In Memory of Melisa Mercado

Last week, one of Newsela's Senior Contributors, Melisa Mercado, unexpectedly passed away. Melisa has worked on Newsela's Spanish content for almost 3 years now, she was the gold standard for our Spanish pool of contributors and was an absolute pleasure to work with.

More importantly, she was a kind and generous person who absolutely loved working with us! After being recognized as a Contributor of the Month in 2016, she displayed her certificate on the family fridge. She will be missed immensely by our Content team.

(Photo sent by Melisa's husband, Frederico. June 2018)

In 2017, we asked for some testimonials from our contributors. This is what Melisa wrote:

“From the beginning, working as a Newsela contributor has been fascinating and stimulating. I have always felt privileged to be part of a team that is so professional, diverse, and committed to the education of children and young people. Newsela quickly became a source of inspiration for me, as well as an opportunity for constant learning. I feel truly honored to be part of Newsela. I can speak to the quality of the work done and the level of commitment of the members of the different units within Newsela. At Newsela, there are no limits when it comes to quality work and to guaranteeing that each product is useful and relevant. The goal is clear: offering a powerful educational tool, with a major impact on education. Personally, I am ever grateful to have been given a chance to work in Spanish-language products. It is extremely interesting, fun, and challenging. Every day gives me a chance to learn from fellow contributors and from the entire Newsela team. It's fascinating! When special situations have come up, Newsela has also become an extended family, no matter how far away we are on a map.”

She and her family lived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After Hurricane Maria, there was a lot of damage in their community, but they made it through safely and spent many hours volunteering their time to people in need.

She leaves behind her husband, Federico, and her young son Isaac, who she loved to share photos of throughout the years.


Melisa's freelance work for Newsela was a helpful contribution to her family's income, and her husband and son will now have to carry on without that support. Many of us on the Content Team worked very closely with Melisa over the last 3 years, and we wanted to do something, anything, to help.

We've started this fundraiser as a way to help support Isaac and Federico through this terrible time.