Paola Marizan
Bilingual Journalist and Project Manager, WNIN, NPR/PBS and The New York Times
Paola Marizán is a Dominican journalist who made it her mission to create more inclusive spaces for Spanish speakers in the Midwest. After experiencing a culture shock when she first arrived in the Midwest, Paola joined WNIN, a local public radio station, where she realized the lack of Spanish representation in their content. She pitched bilingual stories and successfully brought in more Spanish-speaking guests to their shows, which led to the creation of the bilingual podcast and WhatsApp newsletter, Qué Pasa, Midwest. Paola’s advocacy for bilingual content has helped multiple stations around the US to hire more bilingual reporters and producers and expand their coverage to include more diverse voices and perspectives.