Cathleen Draper graduated in December 2018 with her master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communication from the University at Buffalo in 2017. Cathleen’s specialty is in Community and Civic Engagement Reporting. Her interests include utilizing social media to boost community engagement and sourcing; emphasizing the voices and stories of communities traditionally left out of the media narrative; social justice and advocacy reporting; and using data and infographics to piece together complicated stories.

Currently, Cathleen is the Communications Coordinator at the Elks National Foundation in Chicago. Before relocating to Chicago and starting her career in nonprofit communications, she reported on election integrity and voting rights for WhoWhatWhy and was the general assignment intern for Madison Commons. Previously, she was the lead writer for Curb magazine, a reporting intern at The Public, and a contributing reporter for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. She has been published in Elks Magazine, WhoWhatWhy, The Cap Times, Madison Commons, The Public, and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, as well as Honors Today, UB Now, and The Spectrum during her undergraduate years. Cathleen’s work has been re-posted by multiple news organizations in Wisconsin and New York. Her resume can be viewed here.