Club awards Sofia Andrade its Summer 2024 Lewis Scholarship
The National Press Club has chosen five exemplary students as the recipients of its scholarships that honor promising future journalists serving their communities.
The Wire has been profiling each this week, starting Monday with two who are still in high school. This fifth and final profile is of a Harvard graduate who is to be a summer intern for The Washington Post's Features team.
The National Press Club has chosen Sofia Andrade of Miami, Florida, to be the recipient of its Lewis Scholarship for summer 2024. The scholarship provides housing and a $4,000 stipend to support a student journalist of color interning at a news media outlet in Washington, D.C.
Andrade has accepted a summer internship with The Washington Post’s Features team for the second consecutive year. A 2024 graduate of Harvard University, she impressed the judges with her commitment to journalism, strong personal statement, and potential for continued professional growth.
During her 2023 summer internship at the Post, Andrade published stories on the intersection of climate anxiety and Gen Z fashion, the history behind an iconic Peruvian dish, a travel industry expose, and more.
“I’ve long focused my reporting on highlighting communities of color, low-income communities, and immigrant communities alike,” Andrade wrote in her application essay.
While in college, Andrade was arts chair of The Harvard Crimson. Her work also has been published in Slate, The Nation, The New York Times and El Nuevo Herald/Miami Herald.
The Lewis Scholarship was established in 2022 by the family of former Washington correspondent Robert “Bob” D.G. Lewis. It is awarded to one undergraduate student journalist of color each fall, spring, and summer semester. Students must secure a journalism internship in Washington, D.C., to be eligible, along with other requirements.
Recommendation letters from Andrade’s supervisors at The Washington Post praised her professionalism, eye for spotting excellent features stories, and work ethic.
“Sofia is the type of intern who’s considered a real find,” said Carla Spartos, style assignment editor at the Post. “Someone who provides a fresh perspective and a unique POV. Someone you immediately want to hire! Of course, that’s why we asked her to come back to The Washington Post.”
“I worry so much about the future of journalism, but Sofia makes me worry a little bit less,” said Jenny Rogers, lifestyle editor at The Washington Post. “Our industry desperately needs more robust, three-dimensional coverage of immigrant and Spanish-speaking communities, and we need more staffers on all beats who know those communities.”
The Lewis Scholarship program furthers Bob and Jacqueline Lewis’s work to improve accessibility to experiential learning opportunities in the nation’s capital for students of color. This partnership, administered through the National Press Club Journalism Institute, extends the Lewis’ commitment to increasing representation in Washington, D.C., to include news media, adding to their work founding and operating the Washington Intern Student Housing program and the HBCU National Center.
“Sofia clearly has a bright future ahead in journalism,” National Press Club President Emily Wilkins said. “We are proud to support such an excellent young journalist as she returns to D.C. for another highly competitive internship at The Washington Post.”
Press Club scholarships are administered by its nonprofit affiliate, the National Press Club Journalism Institute.