PublicSource is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, digital-first media organization dedicated to serving Pittsburgh and the region. PublicSource inspires critical thinking and bold ideas through journalism rooted in facts, diverse voices and pursuit of transparency.
We listen. We investigate. We tell stories for a better Pittsburgh.
If you want to keep up with our work, please sign up for our newsletters. Want to know more? Use the menu to get to know the team, how to interact with PublicSource and more.
The kind of journalism we do is costly, so, we rely on readers’ support to help keep PublicSource strong and independent. Please give today.
Contact us
*Do you have a question about a story or want to request a correction? Contact Editor-in-Chief Halle Stockton at halle@publicsource.org/412-515-0065 or Managing Editor Rich Lord at rich@publicsource.org. See PublicSource’s corrections and clarifications policy here.
*Want to learn more about donating to PublicSource? Contact alyia@publicsource.org.
*For general inquiries, please email info@publicsource.org.
*Want to send a letter? Our address is 1936 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.
Our Board of Directors
Ted Anthony is the global director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation for The Associated Press, based in Pittsburgh and New York. He has reported from more than 25 countries, from North Korea to Myanmar to China to Russia. From 2014 to 2018, he was AP’s Asia-Pacific news director, based in Bangkok and overseeing coverage by more than 200 journalists. He also reported from Afghanistan and Pakistan after 9/11 and opened the AP’s Baghdad bureau during the Iraq War in 2003. He is a native of Allison Park and a graduate of Falk Elementary School, Hampton High School and Penn State University.
Jeff Ballou is currently a Washington, D.C.-based News Editor for the Americas with Al Jazeera Media Network’s English language channel. He’s spent over thirty years in journalism working at such places as NPR, CSPAN, WTOP-AM, Hubbard Broadcasting and FOX television station WTTG-TV, where he earned a regional Emmy. Some of Jeff’s career highlights include having covered the Clinton White House, Congress, the State Department, Pentagon and other parts of official Washington. He was elected by his peers in 2008 to two terms on the Congressional Radio-TV galleries executive committee of correspondents and in 2017 as the first African-American male and first international broadcaster President of the historic National Press Club. Homewood-Brushton and later Highland Park native, he attended, Fulton Elementary, Sterrett Classical Academy, Reizenstein Middle and Taylor Allderdice High Schools. Jeff is a graduate of Penn State University where he caught the journalism bug volunteering and later leading it’s NPR affiliate, WPSU-FM as student President. He was an INROADS intern at KDKA TV and Radio followed by a Hearst Broadcasting fellowship at WCVB-TV in Boston after graduation. He is also a graduate of American University with concurrent studies at Howard University. Though he’s lived in Washington for decades, he remains loyal to our hometown professional sports teams.
Josie Cellone started as a newspaper reporter with internships at NPR, the Washington Post and the Associated Press. After completing an MBA, she bridged her experience into Heinz’s multimedia marketing before launching an interactive children’s book startup. She now directs digital marketing and e-commerce at Bob Evans Restaurants, building on 15 years of creating websites, apps, social media strategies and media plans. She was a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review city editor.
Bridget Daley is senior counsel at Highmark Inc. She is also active in the Pittsburgh community and serves as a speaker curator for TEDxPittsburgh and TEDxPittsburghWomen.
Daren Ellerbee is the director of the University of Pittsburgh University Educational Outreach Center and was previously the director of the university’s Community Engagement Center in Homewood. Daren is active on several community boards including the Association for Resilient Campus Design and Innovation, The Empowerment, Awareness and Training (EAT) Initiative and is a founding member of Robert Morris University’s Black Alumni Council.
Jeff Galak is Associate Professor of Marketing and, by courtesy, Social and Decision Science at Carnegie Mellon University. His research involves the understanding of human decision making and human happiness. He is enthusiastic about educating everyone on the proper use of data to navigate the complexities of this world. He lives in Pittsburgh with his brilliant wife, goofball daughter and carefree son.
Scott Lammie is retired from UPMC where he spent 30 years in key business, financial and operational leadership positions. He remains active in volunteer leadership capacities with nonprofit education, economic development, and community service organizations, including The Altruism in Medicine Institute, The Forbes Funds, Fred Rogers Productions, Manchester Bidwell Corporation, The Sister Thea Bowman Foundation, The Citizens Science Lab, Propel Schools Foundation, Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, and United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
James O’Toole is a Senior Newsroom Engineer at The Washington Post, where he focuses on developing software to enable new forms of reporting and data journalism. He previously served as a software engineer in Pittsburgh city government, where he worked on the city’s open data program, and as an award-winning reporter at CNN, covering finance and technology. James started his media career in Cambodia at The Phnom Penh Post, where he reported on human rights and the Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal. He grew up in Mt. Lebanon in a family of journalists, and is currently based in Washington.
Maggie Patterson is a professor of journalism at Duquesne University, an author of several books and a former reporter for The Pittsburgh Press.
Zakarij O. Thomas is a partner at Sitko Bruno, LLC, concentrating his practice in all aspects of commercial real estate law. Previously, Zak was a senior attorney at Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, PC, and program officer for community development and lending through a partnership between Local Initiatives Support Corp (LISC) and Neighborhood Allies. He is a founding board member of The Chuck Cooper Foundation and serves on the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Real Estate Loan Review Committee, Micro-Enterprise Loan Committee and Business Loan Review Committee.
Lauren Trocano is the Director of Employee Communications for Comcast’s Keystone Region where she specializes in employee engagement, change management and special events. She held corporate communications positions with GSK Consumer Healthcare and Bayer Corporation and worked for several public relations agencies and as a freelance communications consultant. She’s an active “big” with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh.
Todd Underwood heads a site reliability engineering team at OpenAI.
Guillermo Velazquez is the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation (PHDC). As Executive Director, Mr. Velazquez is responsible for the operations of PHDC and for implementing its mission in economic and community development. He has served as a board member for organizations such as the Community Justice Project, LACU – Latin American Union Culture, COESA, the Brazilian Association of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Velazquez also serves as a commissioner of the LGBTQIA+ Commission of the City of Pittsburgh.
Learn more about our board of directors here.