, Lisa led a team of reporters in a six-month investigation of sexual abuse spanning decades connected to Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. Read More
Corey Mitchell
Senior Reporter
Education
@c_c_mitchell
cmitchell@publicintegrity.org
Corey Mitchell writes about racial, gender and economic inequality in education. Before joining the Center for Public Integrity in 2021, Corey was an associate editor at Education Week. Read More
Pratheek Rebala
News Developer
@pratheekrebala
prebala@publicintegrity.org
News developer Pratheek Rebala spent three-and-a-half years as an interactive graphics intern in the D.C. bureau of Time magazine while simultaneously completing a degree in international affairs at George Washington University. Read More
April Simpson
Senior Reporter
Racial Equity
@aprilleticia
asimpson@publicintegrity.org
April Simpson joined the Center for Public Integrity in October 2020 as a senior reporter covering racial equity. She was previously the rural issues reporter at Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Read More
Peter Newbatt Smith
Research Editor
psmith@publicintegrity.org
Before coming to the Center for Public Integrity, Peter Smith was employed as a law clerk at the firm of Gaffney & Schember, P.C., in Washington, D.C. He received his bachelor’s degree in medieval European history from Harvard University and his law degree from American University. Read More
R. Jeffrey Smith
Editor
National Security
@rjsmithcpi
jsmith@publicintegrity.org
Smith worked for 25 years in a series of key reporting and editorial roles at The Washington Post, including national investigative editor, national security correspondent, national investigative correspondent, and a foreign staff bureau chief based in Rome. In 2006, he won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, along with two colleagues at the Post, for articles on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Read More
Mc Nelly Torres
Editor
@WatchdogDiva
mcntorres@publicintegrity.org
Mc Nelly Torres is an award-winning, investigative journalist based in South Florida and a former investigative producer for NBC6 in Miami. In 2010, Torres co-founded the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FCIR.org). Before that her consumer stories at the Sun-Sentinel won state, regional, and national awards. Read More
Liz Essley Whyte
Reporter
Money and Democracy
@l_e_whyte
lwhyte@publicintegrity.org
Liz Essley Whyte is a reporter for the Center for Public Integrity, where her investigative work has won awards from the National Press Club, Editor & Publisher, the Association of Health Care Journalists and more. Read More
Joe Yerardi
Data Reporter
@JoeYerardi
jyerardi@publicintegrity.org
Joe Yerardi is a data reporter at the Center for Public Integrity, reporting on a broad range of topics. In this role, he combines traditional reporting techniques with data analysis, visualization and programming to tell investigative stories. Read More
Shane Yost
Director of Individual Giving
syost@publicintegrity.org
Shane Yost joined the Center for Public Integrity in November 2019 as the Director of Individual Giving. In that role, he builds and develops relationships with people who are committed to investigative journalism. He has sixteen years of fundraising experience with a focus on individual giving. Read More
Sophie Austin
American University fellow
@sophieadanna
saustin@publicintegrity.org
Before joining Public Integrity, Sophie Austin wrapped up a local news internship with The Dallas Morning News. She previously interned at PolitiFact, a fact-checking organization. Read More
Kimberly Cataudella
AU Fellow
@kcataudella
kcataudella@publicintegrity.org
Kimberly Cataudella is the 2020 American University Fellow working on the data team while completing her master’s in investigative journalism. Previously, she was a data researcher for the Investigative Reporting Workshop. Read More