Muhlenberg College student Alexandra Caban-Echevarria, Class of 2023, from Allentown learned in September 2022 she was selected as part of the 2022 class of ProPublica Emerging Reporters.

The investigative journalism outlet selected eight promising college journalists from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the field for this mentorship and networking program.

Her mentor is Brett Murphy, a ProPublica reporter, who joins the ranks of eight Muhlenberg faculty and staff Caban-Echevarria considers to be mentors.

Caban-Echevarria, a double major in media and communication and English, has faculty advisors from each of those departments, plus three mentors via the Graduate School Preparatory Program.

She has remained close with the advisor she was assigned through the Emerging Leaders Program as a first-year student and, through her involvement in Greek life, has become close with the college’s fraternity and sorority advisor.

Then there’s Lecturer of Media and Communication Sara Vigneri, advisor to The Muhlenberg Weekly and the Allentown Voice, a “community-focused journalism lab,” per its website, that “aims to tackle issues that affect the people of the city, particularly those who have seen a large investment in their city with tax-subsidized revitalization projects that haven’t made much of an impact on their daily lives.”

Caban-Echevarria interned with the Allentown Voice over the summer of 2022 and learned of the ProPublica opportunity from Vigneri.

As part of the ProPublica program, Caban-Echevarria Zoomed with Murphy monthly and meet with him, plus the other seven students in her cohort and their mentors, at the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting conference in Nashville in March 2023.

Meanwhile, she is navigating the process of applying to graduate schools for journalism, with the help of her mentoring team.

Her long-term goal is to return to Allentown, where she grew up, to use her skills to help the community.

“I’m interested in the housing crisis here. I’ve done a lot of research about it,” she said. “I haven’t had much experience doing shorter stories. I like stories that take time, thinking and research.

“It helps people because you’re invested in the community and their needs.”