Ivey Schofield rejoined the staff of Border Belt Independent on June 6.

Schofield, who worked as a part-time writer and freelancer for BBI last year, came from The Fayetteville Observer, where she was a government watchdog reporter. Before that, she worked at Columbus County’s The News Reporter, where she covered local government, elections and health. 

Schofield grew up in a small town in South Carolina called Eastover. She then attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where she studied Spanish and Arabic. She moved to Washington, D.C., and got her first job in journalism. 

After a couple of years, Schofield came to southeastern North Carolina to work at The News Reporter and to be closer to family. 

Schofield then became a part-time writer for Border Belt Independent when the nonprofit news organization launched in March 2021. After six months, she turned to freelancing to focus on her full-time job with The News Reporter. 

In March 2022, Schofield took a job with The Fayetteville Observer, but soon realized that she wanted to tell the stories of her community in southeastern North Carolina. 

Schofield will primarily focus on Bladen and Columbus counties, but she will also write about issues that affect Robeson and Scotland counties. Email her at iveyschofield@borderbelt.org, and follow her on Twitter @SchofieldIvey.