How strategic community engagement transformed CalMatters’ journalism into actionable learning experiences

Students at Stagg High School post things they recently heard — true or not — on a wall as part of an icebreaker on media literacy and fact-checking. (Michael Lozano/CalMatters)

When I joined CalMatters as the inaugural Community Engagement Manager, the organization faced a pressing challenge: a contract with the California State Library for an educational platform was behind schedule, and there was no clear roadmap for community engagement. Beyond launching the platform, we needed to reach California’s diverse communities while creating sustainable engagement strategies between newsroom, product and development team.

Partnering for strategy and direction

I knew that successful engagement required more than content delivery—it demanded systems, partnerships, and trust. I partnered with Sonya Quick, Director of Membership, and Izz Scott LaMagdeleine, Audience Engagement Manager, to develop the organization’s first comprehensive engagement plan.

Together, we:

Interviewed key stakeholders to understand past engagement efforts.
Researched peer organizations to identify effective outreach practices.
Built a SWOT analysis to map community opportunities and challenges.
Created frameworks connecting newsroom reporting, audience engagement, and membership initiatives.

This strategic foundation allowed us to move quickly on multiple fronts while keeping community trust and inclusivity at the center.

Launching CalMatters for Learning

At the same time, I needed to launch the educational platform under tight deadlines, coordinating across newsroom, product, audience, and development teams while guiding the project from concept to completion.

Planning and Co-Design

Surrounded by library staff at a REFORMA event, a group supporting Latino and Spanish-speaking library communities. Did you know? Not everyone working at a library is a librarian—it's preferred to refer to them as library staff. (Photo: Courtesy of REFORMA)

I started by visiting libraries in Long Beach, meeting staff in person and virtually, and collaborating with teachers already using CalMatters content to ensure the hub met real classroom and library needs.

I also joined librarian forums and attended events with REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.

Together with teachers and library staff, we developed the concept for CalMatters for Learning, an educational hub that helps them bring local, nonpartisan news into classrooms and community programs.

CalMatters for Learning: Produced monthly content packages on California Government, Wage Theft, Water, Electric Vehicles, and Housing and Homelessness, turning reporting into engaging educational materials for library staff statewide. (Photo: Screenshot of CalMatters for Learning page)

Content Development and Accessibility

Instagram Mini-Lessons for CalMatters for Learning on California housing/homelessness. (Design & Content: Ana Clara Otoni)

With the concept in mind and paper, I started my collaboration with product to design the platform and with editors to transform reporting into multilingual educational packages.

I created the lesson plans, ADA-compliant presentations, one-page printables and glossaries. Based on library staff feedback from listening sessions, I also developed branded social media toolkits—templates that California library branches could customize monthly to promote content to patrons, reducing workload for understaffed teams.

Additionally, I created monthly educational mini-lessons for CalMatters' own social media—Instagram carousels with illustrations, copy, captions, hashtags, and ALT text covering learning platform topics.

See posts here:

Mini-lesson: Housing and homelessness crises in CA
Mini-lesson: Eletric vehicles (EVs) 10
Wage theft series here: Mini-lesson 1; Mini-lesson 2; Mini-lesson 3; Mini-lesson 4, Mini-lesson 5

During this work, I identified a gap: Spanish-speaking readers often received materials where captions, infographics, and hyperlinks remained in English. To fix this, I worked with a Spanish translator contractor, engaged editorial and data teams to fully translate infographics, and did additional research of hyperlinks to ensure they led to Spanish-language resources.

Every detail mattered. Small gaps could make participants feel excluded, and I wanted everyone to have a complete, accessible experience.

Promotion and Feedback

Presenting CalMatters initiatives in 2023 at Seguimos Creando Enlaces in San Diego, a conference connecting libraries from the U.S., Mexico, and beyond to share best practices and foster inclusive, culturally diverse library spaces. (Photo: Sebastian Carlo Otoni Moreno)

To ensure the platform met real needs, I:

Promoted it at conferences for teachers and library staff.
Hosted 1:1 virtual coffees to collect feedback.
Shared resources in forums where educators and librarians gathered.
Sent surveys to gather insights and improve packages.
Created an Airtable base where users shared how they applied the materials, inspiring peers across the state.

Reporting Impact

Each month, I shared impact reports with the California State Library and provided weekly updates to our development team. These insights not only informed grant writing, which I also supported, but also highlighted the project’s value and helped deepen relationships with donors.

Engaging daily to reach untapped communities

Connecting directly with community members at a local tabling event, building relationships and reaching new audiences through face-to-face engagement. (Photo: Ana Clara Otoni/Archive)

Beyond launching CalMatters for Learning, I partnered with the Audience Engagement Manager to amplify story reach across California’s diverse communities. I:

Selected strategic hashtags to connect with untapped audiences.
Built a community asset directory in Airtable, cataloging organizations and influencers across the state to expand outreach and support long-term engagement.
Collaborated with journalists to identify key communities that could benefit from their reporting.
Helped transform investigative reporting into service journalism resources, such as the “How to File a Complaint if You Live in a Mobile Home in CA” guide, in partnership with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.
Worked with CatchLight’s community and social media teams to amplify coverage of wage theft and unhoused populations, ensuring stories were accessible in English and Spanish.
Tabling at community events, I heard firsthand that some people struggled to find judge information in the voter guide. I shared this insight with the Audience Engagement Manager, prompting targeted social posts that made the guide more accessible and helped untapped audiences engage with the content.

Community Initiatives and Media Literacy

Facilitating Pizza & Politics event at local bookstore in Long Beach, where residents discussed California ballot propositions through interactive dialogue. (Photo: Sebastian Carlo Otoni Moreno)

I engaged directly with communities through multiple programs:

Hosted Pizza & Politics at local bookstores, sharing 1-minute video explainers on California propositions and facilitating interactive discussions with residents.
In collaboration with Youth Journalism Program Manager Michael Lozano, we developed a media literacy mini-tour and strategy sessions with educators, local news outlets and student journalists across Marin, Alameda, and San Joaquin counties. Using interactive tools like Mentimeter and Informable, we delivered hands-on workshops that taught students and community members how to fact-check, including reverse image searches, and sparked lively discussions on current issues such as the potential TikTok ban, illustrated with relevant videos.
Supported the Earth Day Op-Ed contest, guiding middle and high school students in opinion writing through webinars and live feedback sessions.
Introduced the College Journalist Network to community engagement best practices, helping students design campus-based events and practice community-focused reporting.

Building communities internally with collaboration

Attending the NCTE conference with Michael Lozano, Program Manager for the Youth Journalism Initiative and my key collaborator, engaging with educators and learning from the broader educational community. (Photo: Ana Clara Otoni)

My work extended across organizational teams to create sustainable impact:

Supported membership initiatives by offering feedback on messaging to enhance inclusivity and align with community engagement insights.
Participated in development meetings, providing weekly, data-driven updates on engagement, community partnerships, and connections to potential funding opportunities.
Actively contributed to the DEI Committee, helping shape practices to make CalMatters’ work and workplace more inclusive and accessible. I pitched adding reporters' other spoken languages to their bios, e-mail signature and business cards, ensuring diverse communities could connect more easily with journalists who understand their language and culture. The idea was embraced and now staff share their language skills on bios, signature and cards.

All these efforts were grounded in inclusivity—drawing from my experience as an ESL speaker, Latina immigrant, and LGBTQ+ community member, I provided guidance on culturally sensitive language and clear communication to ensure materials resonated with California’s diverse communities.

Measurable impact

My time at CalMatters reinforced something I’ve always believed: community engagement is about building relationships, fostering trust, and creating systems that leave lasting impact.

My initiatives there produced tangible results:

Successfully launched CalMatters for Learning on a revised timeline.
Built a library of multilingual educational resources and ongoing monthly events.
Expanded reach to previously unengaged communities across California.
Developed media literacy programs that effectively engaged youth and young journalists.
Established systems and templates for educational content packages still in active use today.

Key professional skills demonstrated

Community Engagement, Program Management, Event Planating, Strategic Planning, Cross-functional Collaboration, Partnership Building, Media Literacy, DEI Practices, Public Speaking, Project Management, Workshop Facilitation.

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How I used community engagement to turn local news into learning programs