A former U.S. foreign correspondent, she is currently based in Mexico City where she is director of Fundacion MEPI, an investigative journalist project that promotes binational and regional investigative projects.Arana was a media trainer for various international groups, including the Inter American Press Association and the International Center for Foreign Journalists. She conducted trainings in Africa, Latin America, and South and East Asia. Between 2007-2008 she was a Knight International Journalism Fellow in Mexico, where she worked with various dailies, training journalists and building investigative units. One of the investigative teams she trained at El Universal won Mexico’s National Press Award in 2008.