SPEL Team | Equipo de SPEL

SPEL Director & Editor

Christine MacDonald

Executive Director & Co-Founder

Christine is an investigative reporter, who has had a long career writing for top-ranked newspapers, such as the Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News and Washington Post. As the Executive Director, she leads the organization’s Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning (SPEL), a weekly story lab that brings together high school and college interns and young adult fellows to produce articles and special research projects published on the Hola Cultura’s website.

Arts & Humanities Team

Katherine Murray

Editorial Co-Fellow

Katherine (she/her) earned her B.A. in English at UCLA and her M.A. in Literature with a specialization in Critical Gender Studies at UC San Diego. After graduating from UCLA, she spent three years working in television development and tutoring high school students. She decided to return to school so that she could teach and write full-time. During grad school, she worked several concurrent jobs, allowing her to pay rent and gain experience teaching undergraduates, high school students, middle schoolers and elementary schoolers. Her first novel was published in 2015. Her upcoming publications include “‘This Is Not a Cultural Issue’: The Astros’ (and Baseball’s) Willingness to Overlook Domestic Violence,” a chapter in the anthology Astros and Asterisks: Houston’s Sign-Stealing Scandal Explained; “Language Games and Untranslatability in Wonderland,” a chapter in an upcoming anthology of Lewis Carroll criticism; and “Female Millennial Rage: The Weaponization of Cottagecore,” a chapter in an upcoming anthology of Taylor Swift criticism.

Ashley Cabrera

Editorial Co-Fellow

Ashley (she/her) is passionate about authentic storytelling that serves to inspire or provide intrigue. She enjoys producing content and writing stories that explore cultural and societal topics. Ashley has had a handful of jobs, ranging from the health field to the entertainment industry to media-facing roles in nonprofits and currently works in health communications. She also works part time as a climbing instructor. Ashley graduated from Towson University with bachelor degrees in both exercise science and electronic media and film. In her free time, she enjoys reading, climbing, lifting, writing, photography, watching movies and listening to film scores. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.

Amber Anderson

Editorial Intern

Amber (she/her) is a student at School Without Walls High School. She was born and raised in D.C. She enjoys fashion, movies and reading. Her favorite books are “Song for a Whale” and “The Lightning Thief.” Amber is interested in studying communications and Spanish. Her current goal is to learn more about journalism.

Avril Silva

Editorial Intern

Avril Silva (she/her) is a student journalist at George Washington University (GWU) studying journalism and mass communications with a minor in international affairs. Originally from Virginia, Avril is the daughter of Venezuelan immigrants and has always had a passion for giving individuals a platform to share their stories to curate creative and impactful stories. Before her time at GWU, Avril was the founder of her high school’s broadcast journalism program and freelanced for Ms. Magazine’s “The Future is Ms.” column. In addition she is an alumnus of the Northwestern-Medill Cherubs Institute, where she studied alongside other student-journalists and professionals across the world. Avril is currently a member of the GWU’s women’s soccer team and writes for the GWU Hatchet. She is also the founding president of the GW Association of Hispanic Journalists, a student chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She is hoping to pursue investigative journalism or foreign correspondence as a reporter or author. In her free time, she loves to spend time with family, run or crack open a new book.

Elizabeth Euceda

Editorial Intern

Elizabeth (she/her) is a 16-year-old born and raised in Washington, D.C. by Salvadoran parents. She is a sophomore at Capital City Public Charter School. She enjoys playing tennis, learning dance choreographies, listening to music and podcasts and taking pictures. She wants to pursue many dreams, such as dancing, music and possibly even the medical field. Elizabeth is still uncertain about what to do in her future career, but she is willing to experiment with anything available to her. Now at Hola Cultura, Elizabeth is looking forward to expanding her abilities in writing and networking.

Grace Whitsell

Editorial Intern

Grace (she/her) is a sophomore at School Without Walls Senior High School in Washington, D.C., where she was born and raised. She loves the DMV community and has a lot of her family in the area. Grace previously worked at the Latin American Youth Center and The King Greenleaf Recreation Center. She is currently interning at the Young Women’s Project. Grace’s interests include theology and entrepreneurship. In her free time, Grace enjoys reading, baking and watching TV.

Ian Henry

Editorial Intern

Ian (he/him) is from Jackson, New Jersey, and is a senior attending Ramapo College of New Jersey. He currently studies visual arts with a concentration in electronic arts and animation. Some of Ian’s hobbies include enjoying art, exercising, playing sports and video games, writing and music. His ultimate goal is to start his own multimedia art/entertainment brand.

Iris Lopez

Social Media Intern

Iris (she/her) is a first-generation Mexican-Guatemalan-American from the Bay Area. She is leveraging her passion for photography to highlight cultural awareness and appreciation and heritage connections. A third-year student at the University of California, Berkeley, Iris is majoring in media studies and art history with a minor in ethnic studies. Iris has also interned with nonprofits and media centers that focus on immigrant rights, economic justice and housing issues in her community. In the future, she hopes to go to graduate school and become an archivist in contemporary art that emphasizes underrepresented cultural histories. She hopes to further refine her visual storytelling and writing skills at Hola Cultura!

Michelle Nataren

Editorial Intern

Michelle (she/her) is 16 years old and was born and raised in Honduras. Four years ago, she and her mom decided to move to Washington D.C. She has one cat named Katy and two little brothers named Ariel and Liam: One is two years old and the other is eight months old. Michelle loves to read mystery and fantasy books. She also likes to drink coffee and eat plantains or sopa de mariscos (seafood soup). One of her goals is to try other types of foods that aren’t Hispanic. She also wants to become a better writer in English and Spanish.

Society & Culture Team

Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe

Editorial Co-Fellow

Marcelo is a journalist and video producer. As an editorial fellow in 2021, he led a youth reporting group and co-wrote an investigative series on D.C.’s heat islands. The story mapped temperature differences across the city and examined the disproportionate effects extreme heat can have on D.C.’s residents. He is the host of Hola Cultura’s podcast “The Climate Divide,” which examines D.C.’s heat islands and related health disparities along racial, ethnic and class lines.

Stephanie Alto

Editorial Co-Fellow

Stephanie (she/her) was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in the beautiful country of El Salvador, where her parents are from. She attended William Paterson University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications with a concentration in media production. Stephanie is passionate about video production, journalism, marketing and business. She is currently an editorial fellow for Hola Cultura and works as a content creator and entrepreneur.

Crista Fiala

Editorial Intern

Crista (she/her) is currently a senior majoring in Spanish, English and history at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut. On her campus, she is the lead writing tutor as well as a Spanish tutor for the Center for Academic Excellence. She enjoys mentoring other writing tutors, developing her peers’ interests in learning Spanish and encouraging others to write what they are passionate about. Crista is also a reporter and the head copy editor for her university’s newspaper, USJ News Nest. As a reporter, she enjoys proposing article ideas, investigating and researching and writing articles. She is also the senior editor of her university’s creative art and writing journal, “Interpretations,” and looks forward to providing a platform for the members of her campus to share their work. Most of all, Crista loves to research, write and learn languages. She hopes to continue to do all three after she graduates.

Karolina Montalvo

Editorial Intern

Karolina (she/her) is a first-year student studying journalism and political science at George Washington University. She was born in Lyon, France and lived there for five years before her family settled back in Greenville, South Carolina, which she wholeheartedly calls home. She is a reporter and videographer for her independent college newspaper The Hatchet. She loves to run, cook and watch films and reflexive documentaries. Karolina hopes to get further involved in journalism and is excited to narrow her professional focus throughout her college experience.

Liliana Gaitan

Social Media Intern

Liliana (she/her) was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in Canada, Spain and the United States. At 21 years old, she attends Tulane University and double majors in environmental studies and political science. Lilliana currently works remotely from Bogotá, Colombia, where she is completing an academic year abroad. In her free time, Liliana loves rock climbing, reading, listening to history podcasts and traveling whenever possible. She hopes to channel what she’s learned from her academic life and experiences into a career aligned with environmental justice and building a sustainable future.

Thomas Shepard

Editorial Intern

Thomas (he/him) is a senior at School Without Walls High School in Washington, D.C., where he’s lived his whole life. Being of Brazilian and American descent, he speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish. Some of his hobbies include playing soccer and guitar, running, biking and drawing. Thomas is interested in pursuing architecture or urban planning in college and aspires to a career in which he can make a positive impact on the world through design.

Xavier Andrade

Communications Intern

Xavier (he/him) is currently studying communication and political science at Luther College and will be a part of the Lutheran College Washington Semester program in D.C. for the spring. A grandson of four Latin American immigrants, Xavier was born and raised in San Mateo, California. He played football during his time at Luther College and enjoys many other sports like baseball, basketball and soccer. Xavier has always held a passion for his Latine culture and is seeking to engage, promote and celebrate the Latine community in D.C. as a communications and social media intern for the spring.

Copy Editing Team

Michelle Benitz

Copy Editing Fellow

Michelle (she/her) is a first-generation Mexican-American from Naples, Florida. She recently graduated from Florida State University with a double major in editing, writing and media and Spanish. During her time at Florida State, she developed a passion for text production/publications that promote Latine voices and challenge the current publishing industry’s market. Michelle aspires to become a developmental editor for a publishing house and enjoys bowling, reading and window shopping.

Alesandra Medrano

Copy Editing Intern

Alesandra (she/her) is currently residing in Lubbock, Texas where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in English at Texas Tech University. She is deeply passionate about the process of storytelling, which in turn bolstered her love for novels and films. It was in her schooling years that she came to appreciate the art of creative writing in all its forms, immersing herself in the joy of reading, writing and pulling meaning from between the lines. Alesandra hopes to become part of this process and expand her career in the publishing industry.

Crystal Lee

Copy Editing Intern

Crystal (she/they) is a first-generation Korean-American student currently residing in Illinois and attending Illinois State University. She is pursuing a bachelor’s in publishing with a minor in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). After graduating, she hopes to work as a story editor at a video game studio. Through this path, she hopes to bring more diversity into the industry. With complex character creation and non-stereotypical lore and backstories, Crystal’s biggest aspiration is to have a greater representation of all people and for everyone to have and relate to characters that feel like home. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends, gaming and traveling.

Jacqueline Zhang

Copy Editing Intern

Jacqueline (she/her) is a senior linguistics student attending Baylor University. She studies Chinese and Spanish intending to research multilingualism, bilingualism or heritage language learning. She also hopes to become a college language professor and director of a study abroad program. In her free time, Jacqueline enjoys going on walks and watching movies.

Talía Alemán

Editorial Intern

Talía (she/her) was born and raised in Cuba. She moved to Florida in 2021 and graduated from the University of Havana, receiving her bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a minor in Latin American and Cuban literature. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Spanish as a foreign language at the International University of La Rioja. Her greatest aspirations are based on developing a career focused on giving visibility to the large immigrant community existing in the United States, of which she is also a part. She would love to do this through journalism, using Spanish as a tool to reach non-English-speaking groups. She believes that art can bring joy to souls. That’s why, in the challenging immigrant context of the United States currently, it becomes the means through which she can reconnect with her roots and feel at home again.