Washington, DC – Today, Omidyar Network announced nine journalists who will serve as 2026 Reporters in Residence in the program’s largest cohort to date. They will spend the next six months independently reporting on the emerging rules, institutions, norms, people and narratives shaping our technology and society.
Since 2023, Omidyar Network’s Reporters in Residence program has empowered dozens of freelance journalists to pursue rigorous reporting that drives national conversations and informs policy debates. Over the course of their six month residences, each journalist receives a stipend, travel expenses, and access to Omidyar Network staff and partners. The reporters maintain full editorial control and discretion over their work.
This year’s cohort will focus largely on the power dynamics driving the AI revolution. Fellows will scrutinize the concentration of power in AI governance, covering how tech companies and Silicon Valley leaders influence policy, and whether meaningful public participation exists in decisions that affect millions of lives. Their reporting will also investigate everything from how artificial intelligence is reshaping labor markets, to the impacts on children using AI chatbots, to how algorithmic systems in housing, education, and criminal justice reinforce existing inequalities.
“As AI reshapes every aspect of society, these nine reporters will investigate who holds power in this transformation and whether that power is being used responsibly. Their reporting will center the human stories that are so often missing from nuanced tech coverage”, said Alexis Krieg, a Director on Omidyar Network’s Programs and Policy team. “We’re incredibly proud to support their work and careers through the Reporters in Residence program.”
About the reporters:
- Aaron Mok will report on how artificial intelligence is transforming work and careers from New York City, with a focus on the hidden labor and gig work powering the AI economy.
- Issie Lapowsky is a Philadelphia-based independent journalist focused on tech, policy, and society, who will focus on the ways in which AI is shaping society and how power is exercised in the AI era.
- Jasmine Sun is an independent writer who publishes a Substack newsletter on AI from the epicenter of Silicon Valley. She will examine the communities, values, and subcultures that drive the AI industry.
- Lee V. Gaines is a veteran education reporter based in Philadelphia whose coverage will focus on the ways in which AI is shaping education in America’s K-12 schools and higher education institutions.
- Marty Swant is a New York-based freelance journalist covering the intersection of technology, advertising, and media, with a focus on regulatory oversight of major tech companies through antitrust litigation, legislative action and policy efforts.
- Sharon Weinberger will cover the shifting relationship between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley from Washington, DC. Her most recent book is “The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency That Changed the World.”
- Sonari Batubo Glinton is a journalist telling stories at the intersection of culture and the economy for NPR, Planet Money, and his own Substack from Los Angeles and communities around the country. He will cover how technology and algorithms reinforce and challenge racial and economic disparities.
- Sylvia Varnham O’Regan is a New York-based journalist focused on the intersection of technology and politics who will investigate how major technology companies and business leaders are seeking to influence policy on AI, content moderation, and platform regulation.
- Varsha Bansal is an independent journalist based in Los Angeles who investigates AI companies and how technology is reshaping workers, communities, and society and will cover the human costs of AI development on vulnerable populations.
Learn more about the Reporters in Residence program, the current cohort, and alumnae here.
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About Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic organization whose mission is to bend the arc of the digital revolution toward shared power, prosperity, and possibility. Digital technology is a powerful and ubiquitous force that, harnessed wisely, makes wondrous things happen. We believe in working together to guide tech’s trajectory intentionally. Our vision is for our shared humanity to steer our digital future. So far, we have committed more than $1.94 billion to initiatives that share our vision. We engage, partner, and fund some of the world’s brightest thinkers and innovators to guide our digital future toward the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Winter 2026 Bios:
Aaron Mok will report on how artificial intelligence is transforming work and careers, with a focus on the hidden labor and gig work powering the AI economy. Based in Queens, New York, Aaron covers how emerging technologies reshape business, power, and society. His features have examined parents teaching their children to use AI, the role of algorithms in the hunt for rare earth metals, and the growing talent crunch in data centers. His work has appeared in The Guardian, IEEE Spectrum, Business Insider, among others, and he also writes for The Deep View, a daily newsletter focused on AI. He was previously a staff reporter at Business Insider where he covered the latest news on Big Tech and AI, and a researcher at TechEquity where he investigated the AI labor supply chain.
Issie Lapowsky is an independent journalist focused on tech, policy, and society, who will focus on the ways in which AI is shaping society and how power is exercised in the AI era. Issie is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Fast Company, Bloomberg Businessweek, Politico, and other national publications. She was previously chief correspondent at Protocol and a senior writer at WIRED. She has also served as a research fellow at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an adjunct professor at New York University’s Center for Publishing.
Lee V. Gaines is a veteran education reporter whose coverage focuses on the ways in which AI is shaping education in America’s K-12 schools and higher education institutions. Lee currently produces features and investigations for NPR’s broadcast programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and was previously an investigative education reporter at WFYI in Indianapolis. From 2018-2021, she was an education reporter at Illinois Public Media in Champaign-Urbana, Ill. She’s also reported for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader and Chicago Magazine.
Varsha Bansal is an independent journalist based in Los Angeles who investigates AI companies and how technology is reshaping workers, communities, and society. With over a decade of experience as a tech reporter, her work regularly appears in WIRED, The Guardian, TIME, Fortune, MIT Technology Review, Rest of World, and more. Prior to going freelance, she worked with top Indian business dailies The Economic Times and Mint. Varsha was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University (2024-25) and has received multiple awards, including Freelance Journalist of the Year by One World Media and Outstanding Business Reporting by South Asian Journalists Association for her reporting on technology’s impact on Indian gig workers. She was also an inaugural AI Accountability Fellow with the Pulitzer Center in 2022.
Marty Swant is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist covering the intersection of technology, advertising, media, and policy. His recent stories on AI, antitrust, and other news have appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, Inc., Adweek, VentureBeat, and Transformer. Marty focuses on the hidden mechanics of marketing, innovation and digital power — from AI and data privacy regulations to political advertising and online misinformation. Previously, he spent more than a decade on staff at Digiday, Forbes, Adweek, the Associated Press and various newspapers.
Jasmine Sun is an independent writer who publishes a Substack newsletter on AI and Silicon Valley culture — a project she calls an “anthropology of disruption.” Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, SF Standard, and elsewhere. Previously, she was a product manager at Substack, an AI policy researcher, and a cofounder of Reboot. She is based in San Francisco.
Sylvia Varnham O’Regan is a New York-based journalist focused on the intersection of technology and politics. She previously worked at The Information, where she broke stories about the Trump administration’s efforts to block states from regulating AI and TikTok’s plan to shut down its app in the U.S. Her work explores the growing influence of Silicon Valley in Washington, D.C., probing the many concessions and capitulations tech companies have been making to win favor with the Trump administration. Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Varnham O’Regan graduated with a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School in 2017. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, GQ and other publications.
Sharon Weinberger will cover the relationship between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley. She is a writer and editor who focuses on the intersection of science, technology and national security. Her most recent book, published by Knopf, is “The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency That Changed the World.” She has held fellowships at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, MIT’s Knight Science Journalism program, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the International Reporting Project at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Magazine, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, WIRED magazine, Nature, BBC, Discover, and Slate, among other publications.
Sonari Batubo Glinton is a journalist and storyteller whose work sits at the intersection of culture and the economy. He is best known for his reporting on the auto industry, retail, and Congress for NPR, and as a longtime contributor to Planet Money. His career began at WBEZ Chicago, then he became a producer for All Things Considered. Sonari has produced and hosted the podcasts Bring Back Bronco, Shattering the System, and Now What’s Next, and his reporting has appeared on This American Life, Fresh Air, Code Switch, and Embedded. He attended St. Philip Neri, St. Ignatius College Prep, and Boston University, and lives in West Hollywood, California