Matt Mencarini is a data and accountability reporter at Bridge Michigan. He was born and raised in Chicago and joined Bridge in July 2026 as a Report for America Corps Member. His journalism career has taken him to five different states. He reported on mass incarceration in Kentucky, voting rights in Wisconsin and local government in Illinois. He spent more than two years covering the Larry Nassar case for the Lansing State Journal, including investigating Michigan State University’s failures to stop the abuse sooner. He was also part of the Louisville Courier Journal team that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news.