Our Staff Bloggers
Adriana Dunn 
Number of fans: 31
Bio: Adriana Dunn is a blog editor at TakePart. After graduating in 2007 from Western Washington University with a bachelor's degree in journalism, she worked at the Huffington Post and GOOD Magazine. She was born and raised in the Greater Seattle area and currently lives in Los Angeles. Find her on Twitter: @adrianadunn or email: adunn [at] takepart.com.
Alicia Lipinski
Number of fans: 13
Bio: Alicia Lipinski has been working in Television development at Participant Media for almost 2 years. She was born and raised in “The Sweetheart City” of Loveland, Colorado, before moving to Los Angeles, where she loves to hike, practice yoga, and cook with ingredients fresh from the farmer’s market. Her hope for this blog is to show people how easy--and rewarding--it can be to make a difference, even in the face of busy schedules, daily stresses, and financial limitations. Each month, she’ll explore a different issue and chronicle her own journey to get involved--sharing various activities, interviews, resources, and tips to help others find the causes that spark their passion to Take Part.
Andy Kondrat
Number of fans: 29
Bio: Andy no longer has the moustache seen in this photo. But it's pretty sweet, right?
Asher Goldstein
Number of fans: 12
Bio: Asher Goldstein is an award winning filmmaker, having graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Film. He currently labors for the love of independent cinema at Traction Media, LLC. He began writing about film in college and has contributed to the Huffington Post. He (proudly) resides on the Eastside of Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter @asherisgold
Brannack McLain
Number of fans: 10
Bio: Brannack is a current intern at TakePart. He has lived in Los Angeles for almost all of his life, and appreciates LA weather even more now that he goes to college in Connecticut.
Carolyn Sams
Number of fans: 22
Bio: Carolyn Sams works in the digital marketing side of TakePart, and occasionally writes a thing or two for the blog. After graduating from the University of Southern California in 2005, she worked for nonprofit organization Invisible Children as the Director of Communications. Three years later, she moved back to her hometown of LA, where she currently lives. Carolyn loves to cook on her pink stove, paint watercolors of hedgehogs in tuxedos, and take her dog Robot on long hikes. Follow her on Twitter: @boomsams.
Ciara O'Rourke
Number of fans: 27
Bio: Ciara O'Rourke is a freelance journalist raised in the Greater Seattle area. After graduating from Western Washington University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and French, she worked at the International Herald Tribune in Paris. She has since relocated to Austin. Contact her at ckorourke [at] gmail.com.
Danny Jensen
Number of fans: 26
Bio: Danny Jensen writes, acts, sings, gardens and cooks in Los Angeles and anywhere else he can get away with it. A graduate of Vassar College, Danny spent the last several years biking, walking and subwaying the streets of New York. He is excited to be a member of the TakePart community, helping to make Los Angeles and the world beyond a greener, happier and tastier place to live.
Gina Telaroli
Number of fans: 44
Bio: Gina Telaroli is a filmmaker and cinephile residing in Brooklyn, NY. Much like her favorite filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder she believes in the idea of making films that are "as beautiful and powerful and wonderful as Hollywood films and a criticism of the status quo." She is a member of the Meerkat Media Arts Collective and is in the process of finishing her first narrative feature film entitled A Little Death. When she isn't watching or making films she runs her freeschool screening series called Project Film School, programs films at The Tank and teaches the wonders of video to both adults and children. She is also reluctantly on twitter - @grtela.
Giulia Rozzi
Number of fans: 12
Bio: Giulia Rozzi was raised in Boston by two adorable and obnoxious Italian immigrants and grew up (sorta) to become an adorable and obnoxious young lady. Read her full bio Photo: Anya Garrett
Hamida Kinge
Number of fans: 6
Bio: Hamida Kinge was a 2008/09 Environmental Reporting Fellow for the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting and a 2009 Fellow at the Scripps Howard Institute on the Environment. Her interests include climate change's effects on coastal communities and island nations, including the effects of salt water intrusion on potable water resources. She is also interested in nutrient pollution of coastal ecosystems, and the effects of PCBs and DDT contamination on marine mammal health.
Jenny Mancino
Number of fans: 9
Bio: Jenny Mancino has been a member of the Participant Media family for two years. She is an advocate for children’s rights and loves all Italian foods (except anchovies – sometimes Italians put them on pizza…eek!), writing children’s books and yes, you guessed it, American Idol. She is a volunteer tutor for School on Wheels and is a Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
Joshua Tremblay
Number of fans: 6
Bio: Joshua Tremblay keeps the blog running and occasionally writes. He is a native of Baton Rouge, LA and a rabid LSU football fan.
Laurel Angelica
Number of fans: 8
Bio: Laurel is a Content Editor for TakePart, where she spends her days learning about, well, pretty much everything. She graduated in 2007 from Princeton with a degree in Religion, which she quickly discovered was the least practical major for the real world, but possibly the best for striking up interesting conversation. She spent the last two years working with various nonprofits devoted to environmental, health, and social issues before joining the TakePart family. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she was born and raised.
Machiko Yasuda
Number of fans: 1
Bio: Machiko Yasuda is a fourth-year literature student at UCLA. She currently serves as the Director of New Media at the school's newspaper, The Daily Bruin. When she's not reporting for the paper, she enjoys exploring the city's eateries, public art, and spectacular views. She is a born and bred Californian, and has lived in Los Angeles for all her life, so she is particularly partial to the Lakers, the Largo at the Coronet and warm weather. In the past, she was a magazine and community development intern at GOOD, a writer for the high school city publication, L.A. Youth, and a writing tutor volunteer at 826LA. You can follow her on Twitter @matchagogo.
Matthew Bedard
Number of fans: 3
Bio: Matthew Bedard lives in Los Angeles, where he is currently Managing Editor of Flaunt Magazine. Prior to this, he developed digital media for a medical device manufacturer and presented it to rural laboratories and clinics during travel to the developing world. He has taught media literacy to youths for 911 Media Arts in Seattle and done short stints for Cinetic Media in New York, and Glimpse Magazine. He holds a B.A. in English from the University of Montana.
Megan Bedard
Number of fans: 23
Bio: Megan Bedard is a content editor and blog contributor at TakePart. She graduated from Western Washington University in 2007 with a degree in English Literature, then enrolled in Americorps to implement volunteer projects and foster collaboration among nonprofits in her seaside town of Bellingham, Washington. She has since relocated to Los Angeles to live, work, and play.
Melanie Smollin
Number of fans: 15
Bio: Melanie Smollin recently moved to New Jersey after spending nine wonderful years on the outskirts of Beantown. A graduate of McGill University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she loves books, films, photography, and Italian food, but her greatest passion is teaching. She currently blogs about any and all matters related to education for TakePart. Just don’t look for her on Twitter - she still hasn’t learned how to tweet.
Sarah Newman
Number of fans: 11
Bio: Sarah Newman is the Researcher in the Social Action department at Participant Media which means she researches, edits, writes and blogs regularly about world issues. Just don’t ask her about pop culture. She moonlights as a yogi, cook, swimmer, mountain biker and hiker. She loves to travel and has lived on 4 continents and in multiple US cities. She received an undergraduate degree from Barnard College and a Masters in Public Health from UCLA. You can follow her on twitter: @SarahNow
Stephanie Bowen
Number of fans: 2
Bio: Stephanie Bowen has been with International Medical Corps as its communications manager for three and a half years. Prior that she was a television journalist for CNN, PBS, CNBC and others. Since its inception 25 years ago, International Medical Corps has been saving lives and building self-reliance through health care that focuses on training. It has worked in more than 50 countries and regions providing health and hope to some of the world's most vulnerable people.
Toby Shuster
Number of fans: 16
Bio: Originally from Nashville, Toby Shuster studied literature at Seattle University and Oxford University before moving to New York, where she worked as an editor for Flavorpill and a deputy editor for Boldtype. After moving to Los Angeles, she did a variety of jobs in the film industry before being drawn back into the world of new media. Toby currently works as a content editor for TakePart. She lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles, where she has discovered a newfound appreciation for avocados and Fleetwood Mac.
Travis Kaya
Number of fans: 66
Bio: Travis Kaya is an intern at TakePart. He was born and raised in Kahului, HI and is currently finishing up a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Pomona College in Claremont, CA. Follow him on Twitter: @variationblog
Wendy Cohen
Number of fans: 17
Bio: Wendy Cohen is the Manager of Community and Alliances at Participant Media and the Founding Editor of this blog. She was born in raised in Montreal and 4 thrilling years in New York she moved to the west coast to join the Participant family. Wendy was previously the Community Manager at the Huffington Post and programmer of the Media That Matters Film Festival. She is the Founder and National Director of Screening Liberally and produced her first film in 2007 called Every Third Bite, which was hailed as a "better Bee movie" by New York Magazine. Wendy is very afraid of earthquakes, knows all the words to Grease 2 (don’t judge), always has a month-old New Yorker in her bag and loves pluots.
Our Guest Bloggers
Aaron Simon
Number of fans: 2
Bio: Aaron Simon lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area and specializes in the application of technology for NGO program implementation and organizational communications. He has traveled the globe assessing NGO projects in impoverished communities and believes proper application of technologies can help to solve many of the world’s greatest problems. Simon holds a Masters Degree in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University and is currently the Program Communications Manager for the Seva Foundation (www.seva.org). Find him on Twitter: @aaron_simon or email: aaron [at] seva.org
Adi Jaffe
Number of fans: 1
Bio: Adi Jaffe is a doctoral student at UCLA who has been studying addiction-related matters for over 6 years, has published several articles and book chapters on the topic as well as having given numerous presentations on addiction at national conferences. In 2008, Adi began publishing an addiction blog at www.allaboutaddiction.com, which has been constantly growing in popularity. After receiving his Ph.D., Adi plans to continue his research in addiction while making it his mission to educate the public about addiction to drugs, as well as other behavioral addictions (gambling, food, and sex addictions).
Adrian Koehler
Number of fans: 5
Bio: Adrian is a social activist living in central Hollywood. Born and raised in Southern Illinois he received his nursing degree while playing football at Millikin University. The next season of life was becoming a pediatric intensive care specialist at Children’s Memorial Hospital in the heart of Chicago. Moving to Los Angeles in 2005, he started working at Mosaic, a faith community known for its cosmopolitan diversity and creativity. His first two years at Mosaic were spent in the Protégé Program, a fusion of a Masters of Arts in Theology at Golden Gate Seminary with an Emphasis in Global Leadership from Mosaic Leadership Centre. Since graduating in ’07, he has been creating a movement of volunteers and non-profit alliances throughout the LA area, serveLA. As a global networker, Adrian has traveled extensively speaking on topics such as character development, creating spiritually vibrant communities, giving voice to vulnerable populations, and living from your strengths. Never giving up his love for holistic health and medicine, he still finds time to work three shifts a month at a local hospital.
Amina Khan
Number of fans: 2
Bio: Since graduating in 2007 from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and Spanish, Amina Khan has worked at the Los Angeles Times and Forbes magazine. This Silicon Valley transplant loves baking experimental cupcakes and surfing at the crack of dawn.
Ben Murray
Number of fans: 0
Bio: Ben Murray is a journalist and former reporter for newspapers and magazines now covering various issues for TakePart.com.
Caroline Keichian
Number of fans: 5
Bio: Caroline is originally from Houston and moved to Los Angeles to study cinema at USC. Since leaving college she has spend most of her time working in feature films and most recently in development. Caroline loves traveling and spent time last year in central Africa. She enjoys hiking and cooking with ingredients from her neighborhood farmer's market. Caroline looks forward to spending her weekends sailing and looking out for dolphins and sea lions in the Santa Monica bay. She is an occasional resident of Black Rock City, NV.
Children Mending Hearts
Number of fans: 1
Bio: To learn more about Children Mending Hearts, check out their website.
Chris Elam
Number of fans: 1
Bio: Chris Elam is the editor of Meatless Monday. His background is assorted. Music: he was the founding producer of MTV’s Alternative Nation. Art: he was the founding editor of ArtKrush, the art magazine online. Photography: he recently completed a large project in Kenya shooting children in the Kibera slum. Literature: he is working on a novel set in 1850’s New York City.
Chris Gebhardt
Number of fans: 4
Bio: Christopher Gebhardt joined Participant Media in September 2008 as Executive Vice President and General Manager – TakePart. Read his full bio
Christina Lindstrom
Number of fans: 2
Bio: Christina Lindstrom is the Manager of Social Action & Advocacy at Participant Media. She is responsible for the research and development of Participant's social action campaigns and for the day-to-day management of all contracts and accounting related to the campaigns. Prior to joining Participant, Christina worked in international sales and account management for several companies, most notably, Jupiter Media Corporation. Before entering the field of international business, she gained experience in the area of international advocacy, working for Amnesty International USA's Artists for Amnesty department in Los Angeles, following an internship with Amnesty International USA in Washington, DC. Christina helps with development and research for the non-profit L.A. Diaper Drive and lives in Culver City with her English Bulldog Roscoe. She received her Bachelor's degree from American University in December 2001.
David Serota
Number of fans: 5
Bio: David Serota is an award-winning filmmaker and the owner of Dokument Films. He has traveled the world making documentary films as well as produced numerous television and commercial projects. Read his full bio.
Diane Hatz
Number of fans: 4
Bio: As Founder and Director of Sustainable Table, Diane Hatz conceives of and develops creative projects to raise awareness and educate consumers about issues surrounding sustainable food and farming, while promoting solutions to the problems caused by factory farms. Read her full bio
EK Peyton
Number of fans: 2
Bio: Peyton is a busy bee presently enjoying the relentless California sunshine, where she's able to garden year round, peruse an endless supply of vintage goods and regularly ascend the breathtaking San Gabriel, Bernardino and Jacinto mountains. Peyton depends on This American Life, lentil soup and communal bowls of ice cream to keep her sane, and her claim to fame is an uncanny likeness to Johannes Vermeer's painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring. She has spent almost two years in Los Angeles and is currently planning her next big adventure, which will commence with a road trip through America's great western frontier.
Fonda Berosini
Number of fans: 1
Bio: Fonda Berosini is responsible for overseeing and implementing all new media marketing, publicity and grassroots efforts in coordination with Participant’s marketing and social action teams. Read her full bio
Giovanni Messner
Number of fans: 1
Bio: Giovanni Messner is a director at Dokument Films. DF creates promotional and feature length documentary films for Non-profits and NGO’s, as well as responsible brands. DF celebrates the hopeful nature that is found in all struggles and specializes in creating an emotional connection between the narrative and the audience. Dokument Films have offices in Pacific Palisades, CA and Asheville, NC. Learn more at http://www.dokumentfilms.com/
Hayden Panettiere
Number of fans: 7
Bio: Hayden Panettiere is a singer and actress. She is currently starring as Claire Bennet in NBC's latest hit show, "Heroes." Hayden is a spokesperson for the Save The Whales Again Campaign and the Whaleman Foundation.
Jeff Skoll
Number of fans: 0
Bio: Jeff Skoll is the Founder and Chairman of Participant Media and the Skoll Foundation. Read his full bio here.
Jessica Thomas
Number of fans: 0
Bio: Jessica Thomas is a Sales Planner for the Home and Garden Television Network, Do It Yourself Network, and Great American Country Network. She first heard about the landfill community in Tegus after a team of her friends visited it last year. After seeing pictures and doing research on the community she fell in love with all of the stories. She believes love, compassion, and understanding is the starting point to making ideas move forward.
Josh Helland
Number of fans: 2
Bio: Mr. Helland is a Principal/Partner at Bank Street Capital Advisors which is a boutique real estate advisory firm specializing in debt and mezzanine financing and preferred and joint venture equity in the US. His passion for using entrepreneurism to eradicate poverty led him to this social venture opportunity in Honduras which he is proud to be a part of.
Mark Newberg
Number of fans: 4
Bio: Mark Newberg served as an Advisor to the New Orleans City Council, following Hurricane Katrina, and is a member of the Roosevelt Institution's National Advisory Board. His Post-Katrina work focused on "big picture policy," utility regulation, green/clean development, intergovernmental relations, and communications. He was the City's representative on the intergovernmental task force established to resolve issues in the Road Home Program. Mark holds a BA in Political Science from Tulane University, a JD from Tulane Law School, and was a Visiting Student at Harvard Law School, Post-Katrina.
Michael D. Berman
Number of fans: 2
Bio: “The last man nearly ruined this place, he didn’t know what to do with it. If you think this country’s bad off now, just wait till I get through with it!” –His Excellency Rufus T. Firefly Michael D. Berman is a writer based in the godless den of iniquity known as Los Angeles, though his heart remains in our nation’s capital of untrammeled depravity, New York. Read his full bio
Molly Maloney
Number of fans: 7
Bio: Molly Maloney recently graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She currently resides in Seattle, Wash., and is excited to be a guest blogger for TakePart. Follow her on Twitter @ MollyCMaloney or e-mail: molly.c.maloney@gmail.com.
Q’orianka Kilcher
Number of fans: 38
Bio: Q’orianka Kilcher emerged at the age of 14 into the front ranks of young actors with her portrayal of Pocahontas opposite Colin Farrell and Christian Bale in Terrence Malick’s The New World, an epic film about the dramatic encounter between English and Native American cultures in 1607. Read her full bio here.
Siddharth Kara
Number of fans: 3
Bio: Siddharth Kara is the author of Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. He holds and MBA and a law degree and serves on the Board of Directors of the antislavery organization, Free the Slaves.
Sienna Miller
Number of fans: 25
Bio: Sienna Miller is an award-winning actress. Read her full bio here
Tamsin Smith
Number of fans: 18
Bio: Tamsin Smith, in a semi-brief history — both sublime and ridiculous — has endeavored to serve the interests of regular people as a congressional aide, to protect the interests of shareholders and consumers as an employee of an exemplary multi-national corporation, and holds the great honor of having helped build and run a pro-social business designed to eliminate AIDS in Africa as president of (PRODUCT) RED. She now helps good people turn good ideas into realities that matter to the world, as founder and president of SlipStreamStrategy. She digs writing, surfing, punk rock and true hearts. Tamsin lives in San Francisco with two untamed and lyrical children.
Tipper Gore
Number of fans: 3
Bio: Former Second Lady of the United States, Tipper Gore has worked for decades as a hands-on advocate for issues of mental health and homelessness. She combines her unique perspective and experience in public service with her personal stories and passion for photography to put faces with the statistics, raise awareness, and inspire us to help change the attitudes that perpetuate the stigma associated with mental illness. (Photo by Jodi Cobb)
TOMS Shoes
Number of fans: 0
Bio: TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we're all about.
Victoria Cho
Number of fans: 3
Bio: Victoria Cho is a writer for various social and environmental awareness organizations who recently returned from teaching English and studying Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Born among the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains in Charlottesville, Virginia, Victoria fled the South to attend Boston University, where she studied film and English. She worked in New York’s film industry assisting producers and contributing to various projects in the development stage for three years before realizing that she had the desire to travel and write her own stories. She is now based in Brooklyn and outside of writing, enjoys yoga, hiking, good vegan cooking, and enhancing her awareness. For more information, visit her blog .