Ally Markovich is an award-winning independent journalist, currently studying politics and journalism at Columbia Journalism School.

She specializes in enterprise, accountability and data reporting. Previously, she covered the education at Berkeleyside. Her work has appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Her reporting on sexual harm in schools has earned multiple honors. She won a James Madison Freedom of Information Award for her investigation revealing how Berkeley High administrators failed to protect generations of students who accused a chemistry teacher of sexual misconduct. She was also a finalist for the Local Independent Online News Accountability Award.

For a series of stories on Berkeley Unified School District’s handling of sexual misconduct complaints, she won Best Ongoing Coverage from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California.

In 2022, she was named Outstanding Emerging Journalist for her reporting on the overrepresentation of Black and Latino students in special education classes in Berkeley schools and a feature on the retirement of a beloved Berkeley swimming instructor who was a local legend, among other stories.

She is also a skilled data reporter, using R and Google Sheets to publish deep-dive stories on the census, student achievement, local elections, and college admissions.

She has previously reported from Princeton, Kyiv and Athens as a freelance journalist. A curious reporter, she has written about everything from environmental justice to religious division.

Born in Ukraine and raised in Ohio, she is a graduate of Princeton University and a former high school English teacher.

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