Allison Watkins, of Brooklyn, NY, is a journalist at the New York Times. She was recognized as a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in national reporting for a series of articles that exposed the CIA’s attempted cover-up of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the agency’s post 9-11 torture program. She recently covered the crime beat in New York City and was also recognized by the News Leaders Association as part of a package of reporting that examined police brutality, impunity, and use of force. She was also recognized by the Silurians Press Club for a story that highlighted how gentrification had pushed out traditional fight clubs in New York City, erasing a critical support for at-risk youth. She was also recognized with the New York Times’ Publisher’s Award for reporting about a respected ER doctor in New York City who died by suicide during at the height of the COVID pandemic, sparking a national conversation about mental health in the healthcare industry. She will spend her Mitchell year writing a narrative nonfiction book on a cell of IRA gun runners who trafficked hundreds of rifles through Philadelphia to the IRA in the 1970s. The book, forthcoming from Little, Brown, is billed as the definitive account of American hands in the Troubles. A graduate of Temple University, Ali was a member of the Division One rowing team while also working as a part-time reporter in Washington, DC. Ali is studying Writing at the University of Galway.