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
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.
This crowd! #azstorytellers Stylish Stories tonight at @phxart and sponsored by @ftbrownies and @azlottery. Thank you so much! Tonight we’re hearing Megan telling on stage for the first time with her fiancé! Historic moment. • • • • • #thestorytellersproject #stylishstories #incrediblygoodlooking #makeaneffort #browniesbyfairytale #acinouveau
#Repost from our team in Reno! Congrats on a stellar, sold-out show!! 2018 will be amazing! 😎@renogazettejournal ・・・ Our storytellers from last night’s sold-out event! Thank you to everyone who came! Can’t wait for next season of @thestorytellersproject! #mountains #tahoe #rgj #storyteller #thankyou #seeyounextyear
🎙Tuesdays. For the past two months we’ve dropped a new episode of The Storytellers Project Podcast every week. This week we’re taking a short break, but we’re super excited to have a brand new episode for you next Tuesday at our regularly scheduled time. This is the PERFECT time to go back and catch up on the first 9 episodes if you’ve missed any! And please, let us know which story was your favorite in the comments. Link in bio 🎙💕💕💕
“We know that when we share our stories and feel called to listen, all of us are willing to invest our time, energy, and our resources in our community.” - @meganfinnerty at @srpconnect presents Saving Arizona’s Kids
Getting started for tonight’s night of storytelling with an Education Fair and 15 child welfare agencies, all doing the incredibly important work of caring for Arizona’s most vulnerable. @srpconnect #storytellersproject
Storytellers Brand Studio makes moooves out in the field! #dairygood #Repost @meganfinnerty ・・・ At SwissLane Farms for a fabulous #undeniablydairy #storytellers event. So excited to partner with them at @dairydiscovery and #milkmeansmore @out_inthefield and @chefwelch
