Category: Featured Class Notes

In June 2018 Christina finally took the plunge and launched a website: www.Wombat-womenincombat.com to shine the spotlight on women who hold traditionally male jobs in the armed forces and in defense industries. After working as a defense and military specialist for 20 years from her home base in Paris (France), irritated that it was always the same men who were called upon by media when comment or explanations were needed, she decided it was time these remarkable women from all over the world were publicized. Their stories are inspiring and their career paths fascinating. But as Wombat earns her no money, Christina also works freelance as the military tech writer for Popular Science and as the France correspondent for Defense News.

Marissa Mitchell moves to the nation’s capital as an anchor/host for “FOX 5 Morning” and “Good Day DC” at WTTG-TV. Most recently, Mitchell worked as an anchor/reporter at WAGA-TV in Atlanta where she received a 2020 Emmy nomination for specialty reporting.

Dani Friedland is the new Director of Marketing Communications for The American Institute of Steel Construction.

She and her team are responsible for telling the story of America’s remarkable structural steel industry and the passionate people who work in the fields of architecture, engineering, steel fabrication, and construction. Although their expertise varies, these people have one thing in common: They will leave a legacy in steel.

AISC is a nonpartisan not-for-profit trade institute and industry association, founded in 1921, that strives to increase the market share of domestically fabricated structural steel.

Friedland joined AISC last year after nine years in B2B magazine publishing, where she held editorial, new media, and editorial tech roles. She briefly returned to Medill as an adjunct lecturer in 2018 and had an absolute blast working with the next generation of dedicated journalists.

Gillian B. White, a Managing Editor of The Atlantic, will join The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Board of Directors, Inquirer Publisher and CEO Elizabeth H. Hughes announced Tuesday. White will join The Inquirer Board effective immediately.

White started at The Atlantic in 2014, where she served in various roles including reporter, senior associate editor, senior editor, and deputy editor. As a current Managing Editor, White leads the Special Projects division, which pursues the publication’s most ambitious journalism across a range of platforms, including print, digital, audio, live events, and product. The Special Projects division also works across the company to identify opportunities to maximize financial support for The Atlantic’s journalism and to grow the publication’s audience and reach.

Prior to joining The Atlantic, White was an editor at the personal finance magazine Kiplinger and an analyst in the financial sector. White’s work has also appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Bloomberg, and MarketWatch.

“We are thrilled to welcome Gillian to The Philadelphia Inquirer Board of Directors. Among her many skills as a journalist, she understands the importance of reaching expanded audiences with news in ways they want it —  on their phones and through live experiences, for example,” said Josh Kopelman, Chairman of The Inquirer’s Board of Directors.

“The Inquirer was one of my daily sources of news growing up, and it helped inspire me to pursue a career in journalism. That is why I am particularly proud to join the board of one of the most important news organizations in a city I love,” White said.

White holds a BA in economics and political science from Columbia University and a Medill MSJ.

On the Board, White will join Hughes along with Josh Kopelman (Chairman), Lisa Kabnick (Vice Chair), Stephen J. Harmelin, S. Mitra Kalita, Keith Leaphart, Sunny Rao, Brian Tierney, Neil Vogel, and Richard Worley.

Jenna Bourne won two 2020 Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards, in the categories of “Talent – News – Specialty Assignment” and “Politics/Government – News.” This marks the second year in a row she’s won an Emmy in the “Politics/Government – News” category. Jenna is an investigative reporter at 10 Tampa Bay. She hosts, produces, shoots and edits investigative series “What’s Brewing?” on YouTube channel The Deeper Dive.

The coronavirus crisis gets personal with the recently completed COVID-19 Writers Project (C19WP), a multimedia archive by Medill graduate Clara Zawadi Morris.

The COVID-19 Writers Project is a nod to the Federal Writers Project (FWP) conceived by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that produced the Slave Narrative Collection. These first-person narratives are archived in the U.S. Library of Congress and are considered some of the most important historical records to date.

Similarly, C19WP is a hyperlocal examination of the pandemic through first-person narratives (10 videos, and 10 written and photos essays) from inside one of the virus’s early hotspots – Brooklyn, NYC. The COVID-19 Writers project was supported by The National Geographic Society’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists, ThePulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, and The American Medical Association. From the formerly incarcerated, to the struggling college student to the emergency room doctor, these first-person narratives offer an inside view of the pandemic’s diverse impact on America’s everyday citizens, ultimately helping to answer: What is the crisis telling us about who we are as a society today?

A career marketing leader, Gina Mehmert recently joined the team at Kheiron Medical – a tech startup committed to transforming cancer diagnostics through the power of deep learning – as Vice President of Global Commercial Marketing.

Gina will lead the global launch of the company’s first commercially available product, Mia – a breakthrough AI-enabled solution for breast screening that gives every woman, everywhere a better fighting chance against breast cancer.

“The Kheiron team is filled with incredibly smart, talented, driven people,” Gina said. “The culture here is one of passion and collaboration – and I’m thrilled to bring my marketing superpowers to the team.”

Prior to joining Kheiron, Gina held a variety of senior marketing positions with brand leaders such as GE Healthcare, HP, and Poly. After Medill she received her MBA from the University of Bristol in the U.K.

Todd Johnson has been hired as Chief Content Officer of The Grio, a leading news and entertainment site dedicated to providing African-American audiences with compelling stories and perspectives. Johnson first joined theGrio.com shortly after it launched in August, 2009, as a video journalist and reporter. Johnson was eventually promoted to Managing Editor, helping guide the news site through multiple transitions before it was acquired by Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios in 2016. Prior to his return to The Grio as Chief Content Officer, Johnson served as Editorial Director of NBCBLK, a division of NBC News Digital. Johnson will be responsible for elevating The Grio’s voice and branding, its overall editorial strategy and growing its audience.