Join our team

Job title: Investigative Reporter
Location: Hybrid position based in Chicago, with a minimum of two days per week in our downtown office
Reports to: Investigations Editor
Employment type: Full time
Salary and benefits: $60,000 - $70,000, commensurate with experience. Benefits include two weeks of paid vacation, generous holiday schedule, health-care, dental and vision coverage and a flexible schedule.
Relocation Stipend: No

Join our small but mighty team, known for punching above its weight with data-driven investigative journalism about Chicago that informs crucial conversations about race and equity.

At the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, we’re all about facts, not opinions. Our work exposes systemic racism by uncovering discriminatory practices and shining a light on abuses of power that drive racial and economic disparities. Through data and deep-dive investigations, we tell stories that inform people about social issues—and we build and analyze databases to bring systemic injustice into focus.

We’re seeking a Chicago-based reporter to pursue signature, award-winning in-depth investigative reporting on racial equity in partnership with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to strengthen coverage of underreported issues and communities.

The Investigative Project on Race and Equity is also a training institute, which would allow reporters the opportunity to develop data skills, learn from a community of seasoned journalists and be a part of a collaborative team of mission-driven individuals. Through Report for America, the reporter will also participate in a national training and mentorship program alongside other early- and mid-career journalists across the country.

The ideal candidate is a dogged reporter with great ideas, the ability to produce revelatory and unique stories, and the ability to chase down public records, data and sources to reveal disparities within Chicago. They must have at least three years of full-time professional experience and a proven ability to land enterprise stories.

Responsibilities include:

• Producing investigative stories in collaboration with media partners

• Conducting research to uncover revelatory findings

• Obtaining data and other public records

• Gathering, corroborating and interpreting data and documents

• Developing sources and interviewing a range of people

• Maintaining notes with meticulous documentation of reporting tasks and time spent on project

• Fact-checking

• Overseeing editorial projects in collaboration with apprentices and interns, teaching and mentoring less experienced reporters

• Helping to organize and participate in community engagement activities

Qualifications:

• Commitment to investigative and data journalism

• Between three and five years of professional reporting experience, including work on investigative, public-interest journalism.

• Strong writing skills

• Excellent communication and interviewing skills

• Knowledge of and comfort with math and dedication to learning new data skills.

• Ability to meet deadlines and fact-check information

• Ability to work cooperatively with a diverse group of peers and sources

The most successful candidates will possess the following:

• Ability to develop project ideas and juggle quick, mid-range and long-term investigations

• Impeccable organizational skills and attention to detail

• A strong commitment to the mission

• Personal and professional integrity

We are dedicated to ensuring that our organization reflects the region we cover and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment. We encourage members of historically underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people and people with disabilities.

To Apply:

This position is part of the Report for America program. Applicants must apply through Report for America’s application portal and select the Investigative Project on Race and Equity as their host newsroom.

Applicants should be prepared to submit a resume, five clips (text file, not links) and a cover letter describing how they developed a past investigative or enterprise story from conception through publication — or outlining an investigation they’d like to pursue.

Apply now through the Report for America portal

Job Title: Apprentice
Location:  Hybrid position based in Chicago, with required attendance at in-person meetings, interviews and events
Reports to: Investigations Editor
Employment Type: Part-time, 12-month position with the possibility to renew
Compensation: Commensurate with experience.
Deadline to Apply: Feb. 20, 2026

The Investigative Project on Race and Equity is a mission-driven nonprofit newsroom known for data-driven investigative journalism that informs crucial conversations about race and equity issues in Chicago. Our work exposes systemic racism by uncovering discriminatory practices and shining a light on abuses of power that drive racial and economic disparities. Through data and deep-dive investigations, we tell stories that inform people about social issues — and we build and analyze databases to bring systemic injustice into focus.

About the Job:

The Investigative Project on Race and Equity offers early-career journalists an apprenticeship training program that provides the foundational skills required to produce deeply reported investigative projects. The Apprenticeship has three elements: hands-on investigative reporting, training in investigative methods and techniques, and mentorship. Apprentices are paired with an experienced editor and reporter who will guide them through reporting assignments related to an investigative project. Duties include obtaining/analyzing data and other public records, interviews, writing, fact-checking and the other fundamentals of investigative reporting.

The Apprentice position requires a time commitment of 10 hours per week, for 12 months, with the possibility to renew. Some of the work will be done remotely, but attendance at in-person meetings, interviews and events is required.

Responsibilities include:

• Conduct research to uncover interesting and significant patterns and practices

• Obtain data and other public records through the Freedom of Information Act

• Gather, corroborate and interpret data and documents

• Develop sources and interview a range of key people to obtain more information

• Maintain a reporting journal with meticulous documentation of reporting tasks

• Weekly reporting of work accomplished and time spent on project

• Fact-check

• Participate in various training and mentorship opportunities

Suggested qualifications:

• Strong writing skills and interviewing skills

• Ability to meet deadlines and fact-check information under a reporter’s guidance

• Successfully published original news reports or segments

• Familiarity with and commitment to reporting on equity issues, and investigative and data journalism

• Ability to work cooperatively with a diverse group of peers

The most successful candidates will possess the following:

• Highly organized and detail-oriented

• A strong commitment to our mission

• Personal and professional integrity

• A willingness and commitment to learning.

• We are dedicated to ensuring that our organization reflects the region we cover and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment. We encourage members of historically underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people and people with disabilities.

To Apply:

Send your resume, a cover letter explaining your interest and aptitude for producing investigative journalism and your three best clips to info@raceandequityproject.org. 

The Investigative Project on Race and Equity encourages individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of protection status, physical or mental disability, veteran/military status, unfavorable discharge, marital status, pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The Project prohibits all forms of unlawful discrimination, including discrimination because of any one of the protected statuses listed above.