Meet the 2025 Lenfest Next Generation Award winners

Twelve Philadelphia-area media professionals of color to receive funding in support of their professional development

June 12, 2025

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Lenfest Next Generation Award. The Lenfest Next Generation Fund supports professional development opportunities for Philadelphia-area journalists, media executives, and students of color.   

This year, 10 emerging news professionals are receiving support through the NextGen Professional Development Track, which enables award winners to attend an association conference or professional training of their choice or purchase new, work-related equipment. The NextGen Internship Support Track is also supporting two individuals in internships at Philadelphia-based media organizations that would otherwise have been unpaid.  

Award winners across both tracks work in digital, video, radio, podcasting, and print media in multiple languages across the Philadelphia region.   

The Lenfest Next Generation Fund is part of The Lenfest Institute’s work to support an interconnected ecosystem of Philadelphia’s news and information providers. The programming supports individual journalists and media professionals of color in Philadelphia to ensure that diverse leaders at every stage of their career are equipped with skills to lead their organizations and build sustainable, community-centered news products.   

“Investing in and empowering the next generation of journalists serving the Philadelphia Metro area is an essential part of building a thriving media ecosystem for our region,” said Lenfest Institute Head of Philadelphia Programs Shawn Mooring.  

Please join us in congratulating the newest winners of the Lenfest Next Generation Award:  

Jesenia De Moya Correa 

Professional Development Track – Equipment for multimedia reporting 

Jesenia De Moya Correa is an award-winning, multimedia journalist who specializes in health and science reporting for Latino communities and their connections in the Americas.  

Her mainstream and community reporting has been published by Listín Diario, Radio Santa María, Diario Libre, Salta Pa’ Tras Films, CityLab Latino, Voice of America, El Diario NY, Yale Climate Connections, CNN Opinion, WHYY News and The Philadelphia Inquirer, where she became the founder and manager for El Inquirer: A digital news product she created to engage with Inquirer readers who preferred local news in Spanish. The effort was part of her work covering the complex, transnational experiences of Latino communities in the Philadelphia region. She currently supports Latino Health projects and Latino Journalism initiatives with NPR’s WHYY News and seeks to launch digital news products on leadership, health, and small business economy for bicultural audiences in the NY-D.C. area. 

Lixandra Diaz 

Internship Support Track – Centro Integral de la Mujer Madre Tierra 

Lixandra Diaz is an Afro-Cuban and migrant journalist based in Philadelphia. Born in Havana, Cuba, Díaz graduated from the Faculty of Communication at the University of Havana. During her career, she excelled in radio and podcast production, as well as in research on Afro-Cuban culture and media representation of Afro-descendant communities, which earned her several academic awards. After graduation, she began the process of teacher training with a specialization in discourse analysis.  

Her professional career includes collaborations with news agencies, radio stations, digital media and marketing agencies both in Cuba and abroad. In 2024 she emigrated to the United States, where she is currently interning as a journalist at the Centro Integral de la Mujer Madre Tierra.  

Vicky Diaz-Camacho  

Professional Development Track – Documentary / audio production course 

Vicky Diaz-Camacho is an investigative journalist, documentary producer, and podcast host from El Paso, Texas now based in Philadelphia. Drawing from her experiences as a Mexican-Puerto Rican raised in the Southwestern border, she centers peoples’ experiences with social welfare programs related to health care, housing and education, and how government policy impacts their lives.  

Diaz-Camacho is a 2024 Lenfest News Institute Constellation News Leadership Fellow and an alumna of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars’ Spring 2022 Higher Education Media Fellowship. Her work has been featured on WHYY, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, Kansas City PBS, PBS Newshour’s Arts Canvas, Solutions Journalism Network and NPR.  

Aya Furin-Campbell 

Internship Support Track – Motivos Bilingual Magazine 

Aya Furin-Campbell is a Howard University graduate from the Cathy Hughes School of Communications, with a journalism concentration and a minor in painting. She is a Philadelphia native with a passion for utilizing storytelling as a way to spread awareness and amplify voices. She has publications in Motivos Bilingual Magazine, Simply Bowie Magazine, 101 Magazine, and Howard University News Service and has covered events at the Congressional Black Caucus and the White House as a multimedia journalist. She currently works as a news production assistant at KYW Newsradio. 

Terrence Harris 

Professional Development Track – Website software  

Terrence Harris is a multidisciplinary creative, entrepreneur, and educator based in Philadelphia. He uses storytelling, digital tools, and community-based programming to help artists and entrepreneurs build sustainable brands. Through the Next Generation Fund, he plans to utilize software to improve his website, which offers free educational tools and resources for creatives.  

Julia Lowe 

Professional Development Track – Video and audio equipment 

Julia Lowe is a freelance journalist and multimedia producer covering local sustainability, civic, and environmental issues. She specializes in short-form video production for social media and feature writing. She has worked with Philadelphia outlets like Resolve Philly, PhillyCAM, and WHYY, and her work has been featured in Grid Magazine, The Chicago Reader, Business Insider, and more. Before moving to Philly, Julia covered plant-based eating and sustainable fashion in Chicago. She holds a M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University.  

Tamara Russell 

Professional Development Track – Poynter Essential Skills for Rising Newsroom Leaders workshop 

Tamara Russell, known as P.O.C. (Proof of Consciousness), is the founder and host of REVIVE RADIO and a media correspondent for REVIVE Media. She also hosts Eco WURD on WURD Radio 900AM/96.1 FM, a multimedia environmental justice initiative examining Black communities at the intersection of race, health, income, and the environment. A passionate journalist and community advocate, P.O.C. engages in youth workshops and amplifies diverse voices through arts and entertainment. She is a member of WHYY’s N.I.C.E. Program, a Lenfest Constellation Fellow, the publisher of the REVIVE Local Paper, and an award-winning media professional.  

Kennedie Scurry 

Professional Development Track – Reporting equipment 

Kennedie Scurry is the host of the Kenlo Show and a freelancer with credits across Philadelphia’s media organizations. Founded on the belief that every voice deserves a mic, The Kenlo Show amplifies the unheard, the unfiltered, and the unapologetically real. The show and blog provide open and positive forums for community members to share ideas and real-world advice. Beyond discussion, the show spotlights those in the community who are “getting it done” in the face of obstacles.  

Jean G. Sinaulan 

Professional Development Track – Video editing class and equipment 

Jean G. Sinaulan is a journalist and media producer based in Philadelphia, focusing on immigrant narratives and community storytelling. He manages programs at Indonesian Lantern Media and currently leads Stitching of Hope, a short film project funded by the Independence Public Media Foundation. 

Kristal Sotomayor 

Professional Development Track – Camera equipment 

Kristal Sotomayor is an award-winning nonbinary Peruvian-American filmmaker, journalist, and curator. They are the editor-in-chief of the cinéSPEAK Journal and their freelance writing bylines include The Philadelphia Inquirer, Documentary Magazine, Autostraddle, AL DÍA, and WHYY. Named one of “10 Latinx Filmmakers You Should Know About” by HipLatina, they are a 2023 DOC NYC Documentary New Leader Honoree and Rockwood Documentary Leadership Fellow.  

Kristal’s short Latinx immigrant rights documentary Expanding Sanctuary won the Philadelphia Filmmaker Award at the 2024 BlackStar Film Festival. Their short experimental documentary Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens won Best LGBTQ Documentary at the 2025 Poppy Jasper International Film Festival. They are in development on a number of short and feature-length directorial projects through their company Sotomayor Productions.  

Theresa Spencer 

Professional Development Track – Video and audio equipment 

Theresa Spencer is the owner of Vintage Green Communications, where she wears many hats – author, feature writer, content creator, speaker, and mentor. Based in Philadelphia, she has written for various publications exploring themes of leadership, career development, branding, public relations, and the art of storytelling. As a brand strategist, Theresa aims to offer innovative solutions that resonate with and move audiences through captivating multimedia content. 

A journalist at heart, Theresa earned her undergraduate degree in English/Journalism from Kutztown University. She further honed her skills with a master’s in Strategic and Global Communications from West Chester University. 

Gabriela Watson-Burkett 

Professional Development Track – 2025 National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) Conference 

Gabriela Watson-Burkett is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist of Brazilian and Peruvian heritage based in Philadelphia. She leads Inti Media, producing multilingual news and documentaries rooted in social justice. A 2025 NAHJ Adelante Academy fellow, her work has been featured on 6ABC, WHYY, and PhillyCAM, and her films have screened internationally.  

She will be featured at the NAHJ Conference as a panelist for “Breaking Barriers: Afro-Latino Leadership in the Media,” which will address the lack of representation of Afro-Latino professionals in leadership roles within journalism and entertainment.