Pam Fessler
Pam Fessler is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where she covers poverty, philanthropy, and voting issues.
In her reporting at NPR, Fessler does stories on homelessness, hunger, affordable housing, and income inequality. She reports on what non-profit groups, the government, and others are doing to reduce poverty and how those efforts are working. Her poverty reporting was recognized with a 2011 First Place National Headliner Award.
Fessler also covers elections and voting, including efforts to make voting more accessible, accurate, and secure. She has done countless stories on everything from the debate over state voter identification laws to Russian hacking attempts and long lines at the polls.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Fessler became NPR's first Homeland Security correspondent. For seven years, she reported on efforts to tighten security at ports, airports, and borders, and the debate over the impact on privacy and civil rights. She also reported on the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, The 9/11 Commission Report, Social Security, and the Census. Fessler was one of NPR's White House reporters during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Before becoming a correspondent, Fessler was the acting senior editor on the Washington Desk and NPR's chief election editor. She coordinated all network coverage of the presidential, congressional, and state elections in 1996 and 1998. In her more than 25 years at NPR, Fessler has also been deputy Washington Desk editor and Midwest National Desk editor.
Earlier in her career, she was a senior writer at Congressional Quarterly magazine. Fessler worked there for 13 years as both a reporter and editor, covering tax, budget, and other news. She also worked as a budget specialist at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and was a reporter at The Record newspaper in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Fessler has a master's of public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from Douglass College in New Jersey.
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Baltimore clothing shop Flawless Damsels is one of the more than 400 businesses damaged in last spring's riots. The shop recently reopened and was bustling, though that's not the case everywhere. -
The city tore down thousands of public housing units and is replacing them with mixed-income developments. The goal is to deconcentrate poverty. But it has been a hard return home for some residents. -
Many families forced out of public housing by Hurricane Katrina now use government vouchers to subsidize rent elsewhere. Meant to deconcentrate poverty in the city, the shift hasn't worked as planned.
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Signed into law 25 years ago, the Americans With Disabilities Act was supposed to open the doors to employment for many. But only a small percentage of disabled Americans are working today.
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Disabled Americans are twice as likely to be poor as those without disabilities. They continue to face many financial and physical barriers, despite the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. -
The rapid rehousing program provides the homeless with short-term rental assistance. But many recipients ultimately face the same problems as those who stay in shelters, a new government study finds. -
Nearly 400 businesses were damaged during riots after Freddie Gray's death. But weeks later, the repairs are limping along, despite promises of aid from nonprofits and both city and state officials. -
While doing a profile of a transgender activist in Washington, D.C., NPR's Pam Fessler heard some touching personal stories from trans women trying to adapt to their new lives. -
After becoming homeless and jobless following her transition to being a woman, Ruby Corado got her act together, and now helps others facing similar challenges. "We have a family here," she says. -
The charities have been charged with bilking consumers out of more than $187 million. The Federal Trade Commission along with every state and the District of Columbia brought the charges.
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Twenty states have implemented online voter registration and seven are expected to follow. It has Republican and Democratic support, but some still worry about cyberthreats. -
A day after Baltimore chief prosecutor Marilyn Mosby announced charges against six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, residents of the neighborhood where he grew up hope change will come to the area.
