A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and 2019 finalist, Martha Mendoza’s reports have prompted Congressional hearings and new legislation, Pentagon investigations and White House responses. She was part of a team whose investigations into slavery in the seafood sector led to the freedom of more than 2,000 men. An earlier investigation revealed, with extensive documentation, a decades-old secret of how American soldiers killed hundreds of civilians during the Korean War. She’s collaborated on FRONTLINE/PBS to report on the detention of migrant children, and launched a 105 country Freedom of Information request that shows regimes using anti-terror laws to crack down on dissidents.

Mendoza has taught at Princeton University as a Ferris Visiting Professor, and UC Santa Cruz’s graduate Science Communications program, and guest lectured at numerous universities. She’s given commencement addresses, keynote speeches and is a frequent panelist for the Global Investigative Journalism Network.

During her Associated Press career, she’s been based in Mexico City, Bangkok, Silicon Valley, New York and New Mexico. Before joining AP she worked for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Madera Tribune and taught Kindergarten.

Mendoza is an advocate for accurate journalism, government transparency and the public’s right to know.