Meet KALW’s Audio Academy Class of 2022

By Shereen Adel, Editorial Operations, KALW News

With ongoing support from the Association for Continuing Education, KALW is excited to introduce its 9th Audio Academy, the class of 2022! They just completed their first month in a nine-month program that covers everything they need to know to report and produce news stories using sound.

Here are the very first local news spots they produced for KALW:

• Nine Oakland Police Department Officers Disciplined For ‘Sexist’ and ‘Racist’ Social Media Posts — Elizabeth Aranda
• Albany City Council Considering Rematriation Resolution — Carolann Jane Duro
• California Schools Prepare For Afghan Refugee Students — Johanna Miyaki
• SFMTA Seeks Public Input In Transit Plans — Dorothy Tang
• Oakland Records 100th Homicide, Votes To Fund Additional Police Academy — Ryan Howzell
• San Francisco’s Bayview Residents Raise Concerns Over Proposed “Vehicle Triage Center” — D’Andre Ball
• California COVID-19 Death Toll Climbing — Jasmine Ramirez
• Landlords Challenge Back Rent Relief Law — Adoubou Traore

They also shared a little bit about who they are and how they came to KALW’s Audio Academy:

Elizabeth Aranda (she/her)

Hello everyone! My name is Elizabeth Aranda and I’m currently studying at City College of San Francisco with hopes to transfer to a four year university. I work at Home Coffee Roasters and at the restaurant Fiorella. I am also a cat mom to two fur babies, Alejandra and Charlie. On my free time I love reading, going to the beach, camping, and hanging out with friends and family.

 

D’Andre Ball (he/him)

I am an education professional and freelance writer based in Berkeley. I enjoy covering Bay Area hip-hop culture and writing about artists throughout the region for local and national media outlets. I started my career as an educator on the West Side of Chicago, and currently work in teacher recruitment and school staffing in San Francisco.

Follow him on Twitter @drejball

Carolann Jane Duro (she/her)

Hamiintamc! I am Maara’yam (Serrano), Kumeyaay, and white. I was born and raised in my ancestral territory that is now known as San Bernardino in Southern California. I am a recent graduate of Scripps College where I majored in Sociology and took many classes in Media Studies. I was first introduced to public radio, podcasting, and journalism in my first year of college when I worked for WERS 88.9 FM in Boston, MA. After transferring to Scripps, I found other academic studies like social justice, political economy, Indigenous history and resistance, and Indigenous language revitalization. Post grad I have decided to return my way back to the public radio and journalism world and I am most excited to cover stories about California Indigenous people, language revitalization, and Indigenous politics. I am grateful to now be hosted on the unceded ancestral territory of the Ohlone people in Yelamu (San Francisco). In my free time I enjoy collecting records, reading Indigenous novels and books, going on walks with my Siberian Husky, and drinking way too much coffee. Hakup a’ai ami’ pahi’kow tan hiiv!

Follow her on Twitter @carolannjaneee

Ryan Howzell (she/her)

I am a researcher and writer from Oakland, CA. I cut my teeth in radio at my college station and since graduating, I’ve worked as a paralegal, arts administrator, maritime historian, and most recently, a fellow at WorldAffairs, a global politics radio show and podcast co-produced with KQED. In my work, I am interested in the intersections of race, climate, and labor rights as well as place-based narratives of marginalization and the relationship between local history, public space, and identity formation. I am also passionate about drawing on the performing arts—particularly theater, music, and art therapy—to develop interview/storytelling practices grounded in mutual repair and community-building. Outside of work, you’ll find me listening to and singing choral music, trying to get outside, testing new recipes, and hanging out at my local library.

Follow her on Twitter @HowzellRyan

Johanna Miyaki (she/her)

I was born in Washington DC, grew up in Maryland and have lived in San Francisco longer than I haven’t now so it is technically home but the East Coast will always have a piece of my heart. I live in the OMI neighborhood with my husband, my daughter and our rescue, Rocco. I find most people aren’t familiar with this part of San Francisco, it’s on the west side of San Francisco, I hope to write a story or two about the OMI for Crosscurrents. I have worked in events, marketing and promotions for most of my professional life, successfully running my own small event marketing and services company for nearly 14 years until the pandemic hit. I found myself out of work, essentially overnight so I decided to make the most of this newly found time on my hands and set out to learn new skills and explore other passions and interests. I learned to make Japanese food, baked a lot, did more yoga and discovered the SF Crosstown trail which helped me rediscover my city and get involved in my community. I also took many classes at City College in the Broadcast Electronic Media Dept where I started writing and learning the craft of storytelling and multimedia content creation. Fast forward 18 months or so and I am joining the KALW Audio Academy. I am excited to work in the newsroom with many talented people and learn with the other fellows.

Follow her on Twitter @jlomiyaki

Jasmine Ramirez (she/ her)

I grew up somewhat isolated in the small town of Aromas, California. I wouldn’t get out much and would turn to books for a sense of adventure. As a child, I had been fascinated by the power that words can hold. I enjoyed writing pieces that had an emotional pull but never sought a career out of writing. Eager to make a difference, I set aside my own personal interests and pursued a degree in sociology. I was four years into social work when I began to notice I could do more than lending a listening ear to those I was serving. Story after story, I realized a lot of people go through hardships due to structural factors that are out of their control. Despite the fact that I may not have any professional experience in the journalism world, I do have a lot of experience with people. My goal would be to bring light to real stories, from real people, who have gone through real hardships in order to apply pressure for substantial change. I cannot put into words how excited I am to be a part of this year’s Audio Academy and to train alongside others with a similar passion.

Dorothy Tang (they/them)

I’m an audio content creator interested in people-powered media and making knowledge accessible to and engaging for all. I believe in a queer of color approach to knowledge production and storytelling. I got my start in broadcast journalism at KCSB 91.9 in Santa Barbara and spent the past year working with API (Asian Pacific Islander) Equality–Northern California on a podcast documenting intergenerational queer and trans API connection. My favorite things to listen to are This American Life, Jour 1 by Hildegard, my friends’ hot takes, and the round tapping sounds of a mechanical keyboard.

Adoubou Traore (he/him)

I am a native of the Ivory Coast, where I spent most of my life. I have a Master’s degree in English with a concentration in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Currently, I am the executive director of the African Advocacy Network (AAN), a nonprofit providing immigration legal services to African and Afro-Caribbean immigrants. I communicate a lot with my community and its leadership. I am passionate about racial equity and social justice.