Hi! I'm Alexa. I'm a California native, live in San Diego, and love visual storytelling.
The first time I had a camera in my hands was in seventh-grade yearbook class. I was tasked with documenting all aspects of student life, and in its way, it was my first taste of being a photojournalist. I quickly realized I loved telling people’s stories and capturing their lives. In the following 10 years, my love for being a photographer has grown. When I was sixteen, I entered my photographs into a contest on USA TODAY, and I became a semifinalist. I have had multiple images published on brand websites and used in marketing campaigns for Victoria’s Secret PINK and Hype & Vice.
My most recent work has been serving as the Digital Communications Specialist at UDW. I schedule, create captions for, and manage all UDW social media platforms, craft and distribute emails to our 170,000 members, create graphics and digital work, and provide assistance with other work on the communications team.
Previously, I worked as the Digital Content Manager for San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher. I have also worked as a photography intern at the California State Senate. In this role, I assisted the Senate Photographer in photographing 40 State Senators and any guests during the month-long session, distributing photos to featured guests on the Senate floor, editing photos in Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw on quick turnaround deadlines, and posting photos to the State Senate website to regularly update the visual content.
Before that, I was an intern at East County Magazine in San Diego, where I covered community news, features, COVID-19 issues, city council actions, and national news including the Capitol insurrection. I was the Photo Editor for The Daily Aztec student newspaper for the past two years. While serving in this position, I traveled with the SDSU Men’s Basketball team during their record-breaking season and hosted live news segments for our social media pages which have a reach of over 30,000 followers.
I graduated with a Bachelor of Art in Journalism and Media Studies and a minor in Art in May 2021.
A pivotal part of my time there was when we were the first news organization to break the death of San Diego State student Dylan Hernandez in the Fall of 2019. I could not be more grateful for the experiences I have had as a student journalist in The Daily Aztec's newsroom. I am lucky to have found my calling.
As I go through my young adult years, I struggle deeply with finding role models who share my identity as a publicly out LGBTQ+ woman. Especially in journalism and media, I cannot name a single bisexual anchor or reporter. Part of my inner motivation and driving force behind my strength is that I want to be a role model for a young teenage girl one day. I want to be the person that they can look at and feel validated and loved for who they are and welcomed into the community with open arms. LGBTQ+ people are systemically left out of media and denied good representation, and I want to work to actively change that narrative.
That's a little more about me. Thank you for taking the time to read and to view my work.
Let's create some memories!
