UNITY: Journalists of Color has awarded Amy Stretten, a student in the International Reporting Program of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, a 2011 Global Reporting Fellowship to cover the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York from June 6-11.

The conference will bring together world leaders to discuss the global response to AIDS after 30 years and remember the human toll of the epidemic – the 25 million people who have died of the disease. It will feature speeches by the Secretary General of the United Nations, political leaders, and royalty, along with performances by popular musicians.

Stretten is one of eight UNITY Global Fellows who will join four young journalists from other regions of the world to report on the event. In addition to producing a newsletter that will be distributed to the UN delegates, the Fellows will work in a multimedia newsroom producing video and online content for Unity News. “This is a great opportunity for young journalists to get first-hand experience in covering a global issue,” said John Yearwood, co-chair of UNITY’s World Affairs Task Force. “The fellows will work alongside a high caliber of mentors from around the country.’’

Stretten is Native American (from the Chickahominy Tribe) and is the creator of NativeJournalist.com, a blog that aims to give a voice to communities whose stories are rarely covered by mainstream media.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Spanish from Mount Holyoke College in 2006. While an undergrad, she interned for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon as well as the Department of Commerce.

She spent her junior year abroad in Spain and speaks fluent Spanish. This summer she will be working as an intern for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in Winnipeg, Canada. While in Canada, she plans to begin shooting a documentary about sex trafficking of Aboriginal women and girls and the high rates of HIV/AIDS within this population.

Tags: Amy Stretten, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, UN High Level Meeting on AIDS