CELESTE ALCALAY
Chicago
Overview
3
3
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Research Assistant
Book project for Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Eig
Chicago
03.2025 - Current
- Conducts research and contributes original reporting to a biography on George Soros (publication 2029), funding provided through selective grant
Contributing Editor and Writer
Firebird Magazine
Chicago
09.2024 - Current
- Edits and occasionally writes music criticism and profiles
- UChicago student-run music magazine
Head Editor of Investigations and Features, Editor-in-Chief Candidate, Senior News Reporter
The Chicago Maroon
Chicago
09.2023 - Current
- Writes quick turnaround coverage of events, university finances, politics, in-depth coverage on culture and business
- Pitches stories, provides thoughtful editorial feedback to writers, and coordinates all coverage in Features and Investigations section
- Produces 'The Maroon Weekly,' flagship news rundown podcast
- Broke news on university finances, controversial speaker invitations, union strike pledge, biotech advancements, campus response to federal immigration policy changes
- Collected and interpreted data for interactive, multimedia stories: tracked federal research grant terminations and mapped the university's property footprint in Hyde Park
- Produced in-depth audio coverage of pro-Palestine protests, part of a year-long investigation for three-part series on protest history and disciplinary system, and spearheaded a special insert for the 10th anniversary of the Chicago Principles, offering a critical look at the university's stated commitment to free speech throughout its history
- UChicago independent, student-run newspaper
General Assignment Reporter, Freelancer
Brookline.News
Brookline
06.2025 - 09.2025
- Reported, copyedited and photographed stories in a three-person newsroom in the town of Brookline, MA.
- Wrote nearly 30 pieces, covering breaking news, features and investigative stories
- Produced most-read stories each month through enterprise reporting on local issues, including declining public school enrollment, tariff impacts, deep dives into new or struggling pot shops and cash purchases in Brookline's housing market
- Local, digital news outlet
Research Assistant
Urban Studies Research for Professor Luc Anselin
Remote
06.2024 - 09.2024
- Awarded $5,000 Metcalf grant to work with Professor Luc Anselin on mapping change in the retail mix of America's main streets by utilizing spatial data analysis methods and GIS
Journalism Intern
Brookline Interactive Group
Brookline
06.2024 - 08.2024
- Interviewed focus groups of Brookline community members to collect personal stories and data on news consumption for MIT startup Cortico's Local Voices Network
- Local broadcasting network and media hub (BIG)
Intern
Jewish Women's Archive (JWA)
Remote
08.2023 - 12.2023
- Edited transcripts for JWA's podcast, 'Can We Talk?'
Social Media Intern
Brookline Interactive Group
Brookline
06.2023 - 08.2023
- Created and filmed content with Canva/managed BIG's social media calendar and helped launch BIG's new hyper-local journalism initiative Civic Brookline
- Local broadcasting network and media hub (BIG)
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Public Policy, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts
The University of Chicago
Chicago, IL06.2027
Diploma -
Boston University Academy
Boston, MA05.2022
Skills
- Adobe Premiere
- Canva
- GIS
- R
- Python
- Excel
- Flourish
- Languages: Italian (Professional proficiency/C1, Awarded $5,000 through a selective language grant to study Italian language, literature, and culture at the C1 level in Bologna and Salerno for 8 weeks in summer 2024), Mandarin (elementary)
Certification
School of New York Times Certificate for the completion of a two-week program on urban journalism, local community reporting
References
- Ellen Clegg, Co-Founder, Brookline.News, ellenclegg@gmail.com, 617-615-7103
- Sam Mintz, Editor, Brookline.News, smintz@brookline.news, 617-930-3833
- Jon Eig, biographer, best-selling author of King: A Life, joneig@mac.com, 773-991-8841
Timeline
General Assignment Reporter, Freelancer
Brookline.News
06.2025 - 09.2025
Research Assistant
Book project for Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Eig
03.2025 - Current
Contributing Editor and Writer
Firebird Magazine
09.2024 - Current
Research Assistant
Urban Studies Research for Professor Luc Anselin
06.2024 - 09.2024
Journalism Intern
Brookline Interactive Group
06.2024 - 08.2024
Head Editor of Investigations and Features, Editor-in-Chief Candidate, Senior News Reporter
The Chicago Maroon
09.2023 - Current
Intern
Jewish Women's Archive (JWA)
08.2023 - 12.2023
Social Media Intern
Brookline Interactive Group
06.2023 - 08.2023
Bachelor of Arts - Public Policy, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts
The University of Chicago
Diploma -
Boston University Academy