Serve a reporter of daily online hyperlocal newspaper. Produce daily byline stories on news, business, education, and government as well as community happenings and fundraising efforts. Established and maintain respected and trusted relationships with residents, politicians, religious leaders, school officials and residents. Train and manage high school interns. Personal Achievements and Awards: • TAPinto Excellence Award - 2017•  Garden State Journalism Association 2020; 2nd place - Print Feature; 3rd Place - Print Series

Public relations/media consulting/photography company with diverse client base, including libraries,village government and non-profit organizations. Work closely with clients to determine publicity needsand appropriate approaches to maximize coverage in print and online editions as well as radio andtelevision outlets. Write press releases, announcements and articles for publication, provide coverage at events and take photographs. Serve as spokesperson and media contact before and after special events and/or distribution. Former clients include the Westbury Memorial Public Library, The Sarah Grace Foundation For Children With Cancer, Inc., Long Island Opera, Alexander’s Angels and the Incorporated Village of Westbury.Key Accomplishments• Created the Incorporated Village of Westbury’s 2011 Recycling Campaign (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3z5KXreRBk). Developed community-wide recycling slogan; wrote, directed, filmed and edited public service announcement (YouTube.com: Westbury Village Recycling Campaign) used to promote the effort and encourage students, residents and businesses within the village to do their part.• Increased community awareness of Westbury Memorial Public Library services, programs and offerings by supplying local media with weekly news releases and event notifications, resulting in increased utilization of services, program attendance and patronage.• Successfully pitched media for coverage of Long Island Opera’s premiere performance at MolloyCollege’s Madison Theatre, resulting in the venue’s first sold-out performance to date.• Assisted non-profits in promoting annual fundraisers, resulting in increased attendance at benefitdinners, walks and symposiums, etc. and raising monies to support their causes.

Wrote cover stories and in-depth articles on, celebrities, athletes, chefs, business owners and community game-changers for luxury North Shore monthly magazine. Served as travelcorrespondent/writer, visiting various cities and working closely with public relations agencies, hotel management and tourism representatives to provide readers with detailed and objective reviews. Collaborated with managing editor to coordinate and develop story ideas and special issue themes. Worked closely alongside copyeditor and art director to provide feedback on edits, layout and design. Served as interim copyeditor and proofreader.

Eight-year record of commended performance with chain of 18 weekly newspapers. Served as editor of two weeklies (The Hicksville Illustrated News and The Westbury Times) with combined circulation of10,000. Produced byline stories on a range of areas (news, sports, business, education, government,healthcare and community happenings). Attended meetings and conducted in-depth research andinterviews. Provided county- and town-wide news coverage for inclusion in all editions and contributed to special sections. Edited and distributed town-wide releases. Trained and managed freelancers and interns. Worked closely with art and typesetting departments to ensure smooth production of newspapers. Established and maintained respected and trusted relationships with residents, politicians, religious leaders, school officials and residents.Personal Achievements and Awards: • Recipient of prestigious awards from the New York Press Association, Fair Media Council and Press Club of Long Island.• Consistently singled out as one of the most prolific writers and productive story contributors among reporting staff, earning repeated commendations for excellence in writing and reporting.• Transformed The Westbury Times from a small, hometown advertorial into one of the newspaper chain’s highest circulated publications over course of eight-year tenure.• Recognized by the NYS Senate and Assembly, the Towns of Oyster Bay and Hempstead and Nassau County as well as by local civic and philanthropic groups for dedicated news coverage and attention to community issues.

Pitched media, conducted press conferences and handled media inquiries. Wrote editorial content for newsletters, press releases, brochures and public service announcements. Organized, publicized and conducted press conferences, health fairs, blood drives as well as other in-house and community-wide events. Updated in-house website, hospital-wide electronic calendar and responded to outside email injuries.

Instrumental in the start-up of two new weekly newspapers (Merrick Herald and Bellmore Herald) covering Nassau’s South Shore. Wrote localized weekly stories, time-sensitive pieces and items for special sections. Covered county-wide events for pickup by newspaper chain’s other 10 editions. Served as Health Editor.