Laya Neelakandan Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

New York City Metropolitan Area

- Academic year intern on the business news team covering media/entertainment, retail, transportation, sports, aerospace, consumer news & more- Wrote breaking news and pitched reported enterprise stories- Monitored stocks for stock mover stories in broader business context- Covered company earnings reports, reading financial statements and monitored company conference calls for business earnings stories- Wrote "5 Things" newsletter highlighting top market headlines for the day across all teams- Pitched and pulled wires across all sections- Wrote multiple profiles for CNBC's inaugural Changemakers list highlighting women transforming business

- Freelanced pop culture & SEO articles for TODAY.com

- Manage and create posts for Brown Girl Magazine's Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook using Hootsuite and Buffer softwares- Write copy for Instagram captions- Answer direct messages- Examine and interpret audience analytics, determining optimal posting times- Serve as a bridge between editors, writers and our audience

San Francisco Bay Area

- Wrote over 100 fast turnaround pieces covering breaking news across the Bay Area- Reported on-scene for breaking stories including press conferences, South Bay-specific news & Taylor Swift's Eras Tour- Employed digital-first breaking strategies of writing quickly, publishing content and adding context for subsequent posting- Covered day shifts, night shifts and weekend shifts- Pitched and reported longer enterprise stories tied to breaking news for multiple teams including politics, climate and arts & entertainment- Wrote three single-byline A1 stories and contributed to multiple other front-page stories- Wrote an in-depth politics feature about Nikki Haley and Kamala Harris that was mentioned on MSNBC

New York, New York, United States

- Pitched and wrote over 30 breaking news & reported stories for all verticals on the site- Worked on the cover story for the summer print issue, including reporting and research, with a print byline- Drafted every Instagram caption and scheduled posts with Later software- Worked with award-winning business journalist Allan Sloan on a piece about lost investments in the Twitter acquisition - Attended an event for C-suite executives and reported on the panel- Attended the 88rising music festival Head in the Clouds for coverage- Assisted with embedding audio features into articles- Copy edited a long-form investigative feature story- Judged a category for the annual "Brands That Matter" package

- Pitched and wrote over 80 articles for multiple verticals including News, Trending, Parents, Food, Health and more over two internship semesters- Pitched, wrote and reported a long-form feature on separated Afghan refugee families for the one-year anniversary of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan- Amassed over 1 million page views on a reported health story that trended at #1 on Apple News- Copy edited the inaugural cover story- Designed infographics for articles on the opioid crisis- Worked alongside the TODAY Show to do write-ups of show segments- Worked with old and new CMS softwares to transfer over articles

- Edited almost every article each night from all desks and sections- Managed newsroom dynamics and supported staffers- Ran the newsroom on the editor in chief's night off- Assisted with print paper layout- Edited daily newsletters

- Maintained a list of stories for reporters to take- Edited every article for the Arts & Entertainment desk- Managed a team of reporters- Wrote articles for the desk

- Maintained a list of stories for reporters to take- Edited every article for the Arts & Entertainment desk- Managed a team of reporters- Wrote articles for the desk

- Edited articles for the Arts & Entertainment desk- Pitched topics- Wrote a couple articles per week

- Pitched and wrote 14 articles spotlighting angles related to the South Asian diaspora- Wrote articles for the monthly magazine, weekly magazine and the website- Worked with WordPress to upload articles and complete backend projects- Wrote South Asian-specific SEO content to boost SEO analytics- Helped with behind-the-scenes work on the CMS

- Edited articles for the blog and magazine for AP Style and grammar- Uploaded articles to WordPress and worked directly in the CMS to add photos and ready for publication- Pitched and wrote reported enterprise and utility articles with global poverty angles

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

- Founded a social justice initiative aimed at assisting the houseless population in Baltimore- Received 13 microgrants totaling over $12,500 to fund projects- Worked with elementary-aged students to educate them about houselessness while also working together to create items like handmade fleece blankets and trail mix bags- Drove through Baltimore to hand-deliver each item to the city's houseless citizens- Mentored three middle school students to continue the projects after I graduated- Received multiple awards and featured in various media

- Facilitated interest and gathered pitches and pieces from contributors, including both artwork and prose- Assisted in designing the print issue- Coordinated events and fundraising initiatives

- Sole editor in chief of the newspaper for the first time in years- Edited every article published in the monthly print paper edition- Designed pages for print using InDesign- Ran brainstorming meetings and managed a team of writers, including recruitment & maintaining beats- Helped facilitate the move to an online news site in addition to print

- Selected as one of only 283 student leaders from around the country as a high school junior- Placed to work at a local nonprofit, Strong City Baltimore- Attended a week-long leadership summit in Washington, D.C. alongside other student leaders to meet with congressional leaders on the Hill

- Worked in the Adult Learning Center as an assistant to the director, learning the ins and outs of running a GED and English as a Second Language program- Assisted teachers with classwork and lesson plans- Connected with students, sometimes in different languages, to assess needs and goals- Worked the front desk and managed office work

B.S. In Journalism And Double Major In Sociology With A Music Minor

Activities and Societies: Dean's List, The Daily Northwestern, Music Director of Extreme Measures A Cappella, member of Asian American.

High School Diploma

Activities and Societies: Cum Laude Society inductee, Dean's List, Editor in Chief of school newspaper, Music Director of a cappella.