Pam Dempsey is the executive director of the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. She is an award-winning journalist who has done investigative reporting and editing on topics including agribusiness, migrant farm workers, health, housing and Native American government.

Dempsey has developed community engagement programs and investigative reporting workshops. She also helped coordinate the launch of two online newsrooms that heavily emphasize data journalism.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Northern Arizona University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois.

Dempsey resides in Illinois with her husband, Dean, and their children, Olivia and Sam.

In her free time she enjoys cooking and traveling, and spending time with her family riding bikes, hiking and watching movies.