Proudly sponsored by
Michelle Rogers
Michelle Rogers is the consumer experience director at the Ventura County Star. She is an award-winning journalist and editor, and has spent the last year overseeing social media strategy, community engagement and events at The Star. Her passion is in digital storytelling and community engagement. She was an original member of Digital First Media's ideaLab, where she was given the resources and time to experiment and innovate with digital storytelling tools for three years. She was the founder of the Southeast Michigan Media Lab and 530 Media Project, training the public in social media and digital media tools, and her work has been written about in national industry magazines. Find her on Twitter @mrogers_VCS, instagram @editormichellerogers and Facebook @michelle.rogers.vcs.
Anthony Plascencia
Anthony Plascencia is a multimedia producer and photojournalist for the Ventura County Star. Being one of the creators and co-producers of the Star’s “Never 30” history podcast, he loves hearing and sharing unique stories of interesting people and places. As a native of Ventura County, he is often out in the community covering local news and attending community events. He lives in Oxnard with his wife, children and an extended family of pets.
Arlene Martinez
Arlene Martinez is part of the Ventura County Star's watchdog team, covering government and tracking spending. She has spent time in various news organizations across the country, writing about politics, education, the environment, sports and music. She spends a lot of time exploring the outdoors with her two creative, energetic toddlers and artist husband.
Cheri Carlson
Cheri Carlson is a member of the Ventura County Star's watchdog team, covering the environment and data-driven stories. Before coming to Ventura County in 2005, she covered education and the environment in California's Central Valley. Growing up in Canada, she kayaked in the summers and learned to ski in the winter. Now she calls Southern California home and loves to spend time on local trails.
DeAnn Justesen
Deann Justesen has spent the majority of her career as an editor and coach in Ventura County, and has been with the Ventura County Star since it was formed in 1995. She started her career in sports, first as a reporter and later an editor, and then transitioned to news. She has worked as a copy editor and assignment editor covering areas such as business, education, and county, city and state government. She currently leads a team of seven reporters whose beats cover business, education, health, government, and restaurants and food. DeAnn enjoys hiking, reading, going to the beach and watching sports. She is a fan of NASCAR, the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys, and USC football.
Linda Martinez
Linda Martinez is a longtime resident of Ventura County and has been a journalist for more than 30 years, most of them working at The Star. She has won numerous awards and enjoys being part of The Star’s community engagement team.
Andrea Howry
Andrea Howry is the communities content editor of the Ventura County Star and host of The Star's podcast, "Never 30." A graduate of Stanford University, she first came to Ventura as a college intern in 1980, then went to Gannett newspapers in Reno, Nevada, and Salem, Oregon, before moving back to Ventura permanently in 1992. She and her husband have three grown children and two rescue dogs.
See what happens
We have shows in both Phoenix and Tucson tonight and they are SOLD OUT! What?! Amazing. We’re really feeling the love in our home state, so thank you so much for your continued support of storytelling! 🙏 #azstorytellers #tucsonstorytellers @arizonadailystar @azcentral
👀 Look who made @phxmagazine’s #40under40! Congrats @meganfinnerty on this recognition of your hard work and dedication to truth through storytelling. We truly admire your vision, leadership and exceptional panache 👌🍾🎉
🗣Happy to welcome new intern Caitlin to our small but mighty Storytellers Project national team! 👏👏👏 #Repost @meganfinnerty ・・・ So proud to welcome our first @thestorytellersproject intern - @cait_hartman!
College students or recent grads, are you looking for a great summer internship? Apply with us and just think of the stories you'll have from a summer with The Storytellers Project! Link in bio. #summerintern #internship #thestorytellersproject
We’re hiring a new addition to the Storytellers Project and Storytellers Brand Studio national team. Interested? Link ->bio 🎙
#Repost via @meganfinnerty ・・・ Sold out show at @wrighttaliesin @thestorytellersproroject @azcentral. We are so thankful to @jlaurenpr and Taliesin West for hosting us so beautifully.
The screen may seem small, but its impact on access is huge. Thanks #AZCDHH for helping provide captioning for the rest of the 2018 #azstorytellers season! Story link in bio. 📷: Billy Hardiman / for The Republic @azcentral
#Repost @coryodonnell ・・・ A beautiful night for @thestorytellersproject in downtown Fort Myers. Tattoo tales from @thenewspress and @sbdac Touching, funny, heartbreaking and inspiring. Thank you to all of our Storytellers and our guests that support this great art form.
