The Texas Tribune · Brandon Formby · September 4, 2026
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Five stellar college students and one recent graduate are joining us this fall as we cover a marquee midterm election cycle and produce The Texas Tribune Festival, our signature politics and policy event. To say it’s an exciting time to welcome them is an understatement.
Three times a year, the Tribune’s fellowship program offers young industry professional paid positions across several departments. Our fellows get real-world experience covering major Texas stories, visually documenting the lives of Texas officials and residents, promoting our newsroom’s journalism, and growing our audience. Join us in welcoming these young professionals to our organization.
Sasha Draeger-Mazer is an Austin-based reporting fellow. Originally from Montana, she is a senior at Northwestern University, where she studies journalism and political science. At NU, she has served as an editor of The Daily Northwestern and covered national security for Medill News Service. Most recently, Sasha worked for Bloomberg News, reporting on global business from Berlin as a native German speaker.
Will Hammann is our Washington reporting fellow. He covered Maryland state prisons, justice and campaign finance amid the state’s primary elections for States Newsroom outlet Maryland Matters. Before that, Will reported on Maryland’s congressional delegation for Capital News Service and local news for the Greenbelt News Review. The Ashburn, Virginia native originally studied saxophone performance until entering the field of journalism at the University of Maryland, where he’s an assistant managing editor for The Diamondback, the university’s independent student newspaper. Will is based in College Park, Maryland, and is proficient in Spanish thanks to his parents and friends.
Zach Leggio is a reporting fellow based in Austin. Zach was born in Augusta, Georgia, and is a recent graduate from the University of Georgia, where he majored in journalism and international affairs. While at UGA, he worked for various student publications, including The Red & Black, where he was a news editor, managing editor and editor-in-chief. Zach previously interned with the Oglethorpe Echo, a newspaper serving a rural Georgia county, interned in the U.S. Senate and interned for the Investigative Reporting Workshop in Washington, D.C.
Jacob Lujan is the photography fellow who previously worked as the visuals intern at the Houston Chronicle and editor-in-chief of The Daily Toreador, Texas Tech’s student-run publication. Lujan, from Corpus Christi, is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in communications at Tech.
Valeria Mota is our marketing and communications fellow based in Austin. Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, Valeria speaks fluent Spanish and is entering her senior year at The University of Texas at Austin, where she is pursuing a degree in marketing with a minor in journalism. She currently serves as editor-in-chief of Afterglow ATX, a student-run music publication, where she has led a staff of more than 90 and covered festivals including SXSW and ACL. She previously served as social media editor at The Daily Texan and interned with The Team’s brand partnerships team and the Long Center for the Performing Arts, working on paid social campaigns and audience engagement.
Laura Rivera-Ramos is an audience engagement fellow based in Austin. She is a senior studying journalism and government at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, Laura worked as an editorial intern at The Austin Chronicle, an associate news editor for the student newspaper, The Daily Texan, and produced social media content for the Austin Current. She is fluent in Spanish and enjoys trying different coffee shops during her free time.
Disclosure: States Newsroom and The University of Texas at Austin have been major financial supporters of The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here .
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Brandon Formby works with The Texas Tribune’s beat editors and reporters to bring Texans the news, analysis and explanatory journalism they need to put pressing issues into perspective. Previously, as... More by Brandon Formby
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