Wendy Carrillo (M.A. Specialized Journalism '09, pictured) won the $10,000 Elfen Foundation Social Justice Award for a short documentary she wrote, filmed and produced about Homeboy Industries Inc., the Los Angeles-based gang intervention and rehabilitation program.

Carrillo, a multimedia journalist, received the first-place award at a June 24 gala at Paramount Studios during the Campus MovieFest 2008-2009 World Tour, the world’s largest student film festival. Carrillo’s film profiles Homeboy Industries, the nation’s largest rehab program designed to help former gang members, many of whom have served time in California prisons, reenter the workforce.

She is the host of “Knowledge is Power,” a progressive talk and urban commentary radio show on KPWR, Los Angeles, Power 106fm Radio, Southern California’s top-ranking hip hop station. Carrillo earned her undergraduate degree in rhetorical communication at California State University-Los Angeles. At USC Annenberg, Carrillo was a member of the inaugural class of the specialized journalism program. This fall, she is completing the demographics and politics specialization.

Documentary