IRIS NRC is delighted to announce that UW-Madison junior Zindzi Frederick has been awarded a 2026 Reporting Fellowship by the Pulitzer Center. The Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellowships support students pursuing independent journalism projects on underreported global topics including climate change, migration and refugees, global health, and human rights.
Frederick’s project will report on the growing healthcare crisis in Antigua and Barbuda following the country’s December 2025 decision to end its 26-year medical cooperation agreement with Cuba. For decades, Cuban medical professionals have played a vital role across the Caribbean and Latin America, staffing rural clinics, training local providers, and filling gaps in understaffed healthcare systems. Antigua and Barbuda now joins a number of countries, including Jamaica, Guyana, Grenada, Belize, and Honduras, that have recently severed similar ties amid renewed U.S. pressure in the region.
Through on-the-ground reporting, Frederick will investigate how communities once dependent on Cuban medical personnel are coping with emerging shortages. The project will also examine new partnerships taking shape in response, including the arrival of more than 100 nurses from Ghana in early 2026. By documenting these perspectives, Frederick aims to reveal the human consequences of shifting alliances and contribute to broader conversations about sovereignty, solidarity, and healthcare access.
Zindzi Frederick is a junior at UW-Madison majoring in Journalism and International Studies with certificates in French and Political Science. She previously worked as a digital content intern at Channel 3000/WISC-TV and has held several roles at The Badger Herald, including DEI Chair, News Associate Editor, and News Associate. This August, she will attend an intensive French language program at Institut de Touraine and participate in a two-week coral reef ecology program in Belize with the CEIBA Foundation.
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This is the Seventh year of UW-Madison’s partnership with the Pulitzer Center, which provides a UW student with a $5,000 grant and guidance from the Pulitzer Center. Past UW-Madison consortium fellows have reported on migration in Tunisia, climate change in Zambia, and refugees in Greece. Reporting Fellows benefit from Pulitzer Center mentorship, networking opportunities, and journalism resources. Most importantly, they become part of a vibrant community. Articles, photo essays, video, audio, and interactives produced by Reporting Fellows are featured on the Pulitzer Center website and in multiple news outlets.
To learn more about the UW-Madison Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium please go to https://irisnrc.wisc.edu/pulitzer-center-campus-consortium/