Eleni Avendaño

Eleni Gill Avendaño

Alumni

Eleni Gill Avendaño, MJOUR’19, is the managing editor of HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i, where she teaches elementary, middle and high school students how to create PBS-quality feature stories that reach a statewide audience on PBS Hawai‘i and a worldwide audience online.

As a journalist and filmmaker, Eleni’s writing, photos and videos have been published by outlets including Honolulu Civil Beat, the Associated Press, PBS NewsHour and the New York Times.

The Honolulu-born storyteller holds a master’s degree in journalism from U.C. Berkeley. While completing her graduate studies, she co-produced and shot “School Crossing,” which was nominated for a student film award by The British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2020.

Eleni is happiest when she is in the ocean with her 10-month old daughter, holding a cinema camera, dancing with her hula halau, or studying a new language.

EDUCATION

  • Bachelor's Degree, American University

  • Spanish Certificate, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid

EMPLOYERS

  • Global News intern, Associated Press

  • Video Storytelling Intern, Berkeleyside

  • Reporter, Pacific Business News

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Asian American Journalists Association San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Scholarship 2017-2018

PUBLICATIONS & OTHER WORK

  • Jennifer Bravo's Story, KQED Newsroom: shorturl.at/bijJK

  • New industry could lead to a pot of gold, Pacific Business News: shorturl.at/agRYZ

  • “Rebuilding is a article after California wine country fires,” Associated Press, Aug. 2018 https://apnews.com/e1aa907f21a242499d056d1d7d379017

MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS

  • National Association of Hispanic Journalists

  • Asian American Journalists Association

REPORTING INTERESTS

Education, Health, Immigration, International, Investigative

MEDIA PLATFORMS

Documentary, Multimedia, Photojournalism, Video Journalism