EdNC’s Sophia Luna selected for inaugural Future of Work Reporting Fellowship
EdNC’s Sophia Luna is one of 11 journalists selected for the inaugural class of the Future of Work Reporting Fellowship. The fellowship is run by New America’s Future of Work & Innovation Economy initiative and Work Shift, with funding from Ascendium Education Group.
The new program supports early and mid-career journalists reporting on “how education, workforce development, and the innovation economy converge — and what that means for people’s lives and livelihoods,” according to the press release.
Luna first joined the EdNC team in fall 2024 as a John M. Belk Impact Fellow while working on her master’s degree in public policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She later joined the team full time as a policy analyst in summer 2025, and her coverage includes the state’s community college system, workforce development efforts, and young people’s well-being.
Born and raised in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Luna now calls Raleigh home. She is committed to sharing the stories of people who make her home state a better place to live, learn, and work.
Here is the rest of the cohort:
- Miranda Dunlap, Wisconsin Watch and Open Campus
- Alex English, 83 Degrees Media
- Tasmiha Kahn, Freelance
- P.R. Lockhart, Connecticut Mirror
- Rebecca Egan McCarthy, Freelance
- Katie Myers, Grist and Blue Ridge Public Radio
- Jeremy Ney, Freelance
- Michael Sainato, The Guardian
- Andrea Steffes-Tuttle, Freelance
- Natalie Yahr, Wisconsin Watch and Open Campus
With support from New America’s experts and Work Shift’s editors, fellows will produce stories from 10 regions across the country that “illustrate how technological change is impacting communities on the ground.” Support will include professional development, funding, communications, and strategic support for each fellow.
Luna’s work at EdNC has included in-depth analysis of the North Carolina Community College Child Care Grant, which surfaced specific reasons the grant program was leaving valuable state dollars on the table. This reporting has sparked efforts among state leaders and philanthropists to increase grant utilization and better support student parents, including more than $1.2 million in philanthropic investments to date.
She has also visited community colleges across the state to report on efforts to strengthen apprenticeship programs through employer partnerships, start in-demand health care programs, and launch Boost, the nation’s first statewide replication of the City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Program (CUNY ASAP) that is directly tied to local workforce needs.
Through the fellowship, Luna will focus on federal investments in North Carolina’s textile industry through the National Science Foundation Textile Innovation Engine and efforts to revitalize economic opportunity in a rural region. This project will build on Luna’s existing expertise and relationships with community college leaders, students, and employers.
Mebane Rash, EdNC’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief, says:
Sophia’s interest in journalism and public policy is grounded in her belief that North Carolinians should be able to lead the lives they envision for themselves, and that the state’s use of public dollars ought to actively work toward that reality. Sophia’s participation in the Future of Work Reporting Fellowship, rooted in her understanding of the state, will support her desire to do just that.