Mary Hudetz

I’m running for IRE’s board of directors because I want to ensure more journalists from underserved communities have access to the tools needed to do investigative work.

I’m a ProPublica reporter based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I have spent the better part of the past decade reporting on federal policy and Indigenous issues. I’m also a former AP and Seattle Times reporter, and a past president of the Indigenous Journalists Association, formerly known as the Native American Journalists Association.

I first became a member of IRE through a yearlong reporting fellowship that afforded me the opportunity to receive data journalism training and attend the IRE conference. With the skills I gained that year, I published an investigation into New Mexico’s parole system and became a better beat reporter. I’ve remained involved in IRE ever since.

I have served as a mentor for the organization’s journalists of color fellowship and the conference mentorship program. At IRE and NICAR conferences, I have presented on how to use data and documents to report on nursing homes, Indigenous communities and the criminal justice system. I have also presented at IRE’s AccessFest, a new virtual conference with programming aimed at better serving marginalized communities.

This past year, I served on IRE’s governance committee. As a result, I became better acquainted with the organization’s policies and bylaws, and the important work the current board is doing to make membership more affordable for early career journalists. Last fall, I contributed to the IRE Journal’s “Indigenous Issue.”

IRE’s board and staff will need to work together over the coming year to determine how to best support and serve members at a time when news organizations’ revenues are shrinking and fellow journalists are facing layoffs. I think my experience makes me uniquely suited to help with that work.

We will need to think strategically about how IRE can develop new funding streams so that staff can deliver on the organization’s mission of training and supporting journalists. I want IRE to better meet the needs of current members and veteran investigative journalists as technology changes and new reporting techniques are developed. As part of that mission, the marketing of AccessFest should be amplified so that more journalists attend.

I will work to bring more journalists into the fold, especially those who may believe the resources and tools needed to do investigative work have not been available to them.

I believe that forging stronger relationships with other journalism associations can provide a strong path forward for IRE. If elected, I would draw on my past experience as a leader of the Indigenous Journalists Association, an organization I’m proud to have helped strengthen by working with members, staff, partners and funders.

I hope you will consider voting for me. It would be an honor to serve on the IRE board and advocate for members.