Odette Yousef
Odette Yousef is a WBEZ reporter covering immigration, race and class.
Since joining the station in 2010, Odette has covered a range of stories including local and state efforts around immigration policy, DREAMers and the impact of travel bans on Muslim-Americans and refugees. She has also delved into the reality of homelessness in Chicago, with stories about tent cities and the disappearance of affordable housing on the North Side. In 2016, Odette was part of a team at WBEZ to win a National Edward R. Murrow Award for best Continuing Coverage of how local officials in Puerto Rico were sending drug addicts to unlicensed therapy groups in Chicago, with false promises of professional treatment.
Odette’s coverage includes enterprise and data reporting, and she has contributed to NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, PRI’s The World and WNYC’s The Takeaway. In 2015, she served as president of the Chicago Headline Club, which is the largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Prior to joining WBEZ, Odette was a reporter at WABE FM in Atlanta.
Odette received a B.A. in Economics and East Asian Studies from Harvard University.
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This week saw a second BIGGER public release of data from Epik, a web hosting service favored by the far-right. The hack offers an glimpse into the world of extremism, but comes with cautions.
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Law enforcement is bracing, again, for possible extremist violence on Capitol grounds. The "Justice for J-6" rally — a nod to Jan. 6 when Trump supporters mobbed the Capitol — is set for Saturday.
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The pandemic may be dealing a final blow to one industry: dry cleaning. The past year's work-in-sweats norm has accelerated the decline of this mom-and-pop, and mostly immigrant industry.
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Latino and immigrant groups in Chicago say that the electronic gang database is inaccurate, that there is no way for people to remove their names and that it's leading to some deportations.
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One teenager reveals how the possibility of power drew her in.
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Odette Yousef of WBEZ reports on the debate in Illinois, trying to determine the answer to one important question: What makes ride-share services different from taxis?
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Chicago has dug in its heels on a new city ordinance that puts banks on the line for securing and maintaining vacant homes. But the federal government, on behalf of mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is fighting the law in a test case that could affect other cities, too.