BRAVO! > Arizona Center For Investigative Reporting Hires Maria Polletta at This Important Time in Our State

Wanted to share this with all the readers of MesaZona > Good News!

Dear Tim, I'm excited to announce that AZCIR has hired Maria Polletta as an investigative reporter to cover education. She starts on May 17.  Polletta joins AZCIR from The Arizona Republic, where she previously covered state government and politics, including enterprise coverage of the Arizona Governor’s Office, Attorney General’s Office and the state Supreme Court. During her 10-plus years as an Arizona journalist, Polletta has also covered inequality issues, economic development and city politics, with bylines from Arizona to Mexico. You can read more about Maria in AZCIR's official announcement.  The AZCIR education beat, which is made possible by a generous grant from the Arizona Community Foundation’s Ellis Center for Educational Excellence, seeks to explore how future generations are educated and the extent to which unequal access to quality education leaves subsets of students behind. Established in 1978, ACF is a statewide leader in philanthropic giving with a family of charitable funds supported by thousands of Arizonans. Through its Ellis Center for Educational Excellence, ACF makes significant investments to expand innovative, high-quality reforms to benefit Arizona. ACF is also the largest independent provider of college scholarships in the state with an annual distribution of more than $4 million. This latest hire marks several important milestones for our organization, and they couldn't come at a more important time for our state. For one, it represents the third staff reporter for our newsroom. This means there are more of us looking out for you, and that you can expect more frequent and consistent investigative reporting from our growing team. This position also represents a significant local investment from our community, and that is something I cannot stress enough. We cannot do what we do without strong community support. Thanks to this generous grant from ACF's Ellis Center for Educational Excellence, AZCIR is better positioned to play an increasingly prominent role in Arizona's media ecosystem. If you haven't already, I hope you'll consider supporting us with your own contribution.  Yes, I'll help keep AZCIR strong by donating today! Thanks, as always, for following our work.  Brandon Quester Executive Director and Editor Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting