Description:

Maritza Félix is the recipient of the 2022 Cecilia Vaisman Award from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the 2022 Local Media Association’s Innovator of the Year in Content and Audience.

Maritza L. Félix is a freelance journalist, producer and writer in Arizona. She is the founder of Conecta Arizona, a news-you-can-use service in Spanish that connects people in Arizona and Sonora primarily through WhatsApp and  social media. She is the creator, producer and host of Cruzando Líneas, a podcast that reclaims the narrative of the border. She is the cofounder, coproducer and cohost of Comadres al Aire. 
She is a senior fellow at JSK Community Impact Fellowship at Stanford and a graduate of the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership in Journalism at Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. She is also a fellow of The Carter Center, the Education Writers Association (EWA), Feet in 2 Worlds (Fi2w), the Leadership Academy at Poynter, IWMF “Adelante”, and the Listening Post Collective; She is one of the Take The Lead’s 50 Women Who Can Change the World of Journalism 2020. Felix has twice been named «Arizona’s Best Spanish-Language Journalist» and one of the 40 Under 40 in Arizona.
Born in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico. The border has been her home and source of inspiration for more than 15 years.
Her work has been published in major newspapers in the United States, Mexico and other parts of the world, as well as on the main Spanish-language television networks Univisión and Telemundo. She currently writes and produces independently for The Nation, The Hechinger Report, Slate, Yes Magazine!, Making Contact, Palabra, America Amplified, Organización Editorial Mexicana, Channel 4, Proyecto Puente, Uniradio Noticias, Telemax and Prensa Arizona. 
She has worked as special project producer for Al Jazeera and was the investigative producer for award-winning special reports for Channel 4 in U.K. 
She worked for the documentary “Mysteries of Faith” for Discovery Channel and contributed as producer to “The Wall,” a worldwide investigative documentary for Rondo Media in the UK. 
In 2011 Maritza  was named one of 40 under 40 Arizona Hispanic Leaders by Chicanos Por La Causa in recognition of her influential work in the state. Félix has won five Emmys and is the recipient of the inaugural award for Best Chronicle Written in the US by Nuevas Plumas. She also has won multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club. In 2012 and 2013 the Phoenix New Times named Félix Best Spanish-Language Journalist in Arizona.
Maritza lives in Phoenix with her partner and inquisitive twins who challenge her imagination every day and fill her life with joy, love and laughter.