Cassie Ordonio is a reporter for Honolulu Civil Beat. She joined the news organization as an intern in 2021, having previously interned at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for a year, covering the Legislature, social issues, education and more.

She also reported for San Francisco-based newspapers El Tecolote, 48 Hills, Ingleside Light and Castro Courier.

Cassie, of Filipino and Chamorro descent, was born and raised in California. She recently graduated from the University of Hawaii Manoa with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Pacific Islands studies.

Along with working for Civil Beat, she is also one of 22 fellows for AAJA Voices, a mentorship program that aims to increase diversity in journalism while providing mentors from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN to train them.

When she’s not working, she’s on a desperate search for some good horchata or simply trying to keep her house plants alive.