MACKENZIE WILKES
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I’m a digital journalist and native North Carolinian.

I’m interested in the implications politics and policy has on people. Whether I’m reporting on race, education or government spending, I’m dedicated to telling stories that capture the nuances and complexities of different communities.
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Previously I was a politics intern with FiveThirtyEight where I contributed to reports on polling and redistricting. I also investigated federal aid to Indigenous communities as an investigative reporting fellow with Carnegie-Knight News21.

A graduate of Elon University, I served as the Executive Director of Elon News Network where I managed the organizations digital platforms.

Recent work

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Jeffrey Collins AP Photo

Americans don't trust their congressional districts to be drawn fairly. Can anything change that? 

The United States is in the middle of a once-in-a-decade process: redistricting. And although it’s early yet — 19 states aren’t expected to finalize their maps until next year — a number of states have proposed maps, and there are debates happening all across the country over which ones to pass. But Americans aren’t necessarily confident that the process will be a fair one. That might be one reason why independent commissions, which aim to empower ordinary citizens to draw map lines, have grown in use since the last redistricting cycle.
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Photo by Beth Wallis

Yurok Tribe grows solutions in soil of crisis

A drought, a pandemic and a landslide — three crises that exposed the food insecurity of  California’s Yurok Tribe have ignited members to explore their own solutions. Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the peaks of redwood trees on the mountains, the Yurok Tribe Reservation was declared a food desert by the USDA in 2017. The ongoing food insecurity issue worsened when the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with environmental and infrastructure problems, slammed the reservation and surrounding community.

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