PublicSoure brings on new reporting and business pros

Their roads to PublicSource wound through a nonprofit newsroom in Gary, Indiana, a museum startup in Philadelphia and an AmeriCorps assignment at a Pittsburgh nonprofit. But for each of our newest team members, the journey began with, and was sustained by, a love of narrative.

"Part of what brought me here is the stories that we tell," said Simon Hebert, PublicSource's business partnerships manager. "I saw PublicSource telling diverse stories with integrity and thoughtfulness and wanted to be a part of that."

Simon, whose hobby is cataloging his reading ventures in a stats-packed spreadsheet, is happy to be supporting our mission of telling stories for a better Pittsburgh by partnering with like-minded organizations around sponsorships, events and other initiatives.

Simon Hebert's favorite 2024 reads:

"The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy, and "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver because ... "Both are really wonderful examples of history made personal, where all the historical circumstances of time and place and identity and power all come together into a really compelling personal story or personal tragedy."

Though raised in Highland Park, the connections Simon is now forging with our partners have given him fresh eyes for his hometown.

"Even though I'm native to Pittsburgh, there's a real sense that I'm exploring it now for the first time," he said.

Lee Hood moved to Pittsburgh in 2019, and the town took some breaking into. Landing a job that satisfies her need to get behind a cause has helped her finally feel at home.

Lee Hood's favorite 2024 read:

"The Sum of Us" by Heather McGhee because ... "Its a very powerful read on how systemic racism affects us as a society: climate, clean air, community resources and more. I read it at the beginning of the year and want to re-read it in light of the election."

"It's taken a long time for me to find a way to enjoy the city," she said. "Working here has created the first chance for me to do that."

Lee's penchant for words and ideas led her through grad school in museum studies and several writing and marketing roles before landing in local media on the business side. As PublicSource's operations and membership coordinator, Lee is the first point of contact with our cherished members, and assists the leadership team on operations.

"I feel like I'm part of an organization that's connected to the city," she said.

Maddy Franklin cut her teeth reporting in a Georgia college town before heading north to Gary, Indiana. Shifting to another Rust Belt center earlier this month, therefore, "felt like a natural lateral move."

Maddy Franklin's favorite 2024 read:

"Under the Bridge" by Rebecca Godfrey because ... "I'm not typically drawn to true crime, but reading this work as a journalist made me wonder about Godfrey's process – how she engulfed herself in this world to get at the story."

It was the tug of community rather than the lure of talking-head prestige that spurred Maddy's entry into journalism as an undergraduate at the University of Georgia.

"I found that I really like doing community journalism and didn't like doing anything else but being immersed in a community," she said.

By her senior year, Maddy was made editor in chief at her college newspaper, setting her up for a post-graduation job covering K-12 schools for Capital B. Now, with a little distance from her student years, she's excited to rove the campuses of Pittsburgh as our higher ed reporter, a position supported by Open Campus .

"I'm really looking forward to seeing higher ed from this perspective — as a graduate and not as a student journalist," she said.

Jamie Wiggan is deputy editor at PublicSource. He can be reached at .