EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - PROFESSIONAL PRIZES

Abi Wright is the Executive Director of Columbia Journalism School’s Professional Prizes Department. She joined Columbia in 2008 as the director of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards. Previously, she worked at the Committee to Protect Journalists, ABC News, NBC News and Fox News. She is a graduate of Barnard College and Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

aew2113@columbia.edu

DIRECTOR, DUPONT-COLUMBIA AWARDS & JOHN CHANCELLOR AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM

Lisa R. Cohen is Director of Professional Prizes at Columbia Journalism School, administering the duPont-Columbia Awards and the John Chancellor Awards for Excellence in Journalism. Previously she spent 30-plus years as an ABC and CBS News producer, author, documentary filmmaker, and Columbia Journalism School adjunct professor. She is a graduate of the U. of Pennsylvania, and Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts and Science’s Oral History (OHMA) department.

Lisa.R.Cohen@columbia.edu

PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR

Luz Montez is the program administrator of Columbia Journalism School Professional Prizes Department. She is an Emmy award-winning journalist, with two decades at ABC News managing breaking news teams. Luz has also worked at the American Museum of Natural History creating and managing several of their signature events and at Consumer Reports, producing videos for national distribution and social media platforms. She is a graduate of the U. of Wisconsin. l.montez@columbia.edu

DIGITAL CONTENT AND PODCAST PRODUCER

Elissa Castles is the digital content and producer of the duPont-Columbia Awards’ podcast “On Assignment.” She graduated from the J School in May of 2023.

Elissa.castles@columbia.edu

DUPONT FELLOW, 2023-2024

Darryl Laiu is a full-time candidate in the M.S. Data Journalism program at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Prior to this, he was a multimedia journalist in Singapore for the past three years, covering a wide range of issues from international politics to local culture. He hopes to continue telling stories across different media, and use data to add rigor and new perspectives to them.

DUPONT FELLOW, 2023-2024

Nishtha Shanti is a full-time student at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and is doing the M.S. Documentary Specialization. Her passion lies in long-form visual storytelling, and she hopes to build a career doing work that champions intersectional feminism. Prior to this, she worked as a multimedia journalist in New Delhi for five years and has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Delhi.