Three OPC Foundation Scholar Award Winners Among the New York Times 2025 fellows

Sonia Rao, Simar Bajaj and Kailyn Rhone

Kailyn Rhone ’23, Sonia Rao ’24 and Simar Bajaj ’24 have been selected for the New York Times one year Fellowship program starting in June.

Kailyn Rhone will be the New York Times business fellow following her finance reporting fellowship at The Wall Street Journal in New York.

Sonia Rao will spend the year reporting on The New York Times' National desk about disability issues in America. Sonia had an OPC Foundation fellowship at the Reuters bureau in Nairobi in fall 2024.

Simar Bajaj will be the New York Times Well fellow focusing on health and wellness reporting. During last year, Simar has won multiple awards for his work, such as the 40 Under 40 Leaders in Health Award by National Minority Quality Forum, Banga Family Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship by Harvard University, Outstanding Article Award (Health) by American Society of Journalists and Gold Kavli Science Journalism Award by American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The previous 2024 class of the New York Times fellows include OPC Foundation Scholar Award winners Rachel Nostrant, Kate Selig and Simon Levien.