Maia McDonald
INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST AND FUNKY FASHION ENTHUSIAST⋆·˚ ༘ *
Thank you for being here! Have a lovely day! ꕀ✎
Thank you for being here! Have a lovely day! ꕀ✎
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Welcome!
Maia McDonald (she/her) is an award-winning Chicago-based independent journalist with an intense love of fashion and the color pink. She is currently a Civic Information Fellow for City Bureau, a non-profit civic media organization on the South Side of Chicago, and serves as vice president of the Chicago Journalists Association.
Maia has reported for several local and national news outlets, including Block Club Chicago, Borderless Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Reader, In These Times, the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, The Guardian, The Progressive, Teen Vogue, The TRiiBE, and others.
Her work has also been republished by Cicero Independienté, Chalkbeat Chicago, the Chicago Sun-Times, Capital B News, Grist, Wisconsin Watch, and others. She’d love to work with you too!
Maia’s experience has included reporting on flooding in the Calumet region, Chicago aldermanic elections, local protests against ICE, Chicago Fashion Week, community opposition to data centers, and much more, links for which can be found on her Muck Rack page, the reporting page of this site, or below.
To learn even more about Maia and her journalistic experience, please explore more of maiamcdonald.me! You can also stop by the maiazine! newsletter on Substack, where Maia writes about fashion and pop culture.
Thanks for stopping by!
Recent Work (Updated Nov. 3, 2025):
Putting Chicago fashion on the map— Chicago Fashion Week wrapped up Sunday after nearly two weeks of fashion education and social events, exhibitions, in-store activations, retail markets, galas, and runway shows, all aimed at elevating the city to be a major player in the international fashion industry. Launched last year, the second iteration again focused on local designers, designers of color, sustainability, and low-cost or free events, important at a time when prices are continuing to rise across the fashion industry. Chicago Reader, 10/29/25. Read a preview.✦View as PDF.
Inside The Viral Kat Abughazaleh ICE Rally Tear-Gassing Video: “Fascism 101”— Abughazaleh, 26, was thrown to the ground at a Chicago ICE protest. The clip drew harassment from Laura Loomer and other right-wingers. Teen Vogue,09/30/25. Read a preview.✦View as PDF.
Chicago gears up as Trump troop deployment looms: ‘We aren’t helpless’— City on edge as Trump threatens to send in national guard, but organizers and residents are taking steps to push back. The Guardian,09/05/25. Read a preview.✦View as PDF.
Democratic socialists think they’re on a winning streak – can they build on Zohran Mamdani’s victory?— Energized after a big New York victory, the group is trying to expand their reach.The Guardian,08/17/25. Read a preview.✦View as PDF.
At Illinois public universities, campus cops pull over Black drivers at higher rates— Campus police also ticketed Black drivers more often than white motorists who were stopped, a first-of-its-kind analysis of stops shows. The Investigative Project on Race and Equity (repub. by the Chicago Sun-Times),05/30/25. Read a preview. ✦View as PDF.
Illinois is the last state to unlawfully strip wealth from homeowners caught in tax foreclosure** — A decades-old state law allows private investors to take people’s homes — and all of their home equity — over unpaid property taxes. Critics say it’s a racist policy most impacting Black communities. The nation’s highest court recently ruled homeowners are entitled to their fair share, but Illinois lawmakers have failed to act. The Investigative Project on Race and Equity and Injustice Watch, 05/14/25. Read a preview.✦ View as PDF.
**Double asterisks indicate a story where Maia contributed reporting.