Staff
Publisher
Tracy Ward
tracy@urbanitebaltimore.com
Tracy’s deep love for Baltimore is one of the reasons Urbanite exists today. A lifetime resident of the city, she has sixteen years of experience in community development. In 1995, she was the first executive director of the Charles Village Community Benefits District. She also worked with the Downtown Partnership negotiating city tax subsidies to create 1,000 housing units in Baltimore. In 1999, Tracy joined Fannie Mae's venture capital fund to invest in affordable housing in the Southeast region of the United States. She purchased The Urbanite Magazine from its former publisher, Laurel Harris Durenberger, in the summer of 2003. Urbanite was introduced in January 2004. Tracy lives with her family in Bolton Hill.
Creative Director Emeritus
Alex Castro, Castro/Arts LLC
castroa@castroarts.com
Alex is an artist and architect whose designs have graced the streets and skylines of Baltimore, including collaborative works such as the building design for the American Visionary Art Museum, the renovation of the Charles Theater,and the creation of the neon “Mr. Boh” sign in Brewer’s Hill. Born in Washington DC, Alex received his undergraduate degrees in English literature and Spanish literature from Yale University and a master's degree in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. After college he worked as an artist, graphic designer, and art professor at George Mason University. Alex first came to Baltimore in 1979, designing catalogs for the Baltimore Museum of Art. Over the years he has designed exhibits for the Los Angeles County Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Atlanta's High Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution, to name a few. His own works are in public collections at the National Gallery of Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum of Arts, among others. Alex is the founder and principal of Castro/Arts, a design firm focusing on architectural design, exhibitions, books and film. He is a founding partner in Urbanite, LLC.
General Manager
Jean M. Meconi
jean@urbanitebaltimore.com
A native of Baltimore, Jean joined Urbanite in April 2005 as general manager. Before coming to Urbanite, she served as print specialist for WJZ-TV and advertising director for The Merchandiser Newspapers. Jean started her sales career in 1981 with The Baltimore Sun and held various posts in The Sun’s circulation and advertising departments, including circulation manager, single copy sales manager, advertising special section manager, and advertising director. She earned her degree in marketing/communications at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
Editor-in-Chief
Ron Cassie
ron@urbanitebaltimore.com
Ron Cassie is a graduate of the Master of Arts writing program at Johns Hopkins and lives near Patterson Park in Baltimore City. He has won national awards for religion, arts and sports feature writing, including a notable selection in the 2006 anthology, The Best of American Sports Writing. As a journalist he reported from Haiti in the days following the tragic earthquake and New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His work has appeared in Urbanite, Baltimore magazine, the Baltimore City Paper, Newsweek, and the Huffington Post, among other publications.
Assistant Editor
Rebecca Messner
rebecca@urbanitebaltimore.com
Rebecca Messner joined the staff of Urbanite as assistant editor in February 2011 after having contributed as a freelance writer for the magazine for nearly three years. Along the way, she spent two years in New York writing and producing a one-hour documentary on the great landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, titled Olmsted and America's Urban Parks, which was broadcast nationally on public television in the spring of 2011. She earned a BA in writing seminars from Johns Hopkins University. Follow her: @beccamess.
Digital Media Editor
Andrew Zaleski
andrew@urbanitebaltimore.com
Andrew Zaleski came to Urbanite in the beginning of May 2011 and nearly forgot to attend his commencement ceremony. He graduated two weeks later from Loyola University Maryland with a degree in English literature, having served as The Greyhound newspaper’s managing editor and editor in chief. A writer at heart, Andrew freelanced for Urbanite before joining the staff and now writes for several magazines. Here he oversees all those new-fangled digital things that are infusing their way into the media world. Tweet to him about Urbanite with @UrbaniteMD; tweet to him about skinny ties with @ajzaleski.
Editor-at-Large
David Dudley
David@urbanitebaltimore.com
David Dudley returned to Baltimore in 2007 after several years living in Montreal, Canada, and Ithaca, New York. A former senior editor at Baltimore magazine, he also served as the associate editor of Cornell Alumni Magazine. David is a former editor in chief of Urbanite. He began his journalism career in Baltimore as a staff writer at City Paper.
Production Manager
Belle Gossett
Belle@urbanitebaltimore.com
As the one who really runs the show, Bellee juggles everything from managing accounts and finances to assisting the art department, as well as handling mailing and distribution. She is a native of Thailand and has lived in Baltimore City and Baltimore County for twenty years. She is a graduate of Villa Julie College with a degree in visual communication designs.
Staff Photographer
J.M. Giordano
joe@urbanitebaltimore.com
Joseph M. (J.M.) Giordano has been shooting for Urbanite since 2005. He has also shot for international magazines such as i-D and companies such as Discovery Channel Inc. In 2006, he co-founded with Tom Doxanas Gutter Magazine, an online fashion/feature magazine dedicated to youth culture. Gutter has since expanded to the United Kingdom with sites in London and Scotland. He specializes in feature photography, editorial, and designer lookbooks.
Senior Account Executive
Susan R. Levy
Susan@urbanitebaltimore.com
Born in Baltimore, Susan has been working as an account executive in advertising for twenty-five years. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a BA in communications and began her career in 1981 working for WQSR 105.7. She has also worked for The News American and the Yellow Pages (formerly Donnelly Directory). In 1997 she began working as Account Executive for TCI Media (which became AT&T Broadband, then Comcast). In the eight years that she worked at TCI, she won the National Sales Award two years straight (1999 and 2000), an honor conferred on less than two percent of the company. Susan joined Urbanite in May 2005. She lives with her family of three in Owings Mills.
Senior Account Executive
Catherine Bowen
Catherine@urbanitebaltimore.com
Catherine was born in Berlin, Germany, and moved throughout Europe before settling in Silver Spring, Maryland. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Maryland, College Park, she entered the advertising world. She got her start in magazines at Philadelphia Magazine and, after stints in outdoor and newspaper advertising, is glad to return to her roots. Her hobbies include gardening, tennis, reading, and rooting for her Terps. Catherine lives in Glenwood, Maryland, with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.
Account Executive
Natalie Richardson
natalie@urbanitebaltimore.com
Originally from Mesa, Arizona, Natalie moved to Baltimore after falling in love with the city’s eclectic community during visits to see family here. She joined Urbanite’s team in March 2011. While earning her bachelor's degree in communication with a concentration in advertising from the University of North Florida, Natalie interned at the Florida Times-Union and the Dalton Advertising Agency in Jacksonville. Apart from work, Natalie can be found joking around with friends or playing with her Chow-wa-wa Boomerang.
Sales Marketing Associate
Erin Albright
Erin@urbanitebaltimore.com
Sykesville native Erin Albright joined the Urbanite staff after spending several years working in New York's fashion industry. Former intern for Marc Jacobs and saleswoman for Elie Tahari, she decided to reclaim her roots by moving back home; she now resides in Federal Hill.
Online Editors:
Food/Drink Online Editor
Tracey Middlekauff
tracey@urbanitebaltimore.com
347-210-2305
twitter: @urbanitemdfood
Writer and avid eater Tracey Middlekauff writes the food blog TastyTrix.com, an eclectic collection of recipes, stories, and travelogue, featuring international cuisines, historical menus, and original dishes. Her food photos have appeared in Tastespotting, Foodgawker, and Photograzing, and her sweet potato gnocchi recipe was chosen as a “Top Reason to Stay in on a Friday Night” by Amazon.com’s food blogger. After fifteen years of writing, she recently returned to school as a culinary student and works in the kitchen of a local bakery. One of her favorite pastimes is to think about dinner while she’s still eating lunch.
Arts/Culture Online Editor
Cara Ober
cara@urbanitebaltimore.com
443-622-3542
twitter: @urbanitemdarts
Cara Ober is an award-winning painter, writer, curator, and art professor. She earned a BA in fine arts in 1996 from American University and an MFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005. Ober is commercially represented by the Randall Scott Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, and Civilian Art Projects in Washington, D.C. She has participated in numerous international art fairs in the past year, including Scope Miami, Aqua Wynwood Miami, and AAF, New York. Cara has written art reviews and profiles for Art US Magazine, Art Papers, and Baltimore’s City Paper, as well as numerous exhibition essays. She currently writes art reviews for ARTnews and publishes her own award-winning local art blog, BmoreArt. Her website is www.caraober.com.
