Speakers

Elizabeth Aguilera is an award-winning multi-media journalist who covers health and social services for CALmatters. She has reported stories about the opioid epidemic in northern California, about undocumented immigrant children having access to Medi-cal and follows state policy regarding the Affordable Care Act. She joined CALmatters from Southern California Public Radio/KPCC 89.3 where she produced stories about community health. Her reporting revealed lead-tainted soil on school campuses near a former lead battery recycling plant that spurred district action. Previously Aguilera was a staff writer at the San Diego Union-Tribune where she covered immigration and demographics. There, she won a “Best of the West” award for her coverage of sex trafficking between Mexico and the United States. At the Denver Post, where Aguilera wrote about urban affairs and business, she was named a Livingston Award finalist for her reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Aguilera has also worked at the Orange County Register. She is a Marshall Memorial Fellow and an International Center for Journalists alum. The L.A. native is a graduate of Pepperdine University and earned an MA in Specialized Journalism from the University of Southern California.