VOICE OF SAN DIEGO - Key Persons
Andrea oversees the production of daily news stories for Voice of San Diego. She welcomes conversations about San Diego's communities and untold stories.
Bob Kelly served as the President and CEO of The San Diego Foundation for two decades. Since retiring from TSDF in 2014, Bob has held the role of Executive in Residence at the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy and has continued his work to foster strategic partnerships between organizations and community leaders. Bob joined the VOSD Board in 2015.
Job Titles:
- Member Emeritus of the Board
Bob owns a media management company which is actively engaged in newspaper and magazine consulting. Prior to forming his own company, he owned three community newspapers in suburban San Diego. He is a former publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Boston Herald. In 20 years with United Press International, he rose through the ranks to become executive vice president and general manager.
Brittany Cruz-Fejeran is a student at San Diego State University working toward a degree in journalism. She loves to tell compelling stories through her photography. Currently, Brittany is a photo intern for the San Diego Union Tribune
Job Titles:
- Retired Venture Capitalist and Entrepreneur and Former Chairman
Buzz Woolley is a retired venture capitalist and entrepreneur and former Chairman of the Board of Voice of San Diego. He is President of Girard Foundation which has provided funding for K-12 education projects in San Diego County since 1986.
Catherine Allen grew up in North County and is currently a student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo pursuing a degree in journalism with a minor in statistics. She first discovered a passion for data and investigative journalism when she began covering health, policing and homelessness in 2020. Catherine is currently editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, Mustang News, and previously interned with the Coast News and The San Luis Obispo Tribune.
Job Titles:
- Founder of 3MC Strategies
Chris Cate is the founder of 3MC Strategies, a San Diego firm specializing in public policy, public affairs, and business development. Chris founded the firm following his 8 years of service on the San Diego City Council representing District 6. Chris was only the third Asian American in San Diego's history elected to the City Council. In addition to VOSD, Chris serves on the board of ECS California, UC San Diego Chancellor Community Advisory Board, and the Mira Mesa Community Planning Group.
Cynthia Morgan-Reed is a legal entrepreneur and land use attorney at Morgan-Reed Law. She has served on Civic San Diego, the Downtown Partnership, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, and many legal and land use organizations. She is a strong advocate for government transparency and an educated electorate.
Derek Quackenbush is a business leader who has helped drive the growth of exciting healthcare and technology companies. Derek's background spans private, public and international companies ranging from start-up to Fortune 500 and Big-4 public accounting in leadership roles such as CFO, COO, and interim-CEO. Mr. Quackenbush is actively involved in the community with board/committee roles at Sharp Healthcare and the San Diego Seniors Community Foundation. Mr. Quackenbush has been a participant in the San Diego Venture Group, San Diego Tech Founders, StartUp San Diego, and the CFO Roundtable. Mr. Quackenbush was a finalist for the San Diego Business Journal's CFO of the year (2009).
Devin Whatley was a reporting intern for Voice of San Diego in Summer 2020. He was born and raised in southeast San Diego and graduated from San Diego State University.
Erica manages major giving, grants, and development planning at Voice of San Diego. She welcomes conversations about how you can further the outstanding work of Voice.
Job Titles:
- Officer at San Diego Magazine
Erin Smith is the former Chief Content Officer at San Diego Magazine, where she ran content strategy for 10+ publications as well as digital products, podcasts and corporate partnerships. She has more than 15 years of experience in the media industry, starting as a reporter at BusinessWeek in 2004. She currently works in marketing at the San Diego Tourism Authority, serves on the board of trustees of the San Diego History Center and has lectured on media and the magazine industry at the University of San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene.
Gabriel Schneider (he, him, his) was born in La Mesa and grew up in Hemet, California. He is the current editor-in-chief of The Daily Aztec. Before arriving at San Diego State University, he was editor-in-chief of City Times, the news organization of San Diego City College. Listening to community members, researching, talking to subject matter experts then creating the content in a way that is digestible to the audience is what sparked his passion. Schneider was in the Marine Corps as an Infantryman before starting his journey in journalism.
Job Titles:
- Digital and Broadcast Journalist
Jack Molmud is a digital and broadcast journalist CBS News 8. He writes, shoots, edits and voices stories. Since graduating from San Diego State University, his favorite issues to cover include education, politics and social justice.
Jakob McWhinney found his passion for journalism when he returned to community college during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his first semester with San Diego City College's student news site, City Times, he covered everything from politics to education to local music. He is now Operations Manager for City's student-run news organization, City Times Media, which includes City Times, a radio station and a weekly television news show.
Jennifer is Voice of San Diego's development coordinator. She supports Voice's operations department and membership initiatives.
Jesus Medrano was born and raised in San Diego. After graduating from MIT with a mathematics degree he returned back to San Diego to work as an aerospace engineer on autonomous drones then transitioning to software engineering. Jesus has worked on several popular mobile applications for large tech firms in the Silicon Valley / San Francisco Bay area. Today he works on mobile applications at Uber Technologies Inc.
Julia Annette Woock is a Latina born in Tijuana, Mexico, raised in a binational borderlands community by a single mother. She is double majoring in political science and journalism, while transferring from Southwestern College to a four-year institution. She holds associate degrees in Italian, economics and liberal studies with an emphasis in math and science. Woock is the Editor-in-Chief of America's #1-ranked community college newspaper, The Southwestern College Sun, where she covers local politics, immigration and indigenous civil rights.
Julianne manages the business side of Voice, ensuring that the organization has the resources and support structures necessary for continued growth and success. She brings more than 25 years of corporate and not-for-profit management experience to VOSD.
Job Titles:
- Enterprise and Investigative Reporter
Kara Grant is an enterprise and investigative reporter from Los Angeles, currently living in New York City. She writes about mental health, psychiatry, and other breaking medical news.
Kathryn Gray grew up in San Diego. After graduating with a degree in Global Studies and Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Gray spent many years living in San Francisco, Washington D.C and abroad working with for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Upon returning to San Diego, Gray began studying journalism at San Diego City College, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning student newspaper and website City Times. An avid explorer, Gray has lived in Ecuador, Spain and Chile and traveled extensively throughout North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East but her greatest adventure so far has been writing about how people, places and ideas intersect to form the intricate landscape that makes her hometown exceptionally unique.
Katy Stegall is an SDSU student studying to be an investigative reporter who focuses on police accountability, racial/class inequities and surveillance technology. She was named the National Two-Year College Reporter of the Year with the Associated Collegiate Press in 2019 during her time as Editor-in-Chief of The SWC Sun.
Katy is currently working as an Investigative Research Assistant at KPBS while finishing her degree at SDSU. She intends to be a criminal justice/investigative reporter upon graduation.
Job Titles:
- Senior Investigative Reporter
Lisa writes about San Diego city and county governments. She welcomes story tips and questions.
MacKenzie writes about science, environment and energy for Voice of San Diego. Send her a tip, story idea or question.
Job Titles:
- Director of Marketing
- Marketing Director
Megan is Voice of San Diego's marketing director. She is responsible for producing and overseeing content that extends the reach of the organization.
Nate John is Voice of San Diego's digital manager. He oversees the website, newsletters and podcasts.
Neil was the author of 12 books including "Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel" (with Judith Morgan), and "Westward Tilt." As a journalist, his decades of prodding regional efforts have helped to make San Diego a center of higher education and scientific research. Neil passed away in February, 2014. The Neil Morgan Fund for Investigative Reporting was created in his honor.
Job Titles:
- Director of Marketing and Communications at Girl Scouts San Diego
Nickie Peña is the director of marketing and communications at Girl Scouts San Diego, where she supports the council's advancement and philanthropic efforts, spearheading its marketing communications, PR and media relations, government affairs, and local branding efforts.
Outside of her career, Nickie is active in her community through her volunteer work with MANA de San Diego, San Diego Brewers Guild, Pink Boots Society and California Craft Brewers Association.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- President & CEO of Red Door Interactive
Reid Carr is the President & CEO of Red Door Interactive. Named a Top Small Company Workplace by Inc Magazine, Red Door works with clients such as Petco, Cricket Wireless and Rubio's. In 2011, iMedia Connection named Reid one of the 25 Hottest Digital Marketers. His civic involvement includes membership in Rotary International's Club 33 and the Young Presidents Organization. He is a 2010 graduate of INFLUENCE San Diego.
Scott makes sure the journalists have jobs and that the editors what they need to provide San Diegans with the best journalism possible. He also co-hosts the most popular public affairs podcast recorded in downtown San Diego (the Voice of San Diego Podcast) and collaborates on the weekly Politics Report along with his own occasional investigative reporting and analysis.
Scott Lewis is Voice of San Diego's editor in chief and CEO. Scott oversees Voice of San Diego's operations, its website and daily functions. He also writes about local politics, where he frequently breaks news and goes back and forth with local political figures.
Scott Woolley is a San Diego native and journalist who writes about business, technology and public policy. He was the west coast bureau chief for Forbes magazine and wrote The Network, a book of narrative nonfiction published by Ecco/HarperCollins. He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College and the Kennedy School of Government, and currently resides, grudgingly, in Los Angeles.
Will Fritz was a reporting intern at Voice of San Diego in 2019. He now reports at Top Class Actions.
Job Titles:
- Senior Investigative Reporter
Will Huntsberry investigates corruption and mismanagement in public institutions. He has also written extensively about education and COVID-19. Contact him with tips about fraud, waste, injustice, and inequality in San Diego.
Bill was a journalist for more than 44 years for The San Diego Union-Tribune, covering local government beats and local, state and national politics before being assigned to the newspaper's Washington, D.C., bureau. He returned to San Diego, serving in various newsroom management positions before being named director of the Editorial and Opinion Department in 1998. He retired in February 2016. Bill is a graduate of the University of Missouri and its School of Journalism.