Executive Director
Morgan Malone,
Executive Director
Morgan is City Bureau’s Executive Director. With a strong background in administrative operations, city government, inclusive placemaking, and economic development, Morgan brings experience in community-driven partnerships, complex systems change, organizing and advocacy, and social impact program design to City Bureau.
Chicago Programs
Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger,
Director, chicago documenters
Rachel serves as the Director Chicago Documenters at City Bureau. A proud Chicago native, Rachel blends their eclectic experiences in pastoral leadership, program management, policy advocacy, and community organizing to provide a fresh perspective on civic engagement. Rachel has led policy initiatives for advocacy groups in Chicago and D.C., winning meaningful policy changes while equipping individuals with the tools needed to become active participants in local government. Committed to justice, equity, and transparency, they aim to foster a more informed and active citizenry through City Bureau.
Marilyn Carteno,
Events and Outreach CoOrdinator
Marilyn is City Bureau’s Events and Outreach Coordinator. She is an educator and theater artist who is committed to creating spaces where folks feel heard and welcomed. In this role, she will plan and facilitate City Bureau’s public events as well as develop relationships with civic and community organizations in Chicago’s BIPOC neighborhoods.
ARIel cheung, editorial director
Ariel is City Bureau's Editorial Director. She is based in Chicago and previously worked at the Chicago Tribune, Modern Luxury and DNAinfo. Her passion for proactive community-focused journalism brought her to City Bureau, where she oversees Chicago coverage produced by the fellowship program, local Documenters and the Newswire newsletter.
Sarah Conway,
Senior Reporter & Special projects manager
Sarah is City Bureau’s Senior Reporter & Special Projects Manager. She won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting. Sarah writes investigative stories rooted in records and data and connects people with resources to improve their lives.
Grace Del Vecchio, Documenters Editorial Manager
Grace is City Bureau’s Documenters Editorial Manager. She is a proud Philadelphian with a background in organizing, reporting and producing. Grace is passionate about developing newsroom practices that prioritize opportunities for Chicagoans to grow as storytellers and stakeholders while developing their own relationships with civic engagement and participation.
Dawn Rhodes,
Civic Editor
Dawn is City Bureau's Civic Editor, leading our civic journalism programs. She has spent 15 years in local journalism, previously with the Chicago Tribune and Block Club Chicago. Dawn comes to City Bureau with a fierce passion for mentoring new generations of journalists and a commitment to reimagining how we practice journalism.
Jerrel floyd,
engagement reporter
Jerrel is City Bureau’s Engagement Reporter. Previously, he was a ProPublica Illinois fellow and a local government reporter with the Post and Courier in Charleston, SC. He has covered a wide range of topics from growth and development to education and health. In this role, he will develop a beat centered on public and affordable housing and food accessibility as well as mentor early-career reporters in our Civic Reporting Fellowship program.
W.D floyd,
director of community engagement
W.D Floyd is City Bureau’s Community Engagement Director. He is a multidisciplinary practitioner whose work is grounded in the desire to illuminate the dignity of those who have traditionally been framed through a lens of degradation.
Documenters Network and National Impact
Christian Aldana, DOCUMENTERS NETWORK Learning Manager
Christian is the Documenters Network Learning Manager. They are an educator, community organizer and multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago. She develops learning workshops, materials, and communities that support the success of the Documenters Network. They are committed to creating liberatory, equitable, and accessible learning environments. Their work is informed by their experiences managing dynamic programs across generations, and their experiences in training and leadership development.
JODY CHONG, Managing Director, Documenters Program
Jody is the Managing Director of the Documenters Program. Based in Atlanta, she leads the strategy to grow and support Documenters programs across the country. Her work is grounded in justice and liberation for all people. Jody has a background in nonprofit operations, strategy, and economic justice programs and policy.
NavJOT HEER, Network engagement manager, documenters network
Navi is City Bureau’s Network Engagement Manager the Documenters Network. She comes from the Central Valley of California with a background in architecture, urban planning, and community organizing. Currently based in Chicago, Navi aims to foster connections between people and ideas, dismantle expertise, and co-create dignified spaces for systems-impacted people to thrive.
EVE LACIVITA, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT
Eve is City Bureau’s Director of Product, leading product development and strategy. A Chicago native now based in Boise, Idaho, she brings a deep background in both digital product innovation and nonprofit strategy. Her passion is helping nonprofits scale impact in human-centered ways with the support of technology and design thinking.
Max Resnik,
director of growth, documenters network
Max is City Bureau’s Director of Growth for the Documenters Network. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Max works with civic and media organizations across the country to equip community members to document and amplify important local information from public meetings.
Kris smith, director of network and learning, documenters network
Kris is City Bureau’s Director of Network and Learning the Documenters Network. In this role, they use their background in nonprofit administration, consulting, project management, and trauma-responsive and healing-centered facilitation to support the network to thrive. Based in Philadelphia, Kris grounds their work in co-creating spaces for people and communities to critically think, deeply feel, and self-determine aligned actions.
maja stina sunleaf, site success manager, documenters network
Maja is a Site Success Manager for City Bureau’s Documenters Network. Her previous experience in academia centers her approach to resource and program creation with stakeholders at the forefront. Based in Chicago, Maja employs her background in anthropology to understand and develop connections and community.
anastazia Vanisko, site success manager, documenters network
Anastazia is a Site Success Manager for City Bureau’s Documenters Network. Based in Cleveland, OH, she first got involved with her local Documenters program in 2021 as a Documenter herself. She has a background in journalism, as well as facilitating and organizing community gatherings with nonprofits and newsrooms. In her work, Anastazia focuses on eliminating barriers to participation and creating resources to support our growing network.
Sonam vashi, network success director, documenters network
Sonam is City Bureau’s Director of Network Success for the Documenters Network. Based in her hometown of Atlanta, she leads the development of strategies to support a thriving network of community journalists. She has a background in local reporting, archival research, and nonprofit leadership as a cofounder of Canopy Atlanta.
Communications & Development
TYRA BOSNIC, Lead Development Writer
Tyra is City Bureau’s Lead Development Writer. Born and raised in Chicago, Tyra comes to the work with a background in journalism and state government that has centered on tapping into the power of words to redefine narratives and foster collective healing.
Maria Dikcis, Communications Manager
Maria is City Bureau’s Communications Manager, a role supported by the American Council of Learned Societies Leading Edge Fellowship. With a multidisciplinary background in humanities research, editing, digital production, and prison education, Maria is dedicated to crafting narratives that drive social justice initiatives forward and highlight the power of collective action. She holds a PhD in English from Northwestern University and was born and raised in Chicago.
Kristen Fallica, Director of communications
Kristen is City Bureau's Director of Communications. Drawing on her diverse background in digital strategy, education, nonprofit leadership, and public programming, Kristen is energized by developing marketing and communications strategies to help City Bureau expand its reach and impact.
Louise Macaraniag,
DEvelopment coordinator
Louise is City Bureau’s Development Coordinator. She is a writer, organizer, and activist who is committed to creating a more equitable, pro-people media landscape for community members and organizations.
Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel,
digital producer
Yasmin is City Bureau's Digital Producer. With a background in theatre (dramaturgy and criticism), education, and oral history, their multidisciplinary work as a queer, fat, brown, femme amplifies and archives stories that go lost/stolen/forgotten. They have hands on City Bureau's socials, newsletters, and website and enjoy working collaboratively to promote civically-made journalism programs and projects.
Operations
Alaa Almezanin,
Director of operations
Alaa is City Bureau's Director of Operations. She is a driven management consultant based in Chicago, with a dynamic background and a passion for both professional and personal growth. With a foundation in software engineering, she leverages her technical expertise to bring strategic insights and innovative solutions to the forefront of organizational challenges.
Harry Backlund,
interim chief operating officer
Harry is City Bureau’s Interim Chief Operating Officer and the founding publisher of the South Side Weekly, a volunteer-run community newspaper in Chicago.
catherine campos, chief of staff
Catherine is City Bureau’s Chief of Staff. Based in Washington, DC, she previously served as the Senior Program Coordinator for the Aspen Institute Socrates Program and a Program Manager for Impact for City Year Washington, DC. Catherine has a passion for civic engagement and dialogue and community engagement.
Eli Ramirez,
Operations and finance Manager
Eli is City Bureau’s Operations and Finance Manager. Once a music educator and hospitality professional, he deeply values creating long-lasting and meaningful relationships with folks that love Chicago.
Cristina salgado,
Director of people and culture
Cristina is City Bureau’s Director of People and Culture. She values storytelling, community and healing justice. Her life's work has been about co-struggling with young people and building student voice programs and practices. She is bringing her culture building and organizing skills to continue innovating our equitable hiring process, as well as our internal systems and structures.
amira turner,
executive assistant
Amira is City Bureau’s Executive Assistant. She is a Chicago-based professional with expertise in data analytics, nonprofit development, and community engagement. With competencies in performance metrics, program evaluation, and administration, she is bringing a detail-oriented intentionality to her work across City Bureau.
shabaka verna,
operations coordinator
Shabaka is City Bureau’s Operations Coordinator. He pulls from his background in multimedia, special events and information systems to fuel ingenuity and equip people to dream big. In this role, he maintains administrative systems to ensure City Bureau’s space is used to have a positive impact on staff and community.
Board of Directors
Joe Germuska: Executive Director at Northwestern University Knight Lab
Jaclyn Jackson: Chief Administrative Officer, National Equity Fund
Matt Martin: Vice President, Employee Health & Benefits, MarshMcLennan Agency
Wendy Lee Haines: Partner, New Profit