About Us: Boyle Heights Beat

Boyle Heights Beat / Pulso de Boyle Heights is a local nonprofit news organization serving the communities of Boyle Heights and the Eastside. We provide “noticias por y para la comunidad,” or “news by and for the community” in Spanish and English. We publish daily on our website, quarterly in print, and have a podcast, Radio Pulso, and a weekly newsletter, Happenings in the Heights. The Beat offers a unique brand of journalism built around community engagement providing information and resources to meet the needs of local residents.

Boyle Heights Beat / Pulso de Boyle Heights was founded in 2010 as a high school journalism project where professionals trained students to report on their community. Over 300 students have gone through the program- many moving on to careers in journalism, as well as education, law, and community organizing. In recent years, thanks to strong community support, the Beat has evolved into a professional newsroom that continues its work with youth, while serving as a trusted primary source for local news and information for its communities. In 2024 Boyle Heights Beat was integrated into the Los Angeles Local News Initiative and serves as the model to launch similar publications in additional communities in L.A.

The Beat’s newsroom and student journalism programs are funded through foundation and individual support.

The Beat sustains its operations through foundations and individual support. To learn more about how to contribute to our success go here.

Editorial Team

Jessica Perez – Senior Editor

jessica.perez@boyleheightsbeat.org

Jessica is the senior editor leading Boyle Heights Beat. Prior to this role, she spent nearly six years at the LA Times, first as assistant editor of the News Desk, then community editor of De Los, a Latinx vertical. She also worked as a digital producer at NBC Los Angeles, and spent a year as a fellow at USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism, where she established a South LA community desk and led students in reporting projects. Jessica was born in Mexico, grew up in Boyle Heights, and was deputy editor of the Beat in its early days. She holds a degree in journalism from Cal State Long Beach.

Alejandra Molina – Senior Reporter / Journalist Mentor

alejandra.molina@boyleheightsbeat.org

Alejandra Molina is a senior reporter and youth mentor at Boyle Heights Beat. She was part of the team that launched De Los, a new section of the Los Angeles Times exploring Latinidad in L.A. and across the country. As a staff writer, you can find her bylines in the LA Times, Religion News Service, The Press-Enterprise in Riverside and The Orange County Register. Her work has appeared in the Associated Press and the Washington Post. In 2018, she was named as an influential Latina journalist by CCNMA: Latino Journalists of California.

Andrew Lopez – Reporter

andrew.lopez@boyleheightsbeat.org

Andrew Lopez is a Los Angeles native with roots all over the Eastside. He comes to Boyle Heights from Oakland, where he earned a master’s degree at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. He enjoys covering the intersections between art, culture and history within communities. Andrew is part of the inaugural cohort of the California Local News Fellowship and will be supporting Boyle Heights Beat into 2025.

Jacqueline Ramirez – Multimedia / Social Producer

jackie.ramirez@boyleheightsbeat.org

Jacqueline Ramirez is a former Boyle Heights Beat alumni (2013-2015). She is currently the Multimedia/Social Producer for Boyle Heights Beat. After graduating from Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in 2015, she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and New Media at Mount Saint Mary’s University.

Student Journalism Mentors

Albert Serna Jr. – Journalist Mentor

Albert Serna Jr. is an investigative reporter from Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Valley. Serna Jr. earned a B.A. in journalism and queer ethnic studies from San Francisco State University and an M.A. in investigative journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Over the course of his career, Serna Jr. has covered everything from local crime, culture and city councils to national criminal justice, extremism and indigenous affairs. He currently sits on the board for the National Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists and is a member of Investigative Reporters & Editors. Serna Jr. teaches journalism at Mt. San Antonio College and plays in the Greater Los Angeles Softball Association.

Susanica Tam – Journalist Mentor

Susanica Tam is an equity-minded educator, editor, and photo professional that calls Boyle Heights home. She leads the inaugural Fall 2024 photojournalism cohort along with Kate Valdez. Her editorial experience ranges from holding the Managing Editor position at The Great Discontent to starting out as a contributing visual journalist at LAist/KPCC. Susanica is especially interested in migration, language, and identity stories and is the first person in her family to be born in the U.S. She attended the USC School of Journalism on scholarship and most recently also the Transom Storytelling Workshop.

See our 2024-2025 youth news team here.

The Los Angeles Local News Initiative

Kristen Muller- Executive Editor

Kristen Muller is the executive editor of the Los Angeles Local News Initiative, the nonprofit organization that powers Boyle Heights Beat. She brings over a decade of experience in public service journalism, a deep understanding of L.A. and a clear commitment to collaboration to the growing network of local journalism.

Christine Kelley – Managing Director, Student Journalism and Community Engagement

kris.kelley@localnewsforla.org

Kris Kelley is the Managing Director of Student Journalism and Community Engagement at the Los Angeles Local News Initiative, which powers Boyle Heights Beat. A former television news producer, she currently runs the community youth journalism project where she has led and mentored students for the past decade. Kris graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts and earned her Master’s in Journalism from University of Southern California, where she currently teaches advanced reporting and live television production.

Kevin Martinez – Community Engagement Director

kevin.martinez@boyleheightsbeat.org

Kevin is a proud alumni of the Boyle Heights Beat. He was part of the second cohort (2011-2012) and wrote a couple of stories that focused on Latinx stereotypes in Hollywood and profiled a local mom-and-pop café. After graduating from Theodore Roosevelt HS, he pursued a Bachelors of Science in Sociology (2016) and a Masters in Education, Culture & Society (2018) from Westminster College and the University of Utah, respectively. He returned to LA in 2018 to work in non-profit educational organizations where he utilized his research on social justice, critical race theory and youth empowerment into practice. He rejoined Boyle Heights Beat in the Spring of 2022 as a youth mentor and now working as the Community Engagement Director for the Los Angeles Local News Initiative, which powers Boyle Heights Beat.

Matthew Reagan – Documenters Assignment Editor

matthew.reagan@localnewsforla.org

Matthew Reagan is the Documenters assignment editor for the Los Angeles Local News Initiative’s newsrooms including the Boyle Heights Beat where he is excited to train and pay community members to make local government more transparent. For the past five years Reagan was at CalMatters building the College Journalism Network, a fellowship program for California college journalists. He’s a proud alumni of the program and most recently mentored and edited fellows as the network’s program manager and assistant editor. Outside of the newsroom you can find him riding his bike around the Eastside of Los Angeles or in his seat at BMO stadium.

Kate Valdez – Program Coordinator

kate.valdez@boyleheightsbeat.org

Kate Valdez is a proud Boyle Heights native and Boyle Heights Beat alumnus (2016-2018). Currently, as the Program Coordinator for the Los Angeles Local News Initiative, she oversees the day to day operations. Kate has collaborated on multiple films across the world. Most recently producing her own short film as a Venice Arts fellow. Her training began at Ghetto Film School, where she completed a three-year film academy. Kate’s passion for storytelling connects her aspirations across various artistic mediums such as journalism, photography and filmmaking.

The LA Local’s Board of Directors

The L.A. Loca l is the nonprofit news organization that powers Boyle Heights Beat.