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Mariana Navarrete Villegas has joined The Connecticut Mirror as a community engagement reporter covering Hartford. Credit: Courtesy of Mariana Navarrete Villegas

Mariana Navarrete Villegas has joined The Connecticut Mirror as a community engagement reporter covering Hartford for the Raising Voices Lab, a new initiative that takes a more holistic approach to engaging with Connecticut residents.

In her role, Navarrete Villegas will build relationships with Hartford residents and institutions, crowdsource questions on anything from city events to school enrollment to Medicaid, then research answers and push that information out via text, social media and events.

She will also write about what’s working in Hartford’s communities, and she will seek out information and story tips to bring back to the CT Mirror newsroom.

The goal of the Raising Voices Lab is to understand and meet the information needs of communities of color and to shine a light on stories that have been historically absent from dominant narratives about underrepresented communities. Navarrete Villegas will join Reginald David, who is CT Mirror’s community engagement reporter for Bridgeport.

Originally from Mexico, Navarrete Villegas has also lived in Panama. She previously served as the community engagement and video assistant at Epicenter NYC, a nonprofit newsroom that connects community members to news and practical information. She has also served as a podcast intern at The Take, Al Jazeera English’s daily news podcast.

“We’re excited to have Mariana join CT Mirror to report on the capital city of Hartford,” said Enterprise Editor Keila Torres Ocasio. “Her experience in community engagement and understanding of how people share and consume news in underserved communities make her a great addition to the team.”

Navarrete Villegas holds a B.A. in global studies with a minor in psychology from Saint Leo University in Florida and a master’s degree in bilingual journalism from the City University of New York’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

Her first day at CT Mirror was Monday.

CT Mirror’s Manager of Membership Irene Mackey chatted with Navarrete Villegas about her plans for her new role. Their conversation is below:

CT Mirror: What drew you to CT Mirror and the role of Community Engagement Reporter?

Navarrete Villegas: What drew me to CT Mirror was its commitment to in-depth, transparent policy reporting that not only informs readers but also holds the government accountable. As a bilingual journalist passionate about bottom-up journalism, I was excited by the opportunity to connect directly with Hartford communities through engagement-driven reporting that centers voices often left out of mainstream coverage.

CT Mirror: Hartford, like many cities, has communities that feel overlooked or misrepresented by traditional media. How will you build relationships with residents and earn their trust as a new voice in local journalism?

Navarrete Villegas: I will build relationships with residents and earn their trust by being present in the third spaces they gather at, by providing resources whenever they need them and by explaining when and how policies affect their everyday lives. I believe trust is built through consistency, listening without judgment and showing up even when there’s no story to file. For me, it’s important that through the relationships we build, they see me not just as a reporter, but as Mariana.

CT Mirror: Community focused journalism often blends reporting with resource-sharing. How will you determine when a story should answer a question, surface a systemic issue, or guide the reader toward action?

Navarrete Villegas: I will determine when a story should inform, reveal, or guide by listening with no assumptions, closely to the communities’ concerns, identifying gaps in access to information, and assessing what’s most useful at the moment. 

CT Mirror: CT Mirror has historically focused on state policy. How do you plan to connect city-specific concerns to broader state policy issues?

Navarrete Villegas: State policy affects the daily lives of people at a local level. Hence, I plan to connect city-specific concerns by identifying how local challenges, like housing, health care, or education, are shaped by decisions made in the Capitol. By grounding policy reporting in residents’ lived experiences, I can help bridge the gap between legislation and everyday impact.

CT Mirror: What are you most excited to learn or experience as you embed yourself in Hartford’s neighborhoods?

Navarrete Villegas: I’m most excited to learn about how communities in Hartford build systems of care for one another and how they stay connected across generations and neighborhoods. I’m also eager to experience their artistic expressions and the foods that bring people together.

As manager of audience engagement, Gabby is responsible for CT Mirror’s digital growth. She manages our website, newsletters, search engine optimization, CT Mirror Explains product, on-site marketing, social media channels and internal data analysis. Gabby previously worked as a reporter on Patch.com’s Connecticut team and as an associate editor at The Woonsocket Call in Rhode Island. She is a Connecticut native who holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UConn and is pursuing a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.