Meet the Team

  • Jennifer Larino

    DIRECTOR | CO-FOUNDER

    Jennifer Larino (she/her) oversees our operations, development and editorial strategy. She is a journalist with more than a decade of experience covering local news in New Orleans. Prior to founding Lede New Orleans, she was a lead reporter at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, and, before that, managing editor at New Orleans CityBusiness. She is a 2022 JSK Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. She lives in MId-City and can be spotted riding her bike to and from our newsroom.

    jen@ledenola.org

  • Ejaaz Mason

    PROGRAM DIRECTOR | CO-FOUNDER

    Ejaaz Mason (he/him) oversees our programs, including the Community Reporting Fellowship, workshops and community programs, as well as program partnerships. He is a film producer, director, graphic designer, and and has produced more than 500 pieces of video content for Unilever, Coca-Cola and Essence Music Festival among others. Prior to founding Lede New Orleans, he taught film at New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School.

    ejaaz@ledenola.org

  • Trevon Cole

    FELLOWSHIP COORDINATOR

    Trevon Cole (he/him) oversees logistics, operations and support for the Community Reporting Fellowship program. is a multimedia journalist and author. Prior to joining Lede New Orleans, he self-published two essay collections and worked as a freelance journalist for his hometown newspapers: The Houma Courier and The Daily Comet. Trevon served as a Fall 2020 Community Reporting Fellow and a Spring 2021 Senior Fellow before joining the team as Fellowship Coordinator.

    trevon@ledenola.org

  • African American woman with long braids, wearing a gray sweatshirt and a gray headband

    Alexis Reed

    ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR

    Alexis Reed (she/her) oversees community programs, including media workshops, community events and community listening work, and manages our engagement strategy. She is a freelance journalist and has worked as an outreach strategist for Rebuilding Our Village NOLA, a youth-centered policy platform and campaign developed by fellowship alumni at the New Orleans Youth Alliance (NOYA). She also serves as an alumni ambassador for the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship Program, a U.S. Department of State-sponsored travel abroad program.

    alexis@ledenola.org