Sonia Nazario

Sonia Nazario is a journalist and author known for her investigative reporting on social issues such as hunger, drug addiction, and immigration. Nazario holds a degree from Williams College and a master's in Latin American studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She began her journalism career at the Wall Street Journal, reporting from four bureaus, before joining the Los Angeles Times to cover stories impacting Latino communities and Latin America. Her work in investigative journalism has been recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes and a finalist distinction in Public Service.

Nazario is recognized for "Enrique's Journey," a six-part series published in the Los Angeles Times that detailed the journey of a Honduran boy seeking to reunite with his mother in the United States. The series received multiple honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, the George Polk Award for International Reporting, and the Grand Prize of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. Nazario expanded the series into the book "Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother," which became a national bestseller, has been published in several languages, and is used as required reading at universities and high schools across the United States. A young adult edition was also released for middle school readers.

In addition to her work on immigration, Nazario has reported extensively on hunger and drug addiction. She received a George Polk Award for Local Reporting for a series about hunger among schoolchildren in California and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a series on children of drug-addicted parents. Her reporting often highlights the experiences of vulnerable populations, and she has undertaken firsthand reporting, including traveling atop freight trains through Mexico to document the migrant journey.

Nazario is also active in immigration policy advocacy. She returned to Honduras to report for The New York Times on the situation of unaccompanied immigrant children at the U.S. border, framing it as a refugee crisis. Nazario has addressed the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the United Nations General Assembly, and has appeared on media platforms such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, NBC's Meet the Press, and Anderson Cooper 360. She serves on the board of Kids In Need of Defense, a nonprofit providing pro-bono legal assistance to unaccompanied immigrant children, and has received recognition for her humanitarian work, including the Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award and the Champion of Children award from First Focus.

Nazario's work has been acknowledged by Columbia Journalism Review, which named her among "40 women who changed the media business." Parade Magazine listed her as one of the most influential Latin-American women in history, and Hispanic Business Magazine recognized her as one of the most influential Latinos in the United States. She holds honorary doctorates from Mount St. Mary's College and Whittier College and contributes opinion pieces to The New York Times. Nazario, a fluent Spanish speaker who lived in Argentina during the Dirty War, brings a combination of personal experience and journalistic expertise to her reporting and public speaking on immigration, social justice, and Latin American issues.