“Kavitha Cardoza’s reporting is built on rigor and empathy, most notably in her deeply reported piece about an Alabama school district’s challenges serving a growing Hispanic population. Displaying consistent skill with nuanced perspectives, Kavitha’s commitment to centering the experiences of underserved students across the United States and Puerto Rico make her a timely and needed voice in journalism.”

2026 Judges

Kavitha Cardoza is a broadcast and print journalist focusing on deep reporting about education, children, and poverty. Based in Washington, D.C., Cardoza’s work has appeared in PBS Newshour, NPR, The Hechinger Report, and The Guardian, among other outlets. Cardoza’s international upbringing and cross-cultural education strongly shape both the topics she covers and the way she covers them.

In her early career, Cardoza worked as bureau chief for the NPR affiliate in Springfield, Illinois, and later in Washington, D.C., eventually becoming a special correspondent covering children, education, and poverty. For her coverage of higher education, she has received awards from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI) and Education Writers Association (EWA). In 2022, Cardoza became a public editor at the Education Writers Association and host of the EWA Radio podcast, helping train and support education reporters.

Cardoza holds a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, as well as a master’s degree in communications from the Manipal Institute of Communication in India

“My life’s mantra can be summed up by the saying, ‘a society will be judged by how it treats its last, its least and its littlest’- which is why I am so passionate about covering populations that are overlooked and underrepresented. Children and teens often don’t have a voice in matters that affect them, and I am so grateful that this Prize will enable me to continue shedding light on their stories.”

Kavitha Cardoza