Leslie Hurtado reports from the place where data meets daily life.

Leslie Hurtado is an award-winning journalist whose bilingual, community-rooted reporting serves Cicero, Berwyn, and Chicago. She currently contributes to Cicero Independiente and writes art & culture profiles of Chicagoans for the Chicago Reader. Previously, as an environmental reporter for Cicero Independiente, she translated technical records, environmental findings, and government decisions into clear information that families could use.

Her Ability Park series examined a playground built on historically contaminated land. The reporting traced remediation decisions, questioned whether the public had received enough information, and helped residents understand the risks surrounding a site designed for children with disabilities. The first investigation earned the 2025 Peter Lisagor Award for Best Reporting on Environment and Climate Change.

Leslie is a two-time City Bureau Civic Reporting Fellow. Her 2021 fellowship reporting focused on environmental justice in Little Village, including industrial pollution and demolition dust. In 2022, she returned to report on guaranteed income, reentry, and the economic pressures facing Chicago families.

Leslie graduated from Northeastern Illinois University in 2020. She served as news editor of the student newspaper The Independent and hosted campus radio. Her student audio project, Dacamentation, documented undocumented student life, was recognized at the North by Northeastern Festival, and was also published by Harvard Magazine.