Illinois Latino News (ILLN) will launch the inaugural episode of Neighborhood Navigators on October 28. The social-media-first, community-powered series, it delivers verified, bilingual, and solutions-focused videos on critical issues affecting Latinos through trusted community messengers.
This initiative builds on ILLN’s participation in the 2026 Medill Local News Accelerator, a six-month program providing executive coaching, audience research, and product development support to foster audience engagement and sustainable business models. Additionally, Publisher Hugo Balta completed the Medill Media Innovation and Leadership Academy (MILA), an executive program equipping newsroom leaders with critical skills in business strategy, product innovation, and organizational management. Together, these experiences represent nearly a year of listening, analyzing, and refining the strategy behind Neighborhood Navigators.
As part of its Accelerator project, ILLN gathered feedback from more than 700 residents across the state to shape the series. Although respondents rated all five surveyed social determinants of health as important, the economy emerged as the topic with the highest dissatisfaction regarding news coverage—showing the largest gap between importance and coverage satisfaction in 14 of the 17 regions analyzed.
Based on these findings, ILLN is prioritizing economic topics, beginning with the pilot episode in Belmont Cragin. To shape the debut, the team conducted empathy interviews with local residents and entrepreneurs to examine how economic mobility and instability affect their daily lives. Business owners identified major hurdles—including capital access, commercial rent, and property taxes—with many highlighting language access as an overarching barrier.
“This investment affirms the importance of journalism that is created with, not just for, the communities we serve,” said Balta. “It allows us to deepen our commitment to community-powered storytelling and ensure that Latino voices across Illinois are seen, heard, and reflected in the news that shapes their daily lives.”
The inaugural episode features Roxana Brito as the first Neighborhood Navigator. Brito is a Corridor Ambassador with the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation’s Belmont Corps of Ambassadors, who works directly with small business owners along the neighborhood’s commercial corridors. Adhering to the four pillars of solutions journalism, the story highlights response, insights, evidence, and limitations.
“Illinois Latino News is doing a great thing. Chicago is the third largest city in the United States and has a plethora of media and news outlets covering the city, but there is a coverage and representation gap of Latinos in Chicago. By launching Neighborhood Navigators, Illinois Latino News is informing Latinos with the information they are directly asking for, while also elevating an important local, community member. I look forward to seeing how this new initiative will grow,” said Yazmin E Dominguez, Assistant Director of Local News Accelerator.
Neighborhood Navigators is made possible in part thanks to the Field Foundation of Illinois‘ Journalism & Storytelling Capacity Grant—an investment that strengthens the newsroom’s mission to deliver trusted, community‑centered reporting for Latino audiences across the state.
ILLN continues to invite community members and organizations to share local challenges and potential solutions to be featured in upcoming episodes by emailing info@latinonewsnetwork.com.
Illinois Latino News (ILLN), an affiliate of the Latino News Network (LNN), which comprises nine digital news outlets nationwide alongside a national platform.