Ashley Alvarado

Ashley Alvarado is the community news editor for California Watch and The Bay Citizen, where she oversees the news-engagement and public engagement staff. She is focused on helping to reach new audiences and engaging communities around CIR, California Watch and Bay Citizen stories. Ashley is also CIR's Public Insight Network analyst. She currently serves as managing editor of Los Cabos Magazine and previously worked at Los Angeles and Tu Ciudad Los Angeles magazines. Ashley is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

Katharine Anderson

Katharine Anderson received her B.A. from UC Berkeley. Post-graduation, she spent two and a half years of working on various political campaigns, in a variety of capacities. During this time she garnered a diversity of skills, which, along with her naturally detail-oriented mind, landed her the gig as the Manager of Data and Analytics at The Bay Citizen.

Agustin Armendariz

Agustín is an investigative reporter specializing in data analysis for California Watch. He previously worked at the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i> where he was a database specialist on the watchdog reporting team. While there, he delved into city finances, redevelopment projects and foreclosures. He earned his masters in journalism from American University in Washington, D.C. Agustin worked at the Center for Public Integrity and was a contributor to the publication <i>The Buying of the President</i> (2004) which was a <i>New York Times</i> bestseller.

Allegra Bandy

Allegra works closely with the Executive, Associate and Finance directors to help maintain the smooth operation of the CIR office and its regular functions. Allegra Bandy is a native of San Francisco with an extensive background as an educator as well as a musical performer, recording artist, composer, producer, and director for the past 16 years. For more information go to <a href="http://www.allegrabandy.com" target="_blank">www.allegrabandy.com</a>.

Katherine Bella

Kathy brings more than 30 years experience in the nonprofit sector to her work at The Bay Citizen, having served as a nonprofit board member, executive director, chief advancement officer and consultant. Most recently she served as Principal of The Bella Group, a firm providing philanthropic counsel to more than 80 Bay Area nonprofit organizations with budget sizes and fundraising programs ranging in size from $5 million to more than $100 million. Prior to her consulting work, her experience includes serving as Executive Director of DES Action USA; Vice President for Development at Planned Parenthood Golden Gate; Chief Development Officer for the Friends and Foundation of the San Francisco Public Library; and Associate Director of Annual Giving at the University of California San Francisco. At The Bay Citizen, Kathy oversees the fundraising program for the organization including charitable support from individuals, foundations and corporations, and corporate advertising. As an active volunteer, Kathy has served on the boards of the Craigslist Foundation, Association of Philanthropic Counsel, Association of Fundraising Professionals - Golden Gate Chapter; UCSF AIDS Health Project; ODC (Oberlin Dance Company), and Connecticut NARAL; and as a member of the Endowment Campaign Committee of Synergy School. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and son.

Joshua Bonnett

Joshua Bonnett got the programming bug early, going so far as to draw screens and buttons on blocks of wood while other kids were playing with toy cars. Eventually able to buy a computer with money earned from painting apartments over a summer, he started teaching himself Linux. While in high school he was able to attend some classes taught at MIT by the students, where he got his first taste of actual programming. After graduating high school, he then went on to the University of Massachusetts Lowell to study computer science and history. At the end of sophomore year he started working at a non-profit called The Community Software lab. After quickly realizing that working suited him far more than college, he dropped out and went to work. After relocating to San Francisco, Joshua then began working in the tech industry first as a Systems Administrator and then in Software Development, where he has remained for the last 4 years.

Trey Bundy

Trey Bundy writes about youth for The Bay Citizen. He worked for 10 years as a residential treatment counselor with children from backgrounds of abuse and neglect. In 2009, he won the national William Randolph Hearst Award for Article of the Year. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, SF Weekly, Planet magazine, and Razorcake magazine.

Michael Corey

Michael Corey is the news applications developer for the Center for Investigative Reporting and California Watch, and specializes in front-end Web development, interface design and online mapping. He previously worked for the Des Moines Register. His work on the Iowa Caucuses contributed to several national awards, including an Online News Association award for Outstanding Use of Digital Technology. He was also co-leader of a regional-Emmy winning project commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Buddy Holly crash. Michael graduated from Drake University.

Jon Cotton

Jon works as a server software developer. At The Bay Citizen that means coding the backend logic that runs the site and contributing to an open-source news publishing platform. Prior to this, Jon worked writing servers to support mobile device syncing with music and broadcast television. Before moving to SF, he worked for seven years in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in both backcountry recreation and for a non-profit mountaintop weather observatory. Though a lot of time there was spent chipping ice off of instrumentation and assessing cloud types, Jon also built a long-distance wireless network to collect real-time weather data from across the region.

Kristin Crawford

Kristin Crawford, Manager of Operations, comes to the Bay Citizen with three years of experience working for McKinsey & Company, a global consulting firm. She studied Art and Design as an undergraduate at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, followed by a stint living in Spain. She returned to San Francisco to be surrounded by the creative energy for which it is so well known. In her position at The Bay Citizen she is in charge of events that engage the public in The Bay Citizen's work.

Zusha Elinson

Reporter covering bikes, buses, BART, buildings, and buds at the Bay Citizen. I was a legal reporter at the Recorder, an editor at the Marinscope and I started my career at the Oakland Post.

Meghann Farnsworth

Meghann manages distribution and online community building for both the Center for Investigative Reporting and California Watch. She works with editors, reporters and multimedia producers to create comprehensive distribution strategies in print, radio, television and online media outlets, as well as blogs, online communities and social media. In addition, she works to develop and maintain media partnerships and collaboration. Previously, she was the associate editor of Forums at PBS' NewsHour where she covered the 2008 presidential election and inauguration, and she created interactive online forums that helped grow and engage the NewsHour's online audience. Most recently, Meghann was the senior digital media manager at Home Front Communications in Washington, D.C., where she worked in digital media management, interactive development and outreach for nonprofit and government clients. She earned her master's degree in journalism from UC Berkeley in 2007.

Nikki Frick

Nikki Frick is a copy editor for California Watch and the Center for Investigative Reporting. She previously worked as a copy editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and held internships at The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and Washingtonpost.com. Nikki graduated from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was an American Copy Editors Society Aubespin scholar.

Aaron Glantz

Aaron Glantz covers housing, real estate, development, and veterans issues for The Bay Citizen. Before joining TBC, Glantz spent seven years covering the war in Iraq and the treatment veterans receive when they come home. He is author of three books, most recently "The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle Against America's Veterans" (UC Press). He is a third generation San Franciscan. aglantz@baycitizen.org, 415-821-8523

Jennifer Gollan

Jennifer Gollan covers regional politics and government oversight for The Bay Citizen. She joined the organization from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, where she produced watchdog stories involving 35 local governments and Broward County schools. She previously wrote for the Marin Independent Journal, the Santa Barbara News-Press and the Los Angeles Times. Raised by Australian transplants, Jennifer grew up in San Francisco and Boston.

Peter Goodman

Peter has worked in Bay Area media for over twenty years in a sales and creative capacity. Having successfully sold sponsorships for major radio, television, print and internet media outlets, he was also president of his own public relations and marketing firm at which The Bay Citizen was one of his clients. Peter received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a Minor in Marketing from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa. in 1989. Having represented KQED Public Radio and Television for six years, he is delighted to be working again in the non-profit sector.

Reyhan Harmanci

Marie McIntosh

Marie McIntosh is the Public Engagement Manager at The Bay Citizen. She also knows a lot about the US Presidents.

Keith Meyer

Keith Meyer is a marketing veteran with nearly 20 years experience in various disciplines including online and offline marketing, brand strategy, and marketing communications. He has gone from various marketing roles at name brand companies like Sunkist, Visa, Wells Fargo, AAA, and Charles Schwab to more recently launching marketing efforts at several small to medium-sized start-ups. Keith holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Miami University of Ohio, and a Global MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Katharine Mieszkowski

I'm a senior reporter for The Bay Citizen, covering the environment and health. I welcome your tips and comments. I've been a journalist in the Bay Area for more than 15 years, where I've been on staff at Salon and Fast Company. My writing has also appeared The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones and MS. Follow me on Twitter @kmieszkowski. Email me at Katharine_Mieszkowski@baycitizen.org. Or, give me a call at: 415-821-8531.

Cherilyn Parsons

Cherilyn directs all fundraising for CIR, including California Watch. She also helps develop CIR’s overall strategy and new projects. She has over twenty years of experience in fund development, with an emphasis on large foundations and individual major donors. For the past ten years she has built a specialization in fundraising for nonprofit journalism and media organizations – combining her own experience as a writer with her passion for social justice and philanthropy. She graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in English magna cum laude and a Master’s in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California. She taught in USC’s School of Business Administration for several years, and began to work with journalism, communication, and health/medicine faculty on writing multi-million dollar grant proposals. Her consulting company, Strategic Communications, Inc., served nearly two-dozen clients, from KCRW Public Radio to the USC Annenberg School, and from a former U.S. Secretary of State to the Nepalese Youth Foundation. Along the way she created a full-service development department for USC’s Independent Health Professions, and then was recruited to become USC’s Director of Foundation Relations, where she was part of USC’s $2 billion campaign in the 1990s. Her feature articles and photographs have been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Online Journalism Review, and other outlets. She is regular book reviewer for www.truthdig.com, and has been traveled extensively. Her philosophy of fundraising is matchmaking – bringing together people with shared commitments and complementary resources to create great work.

Rebecca Saar

Rebecca's background is in marketing, market research and organization development both in the governmental and nonprofit sectors. She did a year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Marin County, focusing on capacity building and program development. She has a degree in International Studies: Political Science from UC San Diego where she founded and led Model United Nations, a student organization that within its first two years organized two 250-delegate conferences and raised funds for members to travel and compete nationally. She also interned for governmental agencies including Congresswoman Susan Davis’ office and the U.S. Department of Commerce/Commercial Service Germany, located at the American Consulate in Frankfurt.

Janice Sager

Janice oversees financial planning, budgeting and financial management of the Center for Investigative Reporting, collaborating on strategic planning and the long term sustainability of CIR. She brings over 20 years of financial and business management experiece, focusing on nonprofit media, journalism and the arts. She has worked at some of the most respected media producers/outlets in the country, including KQED Public Radio, WGBH Public Radio and FRONTLINE. Prior to her career in media, she was a theatre and dance manager in New York City. She has a master's degree in arts administration from Columbia University and a master's degree in sociology from McGill University.

Adithya Sambamurthy

Adithya Sambamurthy is a San Francisco-based photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. Prior to joining The Bay Citizen, he worked on documentaries for National Geographic Television, PBS Frontline/World, and as a photo/video journalist for the San Jose Mercury News. Adithya started his photojournalism career in Florida, where he worked for the Fort Myers News-Press and the St. Petersburg Times. At The Bay Citizen, Adithya wants to continue using photography and video to tell local stories.

Christa Scharfenberg

Christa Scharfenberg manages the day-to-day operations at the Center for Investigative Reporting. She oversees marketing and branding, community engagement and story distribution. As part of the leadership team, she assists with strategic planning, business development and fundraising. She joined CIR in 2003 as communications director and served as acting executive director in 2007 before becoming associate director. Christa was the senior producer of CIR's documentary "Banished" and executive producer of "Dirty Business: 'Clean Coal' and the Battle for our Energy Future" and the "Frontline" co-productions "Hot Politics" and "A Dangerous Business Update."

Shane Shifflett

Shane Shifflett is a software developer and reporter who learned how to interrogate data while a story at Northwestern's Medill School. There, he wrote about a drug-addled prostitute's 300th arrest and the unforgiving criminal justice system failing its inmates. He also reported on the Chicago Police Department's wasteful deployment of cameras across the city. Before reporting, Shane studied computer science at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, worked construction, moved packages for UPS, and wrote software for a mutual fund company.

Matt Smith

Matt Smith ’s two-decade career in journalism began at the Sacramento Union, a now-defunct metro daily that had employed Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and Herb Caen. From there he went on to staff positions at newspapers in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Twin Falls, Idaho; Fairfield, California; and Newport News, Virginia. Between 1994 and 1997 Smith was staff correspondent in Mexico City for Dow Jones International Newswires. And for 14 years he was staff writer and lead columnist for SF Weekly. Smith holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York, and a B.A. in political science from Reed College, in Portland, Oregon. Before his career in journalism, Smith was a professional bicycle racer. He was born in Berkeley, and now lives in San Francisco with his wife and two daughters.

Sergio Soria

David Suriano

David Suriano's passion for user interface design began before the popularity of today's internet. In 1987 he discovered the world of 2400 bps modems and local Michigan BBSes. By 1989 he was customizing the ANSI art interface of his own multi-node BBS. David later obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communications from Collins College in Tempe, Arizona. He has successfully been self-employed as a designer for over seven years, working with a diverse range of clientele from start-ups to billion dollar corporations.

Kendall Taggart

Kendall Taggart is a researcher and reporter for California Watch and the Center for Investigative Reporting. Kendall previously worked for Ben Loeterman Productions as a researcher for upcoming documentary films and at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR). At NECIR, she focused on an investigation of how the Cambridge police used, and potentially abused, the disorderly conduct charge. Kendall is a Massachusetts native and graduate of Reed College. She has lived and worked in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Trujillo, Peru.

La Toya Tooles

La Toya Tooles is a journalist who uses in-depth reporting and social and digital media to give a voice to those made silent. She has a passion for storytelling and a strong desire to affect public dialogue. She has written for The Brooklyn Ink, Salon.com, OhDang!Mag, The Afro American, The Golden Gate [X]Press and the Western Edition. La Toya received her master’s degree in digital media journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in print journalism.

Shoshana Walter

Shoshana is the crime and punishment reporter for The Bay Citizen. Send/call tips to swalter@baycitizen.org or 415-821-8524. Before moving to the Mission, she wrote about runaway monkeys, murders and all sorts of mayhem as a cops reporter for The Ledger in Lakeland, Fla., where she also won a 2009 Sigma Delta Chi award for non-deadline reporting from the national Society of Professional Journalists and the Gold Medal for Public Service from the Florida Society of News Editors. She loves San Francisco weather, thrift-shopping, hearing your story, humongous earrings, coffee, drawing, reading and writing creative nonfiction. She has a B.A. in American Studies from Mount Holyoke College and completed the Poynter Institute's 2007 summer fellowship for young journalists.

Andy Wright

Andy Wright runs The Bay Citizen's Pulse of the Bay blog. Previously, Andy worked as the web editor at the SF Weekly and as the assistant culture and community editor for The Bay Citizen. A California native, she graduated from Antioch College in Ohio.

Suzanne Yada

Suzanne Yada is the web producer for the Center for Investigative Reporting. She has worked as a social media strategist for the San Francisco Public Press, an independent nonprofit news organization in San Francisco. She's also been a web producer at the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. She was previously a copy editor for the Visalia Times-Delta, a daily newspaper in the heart of Central California. Over the course of her career, she has been involved in at least nine media-related start ups. Suzanne is a recent journalism graduate from San Jose State University.

Denise Zapata

Denise Zapata is the associate editor for California Watch and the Center for Investigative Reporting. She has spent her career as a journalist in California, most recently in San Diego. Her newspaper experience began at The Bakersfield Californian, where she covered education and county government and was later named city editor. In 2000, Denise joined The San Diego Union-Tribune as an assistant metro editor, overseeing reporters focused on local government and education. She also worked as a reporter for the Watchdog Institute, based at San Diego State University. Denise is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and a graduate of Santa Clara University.

Mia Zuckerkandel