Aitana Vargas is an award-winning foreign correspondent and sports commentator. She began her career anchoring a local Spanish-language TV show while obtaining her BS in Physics. Her stories have appeared in NPR, Economic Hardship Reporting Project, La Opinión, Hoy Los Ángeles, LA Times, and other outlets. She’s received multiple LA Press Club awards and the McAllister Physics Award. Aitana is a Livingston Award finalist and a 2023 Floodlight finalist. She is a Carter Center Fellow, and founder of the Spanish-language media project La Cronista, and is the granddaughter of Ascensión Mendieta, a symbol of justice for the victims of Francisco Franco. At Mesa, she worked on a story examining the mental health and financial costs of school mass shootings for affected communities. Aitana is the Economic Equity, Data and Policy Change Fellow.