Marina Villeneuve - Journalist Profile | Connect with top journalists

Beats

Biography

I've been at this journalism thing ever since my junior year of high school, when I landed in the principal's office for the first time in my life. My crime: "improper solicitation" for sticking letters into teacher mailboxes asking them to donate to the underground newspaper I founded. I apologized, but was undeterred. Our paper later examined school activity fees: the practice of charging students upwards of $150 to join after-school clubs as a way of filling dwindling school coffers in the district and neighboring towns. The piece led to the exemption of such fees for members of volunteer clubs and National Honor Society. Ever since, my passion as a journalist has been holding powerful figures accountable and bringing to life the stories and people impacted by complex social issues. I'm now an investigative reporter for The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit outlook covering inequalities and innovation in K-12 and higher ed. I have my certificate in data journalism from Columbia University's Lede Program. I'm also a board member of Investigative Reporters and Editors and the New England chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Over the past decade, I've worked as a statehouse reporter for The Associated Press, an investigative producer for a local Boston TV station, a municipal reporter for The (Bergen) Record and a legal reporter covering Trump's legal saga and SCOTUS for Salon. For six years, I covered state politics and government out of Augusta, Maine and then Albany, N.Y. for AP. I didn't go to journalism school -- instead I interned at the Washington Post's Bureau in Bogota, the Los Angeles Times's D.C. bureau, Newsday, Gannett Washington Bureau, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, the Valley News and Tewksbury Town Crier. I reported on the Sandy Hook school shooting for The New York Times as a stringer. I credit my career to the journalism organizations that have provided me crucial support, fellowships and training: The New York Times Student Journalism Institute, the Chips Quinn Scholar Program, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Minority Fellowship, the Journalism and Women Symposium Emerging Journalist program, the Overseas Press Club Foundation, the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Foundation and the New England Newspapers and Press Association. I was also a 2023 National Fellow for USC Center for Health Journalism, which supported my Emmy-winning investigation into sexual abuse in Massachusetts K-12 public schools. I graduated from Dartmouth College in June 2013, earning a bachelors in American government with a focus on U.S. constitutional law.

Content

Total articles 54773

• Available on paid plans

  What parents and schools need to know

  By Meredith Kolodner Verified, Marina Villeneuve Verified

  Apr. 01, 2025

• Available on paid plans

  Special education and Trump: What parents and schools need to know

  By Meredith Kolodner Verified, Marina Villeneuve Verified

  Mar. 31, 2025

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Company Info

The Hechinger Report

The Hechinger Report is an independent nonprofit newsroom that focuses on inequality and innovation in education. It uses investigative journalism and data-driven reporting to address systemic challenges in education from preschool through higher education. Founded by Fred M. Hechinger, a former *New York Times* education editor, the organization emphasizes solutions-oriented reporting to influence policy and public discourse. The Hechinger Report produces in-depth articles, documentaries, and interactive tools that explore various educational issues, including the impact of climate change on schools and achievement gaps. It collaborates with major news outlets like *The Washington Post* and *NPR* to ensure broad accessibility of its stories. Additionally, it offers Spanish-language reporting through *Hechinger en Español* to engage diverse audiences. The organization is funded by foundations and individual donors, which supports its editorial independence and commitment to highlighting both problems and solutions in education.