Zach Perez
Community Engagement ProducerNews is only useful when it addresses your questions and concerns. As KCUR's community engagement producer, I speak directly with diverse communities in our region to help our newsroom understand what matters to them. Through this communication, I ensure your questions and concerns are thoroughly addressed by our coverage.
What should KCUR be talking about? Who should we be talking to? Let me know. You can email me at zjperez@kcur.org or message me on Twitter at zach_pepez.
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KCUR invited Congress members from Kansas and Missouri to answer questions from constituents about what's happening in Washington. Despite multiple invitations to each of the area’s federal elected officials, just Democratic Reps. Sharice Davids and Emanuel Cleaver II chose to attend. Here's what we heard. -
Students in the Kansas City area are grappling with keeping their grades up and losing friends after the COVID-19 pandemic upended their lives. A group of students at Guadalupe Centers High School spoke with their peers about how that impacts their mental health. -
28-year-old Natalie Zarate spent two decades working towards becoming a citizen after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as a child. Except now she worries that the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to crack down on immigration and end birthright citizenship could endanger her and her family. -
Después de una redada muy difundida en un restaurante mexicano en Liberty, Missouri, a principios de este mes, los defensores y abogados de inmigración se apresuran a educar a los dueños de negocios sobre sus derechos al tratar con las autoridades federales de inmigración. Algunos dueños de negocios en las comunidades latinas y de inmigrantes enfrentan un creciente temor entre los clientes y el personal. -
After a highly publicized raid on a Mexican restaurant in Liberty, Missouri, earlier this month, immigration advocates and attorneys are rushing to educate business owners on their rights when dealing with federal immigration authorities. Some business owners in the Latino and immigrant communities are facing a growing fear among customers and staff.
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Robert Galicia, an immigrant from Mexico City and a Chiefs fanatic, started hosting tailgates at Arrowhead Stadium in a school bus in 2013. He's grown those tailgates into a successful business, the "Red Machine," which has helped him to find community and a sense of belonging in the U.S. -
What does it take to feel like an American — and to be treated like one? Several communities, including in Kansas City, shared their perspectives on the immigrant experience. -
Last year's chaotic FAFSA rollout and the Trump administration’s goal of closing the U.S. Department of Education have some Kansas City area college students nervous about access to some of their main sources of financial aid being further complicated or lost entirely. -
Why throw your Christmas tree in the dump when you can “treecycle” it? Here’s how and where you can make the most of your unwanted trees after the holidays. -
KCUR and NPR spoke with 30 small groups of people around the country — including in Kansas City, Kansas — about what they'd want other people to understand about where they live, and what they want to understand about others
