Lilo has covered New Jersey for two decades, much of it with Gannett newspapers, reporting on public policy, national political conventions and the 9/11 attack on lower Manhattan. She later served as press secretary to Gov. Jon S. Corzine and led a nonprofit coalition's successful advocacy for federal funding in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Lilo joined NJ Spotlight News fulltime in 2016 to cover health care.