Who I Am
Hello! My name is Imani Cruzen and I'm a reporter working at the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minnesota. I also currently serve as a board member with the Society of Professional Journalists' Minnesota chapter.
Before starting at the Pioneer Press in August of 2024, I worked as a teaching assistant in a bilingual primary school in Seville, Spain for two years. In that role, I worked in classrooms teaching English to 1st-6th graders.
Before that, I was the solutions reporter with the St. Cloud Times (a part of the USA Today Network) in St. Cloud, MN. In that role, I covered solutions-focused community work. I continue to be passionate about solutions journalism and hope to continue to bring this experience to my reporting.
Other Experience
I am a 2019 University of Minnesota — Twin Cities graduate with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in history.
In addition to the publications I've written for, I served as a co-host with Minnesota-based television show Disability Viewpoints for 9 years where I interviewed guests on topics related to the disability community.
In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my friends, family and two cats, learning languages (Spanish and French) and playing guitar.
What is solutions journalism?
The way I describe solutions journalism (and my past role as a solutions journalist) to others is that it covers issues or concerns in a community and the potential solutions community members are pursuing to address them. Some examples of solutions I've covered are a community garden (to bring fresh food to a food desert), a support group, and robotic pets (to provide companionship to the elderly.)
That doesn't mean solutions stories always cover a clear answer to address a concern. Some solutions stories look at an ongoing concern. They can analyze what is working in other communities and examine if it is working in the community that is being covered -- and if not, why? What kind of data, community voices or experts might be able to explain the differences? Why does a potential solution help in one community and not another? Solutions journalism can bring information together to analyze those questions.
Organizations
Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
Board member (2025-Present)
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Society of Professional Journalists - University of Minnesota Chapter
Secretary (Sept. 2018- May 2019)