Senior Reporter, USA Today's Mid-Atlantic Connect Team.

Facilitator for the Philadelphia Writers' Conference Spring Session - News Writing.Six-week workshop which focused on several aspects of the news gathering and reporting, including but not limited to: sourcing; embracing the Associated Press' Stylebook and Libel Guide; adhering to other tradtional news writing forms, including the inverted pyramid; and shopping one's work.

CSPR - Comprehensive School Planning Review office.• Responsible for the planning and logistics for an array of 21 citywide Study Area Planning Committee meetings, including but not limited to: reserving the location; e-mail and calendar invites to selected stakeholders; printing and disseminating of materials to be distributed at the meetings; ensuring District police were notified of the meeting and securing their presence; on-site set up and orchestration of the CSPR operations team; and securing catering.• Created a comprehensive Social Media Plan.• Implemented a new inventorying system for the CSPR team.• Implemented a community outreach system of alerting.• Assisted in preparing the Director for meetings with the Philadelphia media and District Superintendent.

• Supported the organizing of individual community members into registered, cohesive advisory councils.• Responsible for the day-to-day communication to the citywide network of recreation centers and their attached advisory councils, to ensure their basic needs are addressed.• Maintained positive communication and synergy between the Alliance, recreation leaders, district managers, advisory councils, the Philadelphia Recreation Advisory Council and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, so that all entities share the same information and thusly, work in seamless cohesion for the betterment of the communities in which we work.• Maintained an expansive database of the Alliance’s complete outreach efforts, including meetings, consultations, mediations, and other crucial data. • Assisted in the complete reorganization of certain at-risk and troubled centers. • Attended monthly advisory council meetings at partner sites.• Contributed to the Alliance’s social media presence.• Assisted with walk-in requests at the Alliance’s offices in West Philadelphia.

• Managed the Senator’s public-facing image, inclusive of assisting in shaping official responses and press releases.• Responsible for creating both the monthly e-newsletter and the quarterly newsletter, which was mailed to the homes of more than 225,000 constituents.• Aligned media coverage for the Senator’s various constituent-based initiatives, including the Septa Senior Pass rollout.• Managed the Senator’s social media presence, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine outlets, ensuring that posts are refreshed daily and that posters received answers to their responses.

· Evaluated leads and pitched compelling story ideas to editors.· Displayed flexibility to work any assigned shift.· Demonstrated ability to think quickly and respond appropriately in high pressure situations.· Necessary and expansive knowledge of local and national current events, newsmakers, and issues.· Displayed ability to work inside a climate-controlled office/studio environment and outside in all weather conditions including extremes in hot and cold temperature, wet or humid conditions.· Analyzed facts and information to determine the most effective way to tell the story.· Wrote and reported stories and updates for use online and in print, according to the prescribed style guide.· Built contacts in many areas to maintain a flow of news, such as with the police and emergency services, local council, community groups, health trusts, press officers from a variety of organizations and the general public.· Sought out and investigated stories via contacts, press releases and other media.· Answered phones on the news desk and reacted to breaking news stories.· Produced concise and accurate copy according to the newspaper’s house style and strict deadlines.· Conducted live online reporting and real-time blogging when covering important events.· Collaborated with other reporters, editors, and production staff.· Monitored social media for buzzy stories and leads for new stories.· Determined a story's emphasis, length and format, and organized material accordingly.· Demonstrated strong writing skills that highlighted the "now" and "next" angle of a story.· Provided breaking and long-term stories related to politics in Pennsylvania and beyond; creating a weekly, 1,300-word column on state politics; providing in-depth coverage of Philadelphia City Hall and the State Capital in Harrisburg; and providing overall daily coverage of local political issues.

Assisted the project coordinator in setting up the framework for a publication created by and for Philadelphia School District students. Coordinated, gathered and edited submissions from the students, and produced a report on the project at the end of the summer.· Assisted in documenting project phases.· Created summary reports for organization management.· Analyzed risk and opportunities.· Monitored project progress and handled any issues that appeared.· Ensured standards and requirements were met through conducting quality assurance test.· Work with Project Manager to eliminate blockers.· Made sure stakeholder’s needs were met as project evolved.· Assigned task to teams and assisted with schedule management.· Helped prepare budget.· Broke projects into doable actions and set timeframes.· Coordinated project management activities, resources, equipment, and information.

supported the ombudsman with direct, daily interactions with the reading public; worked on numerous special projects and public engagements, including public speaking on behalf of the paper; collected and distilled information from a variety of sources such as interviews, cold calls, internet based research, press releases and other reliable sources; utilized social media outlets by integrating Twitter, Facebook and Plurk into a daily routine to update readers. Also developed an award-winning urban weekly section; visited the sites of events and incidents, along with hospitals, and governmental offices to get acquainted with the facts; developed and maintained contacts with police and fire administrative officials, community organizers, stakeholders and Registered Community Organizations; contributed to several sections of the paper, including sports, education and editorial; and produced a series of front-page cover stories.

· Supported the ombudsman with direct, daily interactions with the reading public.· Worked on numerous special projects and public engagements, including public speaking on behalf of the paper.· Collected and distilled information from a variety of sources such as interviews, cold calls, internet-based research, press releases and other reliable sources.· Utilized social media outlets by integrating Twitter and Facebook into a daily routine to update readers. · Developed and wrote an award-winning urban weekly section.· Developed and maintained contacts with police, fire administrative officials, community organizers, stakeholders and registered community organizations.· Contributed as writer to several sections of the paper, including sports, education and editorial.· Produced a series of front-page cover stories.· Built contacts in many areas to maintain a flow of news, such as with the police and emergency services, local council, community groups, health trusts, press officers from a variety of organizations and the general public.· Ensured that all content met company standards for journalistic integrity and production quality.· Supported editorial staff in all activities leading to publication.· Liaised with other in-house teams, writers, photographers, printers, designers and production staff to negotiate and monitor timescales for stages in the publishing process.· Corrected manuscripts and obtained rights to use materials from other publications