30Under30 Nominee: Juan Collado Diaz
Great to hear from Global 30 Under 30 Nominee, Juan Collado Diaz, who is based in Cleveland, Ohio, where he balances two deeply connected passions: community advocacy and digital storytelling. Juan currently serves as a Programmes Coordinator for Environmental Health Watch and the Lead Safe Resource Center, where he focuses on healthy housing and community outreach. Alongside his public health work, Juan is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inquisitor Media. It was launched in 2021, and Juan directs the network’s creation, distribution and promotion of investigative, historical and civic-focused podcasts.
How did you find your way into research, data and insights?
Research and data have never been a mystery to me. They are the engines for everything I do. On the public health side, tracking metrics, writing impact reports and coordinating community grants require constant data entry and analysis. On the media side, scripting deep-dive podcasts requires extensive research to pull accurate insights from historical records, civic data and news sources. Whether I’m analysing the reach of a lead-safety toolkit or outlining a 25-minute investigative audio script, generating actionable insights is just a part of my everyday life.
What part of your work are you most proud of and why?
I am incredibly proud of hitting the 100,000 downloads milestone on one of our podcasts on the Inquisitor Media network. Seeing those metrics come in from listeners all around the world is a powerful feeling. It validates the hard work of taking complex research, scripting it into a compelling narrative and successfully distributing it to an audience who cares about the insights we are sharing.
What have you learned so far that you wish you’d known when you started your career?
Numbers are literally everything. I wish I had known earlier how critical it is to obsessively keep track of metrics whether that is audience engagement data on a podcast or community impact numbers for a grant report. The other major lesson is truly knowing your audience. You have to understand exactly who you are speaking to, whether you are designing an Instagram campaign, recording audio on Riverside or drafting a multi-lingual educational toolkit for local families.
What excites you most about the future of insights and what would you like to help change?
What excites me most is the intersection of data and storytelling. My generation has the tools to take dry, complicated data and turn it into accessible, engaging digital media. I want to help change the accessibility of information, specifically bridging the digital divide and ensuring that critical insights reach marginalized communities. Whether translating public health data into Spanish and Portuguese for local families or turning civic history into a podcast, I want to shape a future where insights are democratized and easily understood by the public, not just academics.
What advice would you give someone just starting out in the industry today?
Embrace a multi-disciplinary approach and worry less about sticking to one traditional “lane.” The modern insights industry requires you to be a researcher, a data analyst and a content creator all at once. Learn how to use the tools available to you, from data tracking software to creative platforms like Canva and Adobe, to tell a complete story. Most importantly, learn how to translate your data into a format that actually connects with human beings, especially in this AI era.
Who has helped you along the way?
I must acknowledge the incredible, community-driven team at Environmental Health Watch and the Lead Safe Resource Center, who show me every day what it means to use data to protect and uplift a community. I am also deeply grateful for the creative collaborators who have helped me build Inquisitor Media from the ground up, as well as my family, who constantly inspire my drive to build a healthier, more informed world. But above all, my friends and mentors, Carlos, Omayra and Eddie.