Stella M. Chávez

Stella M. Chávez is a reporter at KERA, the NPR member station in Dallas. She covers education, immigration and, occasionally, breaking news, such as the large-scale immigration raid on a technology repair company in Allen, Texas, and the mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart.At KERA, she’s written and produced several multi-part projects, including Generation One about immigrant students in North Texas and The Race to Save Failing Schools about schools trying to meet state academic standards. Prior to joining public radio, Stella spent nearly 13 years as a daily newspaper reporter for The Dallas Morning News, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida.She’s won several state and national awards, including the 2007 Livingston Award for Young Journalists in National Reporting, which honors outstanding reporting by journalists under the age of 35. The award-winning entry was “Yolanda’s Crossing,” a seven-part series she co-authored that reconstructs the 5,000-mile journey of a young Mexican sexual-abuse victim from a small Oaxacan village to Dallas. In 2012, Stella’s essay, “Growing up with Silvia,” was published in the literary journal Ten Spurs. In her spare time, Stella enjoys running and writing about her experience as a caregiver. You can find her personal essays on her blog, “My Parents’ Keeper.”