![Dust particles fill the air with low sunlight filling the sky. A desert landscape with mountains in the background.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/071724_WIDE-Coachella-Valley-Dust-Health_ZM-CM-24.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
![Avatar photo](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-Alejandra-Reyes-Velarde-300x300.jpg)
Alejandra Reyes-Velarde is an environmental equity reporter from Los Angeles.
Previously, Reyes-Velarde was a California Divide reporter for CalMatters specializing in social mobility, labor issues, immigration and more. Reyes-Velarde has written accountability stories about state and local governments’ response to increases of asylum seekers in California and access challenges for internet and phone service for the poorest Californians, as well as residents’ difficulty staying housed as the cost of living rises.
She began her career at the Los Angeles Times, where she produced award-winning work on major news events and marginalized communities.
She was part of an award-winning team covering Southern California fires and the Borderline bar shooting in 2018. She also was the CCNMA Ruben Salazar Award recipient for a series about the pandemic’s impact on Latino communities. Additionally she contributed to the LA Times’ education, business and entertainment coverage.
Reyes-Velarde is a Los Angeles native born to Mexican immigrant parents. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s in legal studies from UCLA School of Law. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
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![Dust particles fill the air with low sunlight filling the sky. A desert landscape with mountains in the background.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/071724_WIDE-Coachella-Valley-Dust-Health_ZM-CM-24.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
![Dust particles fill the air with low sunlight filling the sky. A desert landscape with mountains in the background.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/071724_Coachella-Valley-Dust-Health_ZM-CM-24.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
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![Students in International Community Elementary and Think College Now Elementary volunteer at the César E. Chávez Education Center living schoolyard in Oakland, California, on April 29th, 2024.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/042924_Living-Schoolyard_LA_28.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
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