About
The Arkansas Grassroots Initiative for Transparency and Accountability
Our Mission
Amplifying the voices of our migrant neighbors. Rooted in our local communities.
Arkansas GRITA is community-led, empowered journalism illuminating the impact of immigration enforcement in our neighborhoods. Arkansans have the inalienable right to transparency from their elected officials and employed agencies.
Our grita is our collective voice to those in power.
Code of Conduct
Editorial Independence (INN Standards)
We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News: Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions. We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
A Note on Partisanship and Politics
Arkansas GRITA is a non-partisan publication. However some members of our volunteer collective and some contributors may be public officials or candidates for public office. These contributors are not allowed to cover their parties, organizations or government entities in order to avoid conflicts of interest, or to edit, view, or in any other way influence stories pre-publication.
Our Team
Olivia Paschal
Researcher & Editor
Olivia is a writer, editor, and historian based in Charlottesville, VA and Fayetteville, AR. Her reporting has appeared widely in outlets including the Arkansas Times, Facing South, Southerly, The Nation, The American Prospect, and The Atlantic.
Tomasa Ramirez
Reporter
Tomasa spent three years in broadcast where she reported on breaking news and data storytelling in NWA. She is active in her church and community, and values learning new perspectives. Her work addresses misinformation and hate dividing NWA and beyond.
Elle Foster
Writer & Photographer
Elle is a community advocate passionate about immigration, criminal justice and healthcare. She is a life-long Arkansan who believes in asking questions and challenging power. As she has non-citizen family, she chooses to use a pseudonym.
Tina Parker
Editor
Tina Parker is a writer, an award-winning journalist, photojournalist and editor based in Northwest Arkansas. Her reporting and photography have been recognized by the Arkansas Press Association with first-place awards for in-depth reporting, business coverage, and sports feature photography, along with additional honors for beat reporting, tourism coverage, and health and medical reporting while with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Carroll County News and The Herald-Leader. She is also a recipient of a Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award.
Dan Holtmeyer
Reporter
Dan Holtmeyer is a writer and photographer in Rogers with 15 years of reporting and editing experience in newsrooms across the central U.S.
Lucía Martínez
Translator
Lucía Martínez is an artist and translator based in Queens, NY.
Lucas Martínez
Translator
Lucas Martínez is a language worker and educator based in Virginia.