Jenn Schanz joined the NBC Chicago team as a freelance reporter in June 2024.

Originally from Grand Rapids, Mich., she spent her college years here in Chicago at DePaul University. While attending DePaul, she interned for NBC 5 political reporter Carol Marin and producer Don Moseley through the DePaul Documentary Project, and covered the 2012 NATO summit as a student journalist.

She has worked as both a general assignment and special assignment reporter in Lincoln, Neb., and Buffalo, N.Y., in addition to working as an anchor in Detroit. Jenn has covered several national stories, including the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando and the 2015 Papal visit to the United States.

While in Detroit, she reported extensively on the city’s historic black neighborhoods, legacy pollution, and widespread protests during the 2020 election.

Jenn is proud to have contributed to "Inside The Epidemic," a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award-winning series examining western New York's opioid crisis.

Before her career in journalism, Jenn briefly taught English in Seoul, Korea.

When she's not in the newsroom, Jenn is running along the lakefront or trying a new dim sum spot in Chinatown.