Portfolio
Below are links to select published articles and projects. However, you can learn more about my career and read an in-depth resume on my LinkedIn profile.
Award-winning stories
FIRST PLACE GOVERNMENT REPORTING 2020 New England Newspaper & Press Association (Providence Business News): “R.I.’s solar industry has grown with the help of state incentives. What happens when they run out?” – Solar energy is increasingly ubiquitous in Rhode Island. Anecdotally, local entrepreneurs and state administrators cite renewables-focused federal and state policy and increased public demand as major factors in the industries growth. What happens when these funds run out?
FIRST PLACE RACIAL OR ETHNIC ISSUE 2019 NENPA (PBN): “For R.I.’s indigenous people, good jobs and prosperity are often out of reach” – Despite a historical presence in the state that predates European settlements and ongoing cultural celebrations that include powwows, tribal leaders believe their members remain a largely untapped economic resource.
FIRST PLACE HISTORY REPORTING 2018 NENPA (PBN): “Is it time for some of the nearly 200 local groups struggling to preserve R.I.’s rich history to consolidate?” – There are more than 460 organizations devoted to history in RI – the smallest state in the union, wow and why.
SECOND PLACE SOCIAL ISSUES FEATURE NENPA 2020 (PBN): “Diversity Elusive in Construction” – White men still dominate the Rhode Island construction industry, though some companies are committed to changing that fact.
THIRD PLACE EDUCATION REPORTING NENPA 2020 (PBN): “Educating teachers is a shrinking business” – Rhode Island schools and others in the region have felt the sting of declining interest in teaching careers. Two-thirds of the 12 local teacher-education programs have seen a decrease or stagnation in education-major graduates between 2008 and 2018.
INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE
New Internationalist: “Escape from Syria” – A three-part story of Hussam, a Syrian doctor, who treated injured government officials at the state hospital by day and volunteered in field hospitals aiding the resistance during the country’s civil war, before fleeing to the United Kingdom.
Part 3: “Fortress Europe”
LOCAL BUSINESS & COMMERCE
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “CrossFit Worcester franchise rebrands after racist remarks” – A local affiliate of the national brand based in Washington, D.C., CrossFit Worcester chose to drop the name CrossFit after CEO Greg Glassman displayed racist and insensitive remarks concerning the death of George Floyd.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “Some Central Mass. businesses experience unexpected boon during COVID-19” – From appliance stores to cleaning companies, food organizations and virtual communications firms, companies across Central Massachusetts have experienced an unexpected boon in business over the past eight weeks.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “Business Matters: Leaders step up amid COVID-19” – The COVID-19 pandemic has turned Worcester — and the world — on its head. The impacts — economic, cultural and financial — will be felt for months. Read business executives responses from various sectors of the local community regarding leadership during the crisis.
As lead producer of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Chamber Exchange, I assigned stories; managed freelancers assignments and budgets; sold advertising; edited, laid out, and wrote content for the quarterly newspaper. Editions I managed run from May 2019 to February 2020.
In 2019 and 2020, I hosted and produced the Voice of Business podcast for the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. I designed a weekly schedule featuring local business executives, nonprofit leaders, and cultural personalities as guests. From episode #1 to #23, I grew the audience by developing the Chamber’s presence on SoundCloud.
SeltzerTime Official Podcast: Emily Gowdey-Backus of the Worcester Chamber Of Commerce sat down with us this week to talk marketing, young professionals, her experiences in Worcester, our mutual love of Crust Bakeshop and New Tradition.
Providence Business News: “R.I. small businesses expanding reach through local collaborations” – three women-owned, micro-businesses make names for themselves through B2B partnerships.
Providence Business News: “Commerce drops broad tourism message for ‘Fun-Sized’ offerings” – A January update on the Rhode Island state tourism campaign, picked up by the AP wire.
FOOD & CULINARY BUSINESS
Edible Worcester: “Edible Food Finds: B-Organic” – Born out of misfortune, B-Organic has a twofold mission—eliminating food waste and expanding her family’s food budget.
Edible Worcester: “Stillman Quality Meats Butcher Shop” – The variety, and the convenience, of the Harding Street shop cultivates loyal customers. Owner Kate Stillman is excited by growing awareness of the Canal District and her role there connecting customers with local food sources.
Providence Business News: “National acclaim hasn’t stopped JWU grad Benjamin Sukle from focusing on the regular patrons who keep filling two popular downtown Providence restaurants” – James Beard finalist birch and Oberlin executive chef Ben Sukle talks food, the balance between restaurant size and creativity and his continued success.
Providence Business News: “Gracie’s founder Ellen Slattery looks to bridge the divide between special-occasion and casual fare” – At the helm of Gracie’s since its opening in 1998 on Federal Hill in Providence, Ellen Slattery has steadily built the brand while also mentoring the next generation at her alma mater, Johnson & Wales University.
Chamber Exchange: “Noms Eatery: A pop-up success in local food scene” – While Mr. Baltazar characterizes his experience in the culinary industry as a deaf person as “difficult,” today he said: “Communication is relative. Food does not care what language you speak.”
Providence Business News: “Despite nearly 300 corporate donors, RI food bank waging uphill battle” – For the food bank, summertime contributions are crucial in the ongoing fight against hunger, especially in the months when demand increases at the same time community giving dips.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Long-form, Q&A-style interviews with previous and current college and university presidents include Dr. Michael F. Collins (UMass Medical School), Donald J. Farish (Roger Williams University) and John Bowen (Johnson & Wales University).
The ABCs and Periodic table aren’t the only subjects students are learning in US schools. A third-grader recounts a “Shelter-In-Place” drill in the case of an armed gunman entering her school.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “Big Data: Talent pipeline spurs growth of local industry,” – More than 530 Big Data companies exist in Massachusetts. While most are located in and around Boston, Central Massachusetts is home to the educational institutions that could define the industry in the future, according to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, “Big Data Report 2015.”
Providence Business News: “Colleges need part-time professors, but is the system fair to them or students?” – Adjuncts, or part-time professors, made up 20 percent of higher ed faculty in 1970. By 2013, that percentage had climbed to half and reliance on adjuncts is even greater at community colleges (70 percent).
Providence Business News: “Financial literacy should be taught early, often” – Industry reports show millennials aren’t thinking about their financial health, experts discuss when and how to educate youth about the importance of financial planning.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “Divesting from Big Oil: Higher ed grapples with social impact of investments on endowments” – An international campaign aimed at convincing colleges and universities to divest their endowment funds of fossil fuel investments has permeated the Worcester academic community – and not everyone is on the same side of the fence.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM
Providence Business News: “Does Rhode Island have the right approach on food waste?” – Recycling and waste industry experts comment on whether the Ocean State’s infrastructure can meet a two-year-old state-imposed ban on food waste?
Providence Business News: “Raimondo forms task force to tackle plastics pollution” – In three years, seven Rhode Island cities and towns have begun banning single-use plastic bags – the ones distributed by grocery stores that often end up lining freeways, coastal walkways and, especially, bodies of water.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “Job vacancies are bare spots for landscape contractors” –Over the course of Bigelow Nurseries’ century-long existence, the company has experienced gains and losses. Like many companies in the so-called green industry, Bigelow suffered during the Great Recession. But the industry is in full growth mode, and Bigelow is looking to hire qualified workers which are proving hard to find.
Providence Business News: “Still recovering from recession, R.I.’s ‘green-collar’ sector sees hope in an apprenticeship program” – It’s a common problem in the local green-collar sector – which encompasses agriculture, agricultural support, cemeteries, golf, landscaping contractors and services, and landscape-related suppliers. Demand for services has been growing but businesses say they sometimes struggle to meet it due to limited skilled labor.
Providence Business News: “Clothing supports marine life” – While he was a University of Rhode Island biological oceanography graduate student, Spike Stone printed marine-life drawings on his daughter’s onesies. Today, his B-Corp. produces marine-life inspired clothing and supports ocean conservation work.
Providence Business News: “Five Questions With David Bordieri, Waste prevention coordinator; R.I. Resource Recovery Corp.”
SHORT & SWEET
Cardiff University: A video interview with now-retired City University London Prof. of Middle East Policy Studies, Rosemary Hollis, about a latter chapter in her research, war studies, in particular Israel and Palestine.
Providence Business News: “Building on their passion” – A Providence-based couple put their degrees, ingenuity and creativity to good use starting a design and build firm.
Providence Business News: “Passion for state history drives Grefe” – ““Anytime you hear someone saying Americans don’t care about their history, I don’t know who they’re talking about because it’s not Rhode Islanders,” said the executive director of the RI Historical Society.
Providence Business News: “Backyard food anytime” –Parents of classmates strike a friendship that leads a to canning and selling pickles, candied jalapenos, red-pepper relish and cranberry-apple and tomato jams.
Providence Business News: “Drinks worth remembering” – With her Olympia Spritz and The Bitter Saint drinks, Willa Van Nostrand entered the family trade – bartending – with Little Bitte Artisanal Cocktails in 2011.
Providence Business News: “Job Creators Q&A: Lisa Raiola, founder of Hope & Main”