Marie D. De Jesús is the director of Pictures of the Year International (POY) and co-director of College Photographer of the Year (CPOY), a founding member of the Houston Landing and the organization's first director of photography. She was previously a senior staff photojournalist for the Houston Chronicle, where she concentrated on developing relationships with Houston's diverse communities. Prior to working for the Chronicle, Marie worked for the Democrat and Chronicle, a daily newspaper located in Rochester, NY, and the Victoria Advocate in TX. In 2022, Marie became the first woman of color to serve as the national president of the National Press Photographers Association.
Along with several Chronicle colleagues, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the team category of Public Service in 2017 and is a winner of the staff award for Public Service Award from the Scripps Howard Foundation in 2017. Her career also includes recognition by The Headliners Foundation’s Showcase Award Storytelling category in 2022 and 2023, the National Press Photographers Association’s Best of Photojournalism in 2016, the Texas APME in 2016, 2017, 2022 and 2023, and The Charles E. Green Awards in 2016. Marie has participated in various fellowships and workshops, including the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Adelante fellowship (Central America, 2017), The Kalish Workshop (2019), and the Mountain Workshops (Frankfort, KY, 2015.)
Marie was a photographer and later photo editor for the student newspaper InMotion in Daytona Beach and graduated with a BS from the University of Central Florida. She interned at the Orlando Sentinel during the fall 2007 and in the summer 2008. She also interned for six months in 2009 in Virginia Tech's communication department. Marie is a proud alum of The New York Times Student Journalism Institute and Chips Quinn Scholars program.
Marie’s works tell the stories of underrepresented communities, including migrants and refugees in Houston, the Texas/Mexico border and South America. When Marie is not working on issues affecting Spanish speaking communities, she enjoys working on education stories. Marie was born and raised in Puerto Rico, five miles from the Arecibo Observatory.
She now lives in Columbia, Missouri with her 11-year-old dog Kodak.
Awards List:
Silver, The Headliners Foundation’s 2023 Showcase Award Investigative category: "Deadly Detention"
Gold, The Headliners Foundation’s 2022 Showcase Award Storytelling category: "Haitian Odyssey"
Third Place, Texas Managing Editor: Freedom of Information 3A - 2023
Honorable Mention, Texas Managing Editor: Freedom of Information 3A - 2023
Third Place, Texas Managing Editor: Community Service 3A - 2023
Third Place, Texas Managing Editors: Sports Photography 3A - 2022
Third Place, Texas Managing Editors: Photojournalism 3A - 2022
Finalist: Pulitzer Prize - Public Service - April 2017
Winner: Public Service Award: Scripps Howard Foundation - March 2017
Second Place: APME (Texas) Best Video under two minutes - March 2017
Third Place: APME (Texas) Best Video under two minutes - March 2017
Winner: The Charles E. Green Awards (2016) - Tapb and Tapme Best online package
Winner: Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service Journalism for "Denied"
Third Place: Star Photojournalist of the Year (Class 4A) - March 2016
Honorable Mention: NPPA Best of Photojournalism - 2016
Photo by John Tedesco