For more than a decade, I served as a local news editor and reporter with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, covering areas including the Sewickley Valley, Aspinwall, Sharpsburg, Blawnox, Fox Chapel, Carnegie and Bridgeville.

During my time there, I heard from residents, business owners, organization leaders and visitors to better understand the neighborhoods people call home.

At the Sewickley Herald, I helped to honor several community champions as part of the newspaper’s annual Sewickley Herald Citizens of the Year celebration. The honor recognized people and groups within the Sewickley Valley who went above and beyond to serve the Sewickley Valley.

After the Pittsburgh Trib, I led a team of curators in creating daily, content-specific newsletters, and curated a newsletter specifically for Pittsburgh, with a news/tech startup company.

I then joined Hearst Television as senior copy editor, creating and managing a team of copy editors who are responsible for copy editing news and media content across more than two dozen local Hearst Television digital platforms, including local TV station sites and apps, and content for Hearst TV’s Very Local streaming app.

Learn more about my career here.

As a more than 25-year volunteer with the American Cancer Society, I understand the importance of giving back. I began participating with the American Cancer Society while a middle school student, following the death of my grandmother. My commitment to raising awareness and funds grew as I better understood the need for research dollars and money to support programs for those diagnosed with cancer.

Since then, I have served on a number of American Cancer Society groups — nationally, statewide and locally. I have participated with the Relay For Life events in Moon, the Sewickley Valley, Cranberry Township and Erie; Making Strides Against Cancer events in Pittsburgh and Erie; and other American Cancer Society events.

In addition, I have participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and efforts to support the Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation.

I’ve also served as a local lead organizer for the Online News Association Pittsburgh chapter, supported Hair Peace Charities, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Pittsburgh and Autism Speaks.

Among my journalism accomplishments include my efforts to help lead the Pittsburgh Trib and its network of newspapers into a digital era, connecting with communities and readers in new ways. My digital work has been honored numerous times by prestigious journalism organizations, including several Golden Quill Awards from The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania; the Society of Professional Journalists; and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

In addition, my ability to share stories from and about the community has garnered several journalism awards for news coverage, including an environmental reporting award from the Society of Professional Journalists for my coverage of a multi-organizational effort to keep Jefferson salamanders and frogs from dying in sewage in nearby tanks at a plant along the Sewickley Heights/Bell Acres border. The effort was spearheaded by the Little Sewickley Creek Watershed Association and Fern Hollow Nature Center.

Photographer Kristina Serafini and I received a Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association award for her photos and my story profiling the life of a transgender man.

Outside of work and volunteering, I enjoy spending time at Presque Isle State Park, searching old newspaper records, learning more about my family’s history, playing the Sims and live theater. In August 2019, I saw the traveling “Hello, Dolly!” production three times in Pittsburgh because it was that good.

I am a member of the Heinz History Center, where I can spend hours exploring our region’s past. Whether they meant it as a joke or lovingly, friends have called me “Buddy the Elf” for my never-ending love of Christmas. And, I somehow find time to stay updated on the lives of the Bradys, Hortons and DiMeras on “Days of our Lives.”

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