Announcing the Los Angeles Times Fellowship’s 2025 class

The following announcement is sent on behalf of Assistant Managing Editor for Culture and Talent Angel Jennings and Deputy Editor for Culture and Talent Anh Do:

For decades, the Los Angeles Times has showcased its commitment to developing and nurturing early-career journalists through special programs that train the next generation to produce stories that matter.

This initiative started in 1984 as Metpro, a two-year program that provided training and paid opportunities to those with diverse backgrounds and life experiences. The goal: To build a pipeline of journalists who can share their perspective with newsrooms that are mostly homogenous. Metpro launched the careers of many, shaped journalism and produced award-winning and meaningful work.

Now, The Times will welcome its newest class to the program renamed the Los Angeles Times Fellowship.

Eight journalists will join the newsroom Monday and will receive training from some of journalism’s best in the business.

At the start of the program, fellows will begin a month of instruction on how to navigate and succeed at a major newspaper, with multiplatform work customized for their individual interests. They will also tour historic and cultural areas gracing Los Angeles, among the most dynamic and visible news cities in the world.

The next stage focuses on multiweek rotations across the newsroom, during which participants will report, write, produce, edit, create visual projects and more, with coaching from seasoned Times journalists.

During their yearlong program, fellows will gain guidance via formal mentorship and regular written feedback. Deeper skills training and career development will resume in between rotations.

The Fellowship Advisory Committee — comprising managers, Guild members and alumni of the earlier Metpro program, all of whom show a passion for creating space and opportunities for diverse talent to thrive in their jobs — will also work with the fellows.

We’re excited to introduce our newest class of Los Angeles Times fellows. Please learn more about each of them below:

Francesca Bermudez, a Bay Area native and graduate of Loyola Marymount University, got her start writing for the news and arts sections of the Los Angeles Loyolan. She went on to have work published in Pasadena Weekly and receive training as a Dow Jones News Fund intern. Her work has been nominated for a Los Angeles Press Club Award. Bermudez first joined The Times as a multiplatform editing intern in the summer of 2023 and is thrilled to return to the copy desk as a fellow.

Cerys Davies’ love of journalism began in high school when she joined the student newspaper. Born and raised in L.A., she has since focused on bringing her interests in music, art and culture to storytelling. Last year, she graduated from Loyola Marymount University and joined The Times as an intern with De Los. During her time with the Latino-focused vertical, she covered the growth of Latin music, profiled local artists and explored L.A.’s role in música Mexicana. She is excited to join the 2025 class as a reporting fellow.

Brenda Elizondo worked as a video reporter and content creator for De Los, the Latinidad section for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times, she was a two-time NBCUniversal Academy fellow and field producer intern for Telemundo 52 Los Angeles, where she helped produce live segments including coverage of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. She also served as the student representative for the National Assn. of Hispanic Journalists and is currently the digital creator for the NAHJ-LA professional chapter. She received her bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis in Spanish media at Cal State Fullerton in 2023.

Kaitlyn Huamani is a recent alumna of USC Annenberg, where she studied journalism. A New Jersey native, Huamani grew up with a strong love of writing and the arts, leading her to entertainment and arts journalism. She has interned at the Associated Press and People magazine, the latter where she worked as part of the American Society of Magazine Editors internship program. Huamani also interned with the entertainment and arts team at the Los Angeles Times in the spring of 2024 and is thrilled to return to The Times as a fellow, where she looks forward to broadening her experience.

Sandra McDonald is from North Central Florida, just an hour south of the University of Florida, where she studied journalism. She has worked with the local NPR station, WUFT, along with Fresh Take Florida, a news service focused on elevating statewide and political coverage. She was a 2024 intern with the Fast Break desk and will be returning as a reporting fellow.

Malia Mendez, an Irvine native, graduated from Stanford University with degrees in English and journalism. In her undergraduate years, she wrote for the Stanford Daily’s Arts & Life section and went on to serve as its managing editor as well as contribute to the campus fashion and literary magazines. Her byline can be found in Los Angeles Magazine, the Orange County Register and Peninsula Press. Outside of work, she spends most of her time at the beach or her local AMC theater. After previously working as an intern and editorial assistant at The Times, she returns to the newsroom as a reporting fellow.

Karla Marie Sanford will be a reporting fellow at The Times after stints working for the Washington Post’s General Assignment and Well+Being teams. She studied English at Yale University where she was the editor in chief of Yale Daily News magazine. Sanford, who goes by Marie, went on to receive her master’s in journalism from Columbia University. She is originally from Atlanta, and she takes pride in making a mean sweet potato pie.

Juliana Yamada was born and raised in Torrance. After her high school yearbook class sparked her interest in visual storytelling, she moved to Northern California and earned her bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from San Francisco State University. She has held photo internships at the San Francisco Standard, the San Francisco Chronicle and KQED. Yamada has spent the past year freelancing full time for various publications, including the Associated Press, CalMatters and more. She has been producing a yearlong photo essay as a 2024 Women Photograph mentee and grant recipient. Yamada focuses her work on culture, identity and politics, and is passionate about using her lens to connect with people, share their stories and make a meaningful impact in their communities. After spending six years in the Bay Area, she is thrilled to return to Los Angeles to join The Times’ photo desk.