Finalist: Alexia Campbell, April Simpson and Pratheek Rebala of the Center for Public Integrity; Nadia Hamdan of Reveal; and Roy Hurst, contributor, Mother Jones

Alexia Fernández Campbell was a senior investigative reporter at the Center for Public Integrity and is now an investigative reporter at Bloomberg Industry Group. Her work has exposed widespread wage theft at the Postal Service and potential business fraud in the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Her recent investigation with the Center for Public Integrity, called “40 Acres and a Lie,” tracked down the living descendants of formerly enslaved people who received land titles from the federal government, only to have that land returned to their enslavers. The radio series won a duPont-Columbia award.

Alexia previously worked as a reporter for Vox, The Atlantic, National Journal, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Her past work has won a Gracie Award, an SPJ Sigma Chi Delta Award, and multiple honors from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Alexia earned a master’s degree in public affairs and journalism from American University and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from the University of Tennessee. She is Mexican, American and Brazilian and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

April Simpson was a senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity covering racial equity. She is now a freelance journalist based in Greater Houston, Texas. April was a U.S. Fulbright fellow in Botswana, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation and Innovations in Food and Agriculture fellow with the National Press Foundation. April is a graduate of Smith College and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
 

Pratheek Rebala was an investigative journalist and news developer at the Center for Public Integrity. He is now a computational journalist with ProPublica. His work at CPI received a Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting as well as other honors from the Society of Professional Journalists, Editors & Publishers, Society of Environmental Journalists and more. Prior to joining CPI, Rebala worked on the data team at Time Magazine. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from George Washington University.
 

Nadia Hamdan (she/her) is a producer for Reveal. She has worked on a range of investigative stories, from the post-Roe health care crisis and the deadly consequences of US gun laws to the debate around reparations for Black Americans. She was part of the team that won an Edward R. Murrow Award for exposing how an extreme voter-fraud law in Arizona put someone away for one year for what many see as normal voting behavior. Previously, Nadia was a reporter for Austin’s NPR station, where she was awarded the Texas Gavel Award from the State Bar of Texas for an investigation into why sexual assaults are so hard to prosecute in Austin. She has also won a national Public Media Journalists Association award and multiple Texas Associated Press Broadcasters awards. Most notably, she once conducted an entire interview while riding a mule through downtown Austin.
 

Born in Detroit, Roy Hurst’s passion for storytelling began early in his career as an apprentice in broadcasting. His breakthrough came when he produced a groundbreaking twelve-hour dramatic radio reading of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, featuring the iconic music of Duke Ellington and a cast of A-list and B-list Hollywood actors. The event became a minor hit in Los Angeles, sparking Roy’s lifelong love for broadcasting.

An accomplished, award-winning creative storyteller, Roy has since made a name for himself in radio, documentary film, and multimedia journalism. Over the years, he has developed a unique professional voice, one that focuses on the personal experiences and personalities of everyday people, often placing them above experts, academics, and politicians. He believes this approach is the most effective way to inform audiences, even on the most complex and challenging issues. Roy has worked as a reporter and producer for top-tier organizations including the BBC, CBC, PRI, and NPR.

His diverse work includes producing the acclaimed narrative podcast 40 Acres and a Lie for Reveal, directing the award-winning true-crime series Ernie's Secret for Stitcher|Scripps, and contributing to high-profile Netflix documentaries such as #BlackLivesMatter and Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. Whether developing compelling narratives, producing live multimedia content, or leading production teams, Roy is driven by a passion for telling stories that educate, entertain, and inspire.

Roy lives in Los Angeles, where, in addition to his work in journalism, he is also a painter and jazz trumpet player. He finds himself caught in a constant creative struggle between his canvas and his horn—two outlets that feed his artistic soul in different yet equally powerful ways.