Next gen gets to work

Six interns started in June, joining five who are continuing their work from the spring semester. The 11 budding investigative reporters will spend their summer in our Washington, D.C., newsroom launching or continuing fiscal, judicial and political probes. During their first days on the job, the new interns filed FOIAs and public-records requests, interviewed experts, and scraped data.

New this summer:

• Ela Jalil graduated from the University of Maryland in May with a dual degree in journalism journalism and philosophy, politics and economics. Ela is this summer’s data intern via the Dow Jones News Fund. 
• Zach Leggio graduated in May from the University of Georgia, where he served as editor-in-chief of The Red & Black. Zach, who double majored in journalism and international affairs, studied abroad in Italy and South Africa. 
• Maddie Mulligan is a rising senior at Boston College, double-majoring in English and political science with a minor in journalism. Maddie is junior captain of the ultimate Frisbee team, and she previously served as arts editor at The Heights, BC’s independent student newspaper. 
• Carolyn Neugarten brings recent experience from OpenSecrets and Connecticut Public Radio. She graduated in May from Wesleyan University. 
• Elizabeth Rozeboom graduated in May from the University of Michigan with a degree in psychology and a double minor in Writing and English. She brings experience from The Michigan Daily. 
• Alexandria Smith is a rising senior at Pennsylvania State University, studying journalism with a minor in sports studies. She has experience as a hockey beat reporter. 

Returning this summer:

• Luisa Clausen is graduating this summer from the American University School of Communication master’s in journalism and public affairs program. Luisa, a Brazilian native, earned a 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association scholarship and continues working on stories about immigration detention with POGO.
• Isabel Del Mastro is also finishing graduate coursework in the journalism and public affairs master’s program, and has been working with the Project on Government Oversight. Isabel, who is an avid runner and passionate traveler, in November 2025 was one of five students to participate in the Bridging Investigative Journalism Fellowship program that sent master’s students to Bergen, Norway. 
• Avi Paulson is a rising senior at American University, where he studies journalism and covers sports at The Eagle, the campus newspaper. He captains American University’s ultimate Frisbee team.  
• Elijah Pittman is a senior at Howard University, studying journalism. He also is a freelance photographer and a former Maryland Matters writing fellow.
• Will Sytsma is a rising senior at American University, where he studies journalism and political science with a concentration in political theory. Will returns this summer after gaining experience gathering and analyzing public records and data for our news partners, The Maine Monitor, POGO and The 51st. He also is editor-in-chief of AWOL, the campus magazine.