Alumni Spotlight: Kadin Mills
Kadin Mills is a 2024 graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is a first-generation descendant of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of Lake Superior Ojibwe. He is also of German and Irish descent.
At Northwestern, Mills worked closely with Dr. Patty Loew as a research assistant on the 2022 Tribal Youth Media Workshop, taking part in community-building efforts in Indigenous communities across the country. He also served as both Opinion editor and In Focus editor for The Daily Northwestern. Mills previously contributed to WBEZ’s Curious City, reporting on local Indigenous history in Chicago.
Mills participated as a fellow during the 2023 Native American Journalism Fellowship (now the Indigenous Journalism Fellowship) and was selected for the first-of-its-kind IJA-ICT-Scripps political reporting fellowship for the 2024 U.S. election season.
"I have learned so much in the last two years with the support of the Indigenous Journalist’s Association. From being named as a fellow in 2023 to being selected to intern for ICT’s Washington, D.C. bureau in 2024, IJA has offered me the resources to build a portfolio of work I am proud of.
“Probably the most important thing I have learned so far is to be proud of myself and how far I have come — to just put the work out into the world. This was a hurdle I was hesitant to jump over before IJA.
"Before moving to the U.S. capital, I had no experience reporting on politics (and frankly, I didn’t have much interest either). Wow, did that change! In D.C., I had the opportunity to interview Native politicians like Tom Cole and Sharice Davids, as well as representatives to the UN. I even participated in my first live broadcast for election night.”
Kadin hopes to continue his career in journalism, shining a light on social and environmental issues, with a long-term goal of working as an investigative reporter and editor. Kadin is currently open to opportunities, and you can view Kadin’s resume here and his LinkedIn profile here.