About Us

PRODUCT STRATEGIST

Mariah is a product strategist with deep experience in the news and media industry. She’s currently the executive director of product at The Atlantic with a focus on driving subscription growth and enabling retention through feature adoption and delightful subscriber experiences. Previously, she led product teams at The Wall Street Journal, McClatchy, and Crain Communications, playing a key role in building features that drive readership and engage subscribers.

PRODUCT DESIGNER

With over 12 years of experience in product design and strategy, Hani specializes in guiding the entire design process—from user research and concept development to seamless implementation. Her passion lies in creating products that are not only visually compelling but also intuitive and user-friendly. She is currently a principal product designer at The Washington Post.

TECHNOLOGIST

Debbie is a mission driven technologist, front end engineer, and fiction writer based in Chicago. Her specialities include CMS-based web development and data visualizations, and she has over ten years of experience working with mission driven organizations on technology solutions. She is currently a technical writer at Prompt Therapy Solutions.

JOURNALIST

Brandis is an award-winning broadcast journalist with 20+ years of experience. She is currently the Alexandra and John Nichols Chief Correspondent and Anchor of "Chicago Tonight" and "Chicago Tonight: Black Voices" on WTTW, Chicago's PBS member station. In her experience, she has covered a vast range of subjects including education and criminal justice, both radio and television, local and national platforms.

PRODUCT DESIGNER

Chelsea is a design leader for people and products that empower creative work. As Design Lead for creator tools at The Washington Post, she established a consistent research practice with newsroom users, advocated for a new branch of the design system, and launched collaborative editing experiences for the newsroom. Working across various industries throughout her career, she brings a passion for design systems, knack for user research, and a commitment to learning.

PRODUCT STRATEGIST

Matt is a skilled product thinker with a proven track record of leading cross-disciplinary teams to deliver exceptional products used by millions of people. He is skilled in developing a wide range of solutions, including LLM chatbots, enterprise legal/government software, mobile apps, and customer-facing websites. Matt is currently a Sr. Product Lead for Willow Tree, a Telus Digital Company. Before joining WillowTree, Matt worked at McClatchy as a Product Designer and a Technical Product Manager; helping overhaul McClatchy’s subscription and paywall toolset.

STRATEGIST & STORYTELLER

Marina is an interdisciplinary storyteller focused on community building and creating equitable media narratives. Her work has seen her operate as a journalist, cultural strategist, and external and internal communications consultant for some of the biggest and most prestigious brands in media, a variety of emergent channels, and big brands like Target and Nike.

STORYTELLER

L’Oreal is an award-winning journalist, sought-after keynote speaker, and the bestselling author of Stop Waiting for Perfect: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Your Power. Her lifestyle and wellness writing has been featured in The Cut, Essence, Fortune, New York Magazine, SELF and Well + Good among others. In addition to her editorial work, L'Oreal is also the founder of LT in the City Media, a multimedia platform and full-service communications consultancy dedicated to helping ambitious women and purpose-driven brands tell their stories and make an impact.

DESIGNER

Andrew is a passionate and versatile designer dedicated to creating visually compelling and user-centric experiences. With a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of design principles, Andy specialize in narrative digital and print design, and art direction. He is currently a designer at The Washington Post.

PRODUCT DESIGNER

Niya is a Product Designer with specialties in Information Architecture and Accessibility. As a Senior Product Designer at The Atlantic, she leads design strategy for experiments and AI-driven storytelling tools for readers and internal staff. Before joining The Atlantic, Niya worked at National Geographic as a Senior UX/UI Designer, where she led design and qualitative research for digital tools supporting a global community of Explorers.

JOURNALIST

Katie is a science writer and developmental editor who specializes in crafting compelling stories that maintain scholarly rigor. She has written for Science, Nature, American Scientist, and Undark. She is senior contributing editor at American Scientist and the environmental health beat leader for the Association of Health Care Journalists.

STRATEGIST & RESEARCHER

Alain is a multi-faceted strategist and designer with a background in mechanical engineering and consulting. As a strategy consultant at Accenture, Alain worked with a varied set of clients, from Google to The Smithsonian Institution. He specializes in design research and is passionate about building circular-economy solutions. He is currently a Dean’s Fellow at MIT Sloan.

DESIGNER

Holly is a versatile designer with a career that spans product design, art direction, marketing, illustration, and animation. She currently focuses on the story experience as a Product Design Lead at The Washington Post. A constant in her experience is storytelling and collaboration. That diverse background allows her to tackle complex challenges with creativity and a strong understanding of user and business needs.

PRODUCT MANAGER & ARTIST

Azeezat is a product manager and visual artist that works under the name Àbíkẹ́ The Artist. Azeezat specializes in leading highly cross-functional teams to deliver projects that address complex digital challenges through human-centered solutions. She is passionate about building products that impact everyday people, especially in the areas of art, tech, sustainability and retail. She is currently a project manager at Huge.

AUDIENCE STRATEGIST

Angela is a digital media consultant with a background in audience development. She previously served as Director of Audience at The Arena Group’s Sports Illustrated. She also led audience efforts at Yahoo Sports, Yahoo News and MAKERS Women. Before her digital media career, Angela was an audio producer for the public radio programs Marketplace and Weekend America. Angela holds an M.A. in Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in Sociology from University of California, Irvine.

PRODUCT DESIGNER

Madison is a product designer, strategist, and researcher who specializes in growing and engaging audiences. As a product designer at Informa TechTarget, a B2B media company, she designs web, newsletter and CMS-based experiences for a portfolio of 37 trade publications. With roots in journalism, she brings curiosity, storytelling, and a talent for simplifying the complex into every aspect of her work.

ANIMATOR & MOTION DESIGNER

Patrick is a 3D/2D animator and motion graphic designer with experience working in news (McClatchy) and non-profits (Common Sense Media and FHI 360.)

VISUAL STORYTELLER

Danielle is a versatile media professional with over 15 years of experience in photo editing, creative strategy, and visual storytelling. She has worked across journalism, curation, and creative projects, collaborating with photographers, writers, and designers to produce impactful narratives. As the founder of Black Women Directors, she amplifies the work of Black women in film through programming, community-building, and innovative storytelling initiatives.

PRODUCT DESIGNER

Hadley is a design lead who excels at navigating ambiguity, simplifying complexities, and driving process change. Some of her key strengths include holistic UX strategy, detailed user flows, information architecture, prototyping, and design system management. Her approach to creativity revolves around a passion for clarity, efficiency, and organization. She is currently a senior product designer at The Farmer’s Dog. Hadley started her career in design agencies, working for Dentsu Creative and Huge.

PRODUCT DESIGNER

Danielle is a designer with an interest in the way both form and function can be used to tell stories. She loves design systems, advocating for accessibility, and finding inspiration outside of the realm of design. She is currently a Senior Visual Designer at Huge where she works with brands like Darling Ingredients, Vanguard, and Citrix.

STORYTELLER & STRATEGIST

Diamond is an journalist and social media strategist with over a decade of experience working in media and technology. She has shaped content and social media engagement strategies at Epic Games/Bandcamp and Rookie. Her work has appeared in Harper's Bazaar, New York Magazine, The New York Times and others. She specializes in crafting content strategies that build communities and drive measurable impact.

STORYTELLER

Marc is an award-winning writer, ghostwriter, and content strategist who specializes in using storytelling to take complex topics and transform them into approachable and engaging content. He's spent more than two decades crafting compelling stories for organizations like the American Medical Association, the Chicago Cubs, and Northwestern University, along with a host of nonprofits and higher ed institutions.

PRODUCT DESIGNER

Darius is a Senior Product Designer specializing in user experience, product design, and content management systems. Currently at The New York Times, he is leading the design of Wirecutter’s new CMS, focusing on optimizing editorial workflows and enhancing publishing efficiency. Previously, Darius was a Senior Product Designer at The Washington Post, where he played a key role in revamping digital experiences. Before that, he worked at 60Grit Studios, designing immersive experiences for global brands such as Google, Facebook, Christian Dior, Nike, and Microsoft. His multidisciplinary expertise spans UX/UI design, interaction design, rapid prototyping, and A/B testing, with a background in both engineering and graphic technology.

DATA STRATEGIST

Aditi helps organizations set up, interpret, and act on their data to build products and strategies that drive loyalty and growth. With a background in Human-Computer Interaction and experience on analytics teams at Chicago Public Media, NPR, The Daily Beast, and Protocol, she brings both high-level strategy and hands-on analysis to every stage of a project.

She thrives in spaces where content, product, and measurement intersect. Her work focuses on building systems for growth and retention, designing meaningful KPIs, and translating complex user behavior into action-ready strategy.