Meet the Team
William M. Macfadyen, founder and publisher
Bill Macfadyen is the founder and publisher of Noozhawk.com, Santa Barbara’s freshest news and information source — and its only 24/7 professional news site. Commanding a staff of five full-time professional journalists, two full-time sales representatives and an army of community contributors, Bill is on a quest to figure out how to make online local news viable and sustainable.
He was the co-founder and editor and publisher of the South Coast Beacon, a weekly community newspaper that made its debut in 2002, won the California Newspaper Publishers Association General Excellence Award the following year and went bust in 2005. Not having the sense to get a real job, he turned his attention to the Internet, where the overhead is lower and the optimism knows no boundaries.
Bill also moonlights as a board member of the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce, Santa Barbara Partners in Education, Santa Barbara Education Foundation, Santa Barbara High School’s Multimedia Arts & Design Academy and the Santa Barbara Community Housing Corp.; as board secretary of the Chambers of Commerce Alliance of Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties; and as a member of the Santa Barbara Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse’s Fighting Back Steering Committee.
He’s a former senior warden at All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, former board chairman of the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce and a past member of the statewide organizing committee of Common Sense California, which is now part of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy.
In 2008, Bill was named Entrepreneur of the Year by both the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Barbara Technology & Industry Association.
He is a California Endowment Health Journalism Fellow (Class of 2011) at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, and was the architect of Prescription for Abuse, a six-month Noozhawk team project exploring the misuse and abuse of prescription medications in Santa Barbara County.
Reach Bill at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow him on Twitter: @Noozhawk
Tom Bolton, executive editor
Award-winning journalist Tom Bolton joined Noozhawk as executive editor after more than 20 years of guiding newsroom operations for newspapers at each end of Santa Barbara County.
From 2003 to early 2012, he served as vice president of news for Lee Central Coast Newspapers, leading the Santa Maria Times and supervising the Lompoc Record, the Santa Ynez Valley News and other local Lee publications.
He previously served as publisher and editor of the weekly South Coast Beacon, which he helped establish, and as executive editor and managing editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press, where he spent much of his career prior to its sale by The New York Times. He also has worked for The Tribune in San Luis Obispo County and as a private consultant.
Tom has a reputation throughout the region as a tough but fair editor, whose staffs consistently generate top-notch news coverage — in print and online. He has guided scores of investigative and in-depth projects on topics as varied as homelessness, wildfires, affordable housing, youth violence, earthquake risks, and the future of agriculture. Many of these projects have won awards at the state and national level.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from UCSB, where he was editor in chief of The Daily Nexus student newspaper. He is a past board member of the California Society of Newspaper Editors, and also has been affiliated with the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the California Chicano News Media Association and other national media organizations.
Tom and his wife, Joan, live in Goleta, and have two grown children.
Reach Tom at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow him on Twitter: @tombol
Terry Baxter, account executive
Terry Baxter is the proud mother of three girls, a Santa Barbara High School alumna, an entrepreneur, a double Women’s Economic Ventures graduate and a certified chef — a diverse background that enhances her sales and marketing approach as a Noozhawk account executive. She’s also been an office manager of Dalgenes Interiors (her stepfather’s local business) , a project manager at Valle Verde, a fiscal manager of People Helping People in the Santa Ynez Valley, marketing manager at New Frontiers in Solvang, producer of Rockshop Academy and is the founder of B Production Co. Terry is passionate about connecting local business owners with resources to grow their business and to stimulate growth in our community.
Reach Terry at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call her at 805.574.0973
Lara Cooper, reporter
Lara Cooper came to Noozhawk after covering Goleta with the Valley Voice for two years. She’s been a news junkie since her early teens when she began working for the Tulsa World, her hometown newspaper in Oklahoma, typing up weather forecasts and obituaries. After earning a photojournalism degree from Western Kentucky University, Lara packed up all of her earthly possessions, her camera and her cats and moved out West to Santa Barbara. She’s a general assignment reporter and photographer.
Reach Lara at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), follow her on Twitter: @laraanncooper and friend her on Facebook: laraanncooper
Chris Donahue, account executive
Chris Donahue — doting dad of a bubbly daughter, Ciena — is a longtime sales representative in the Santa Barbara area. Chris was a top account executive at Forester Communications and, prior to that, was the Goleta Valley Voice’s top salesman and sales manager of BlueEdge and El Mexicano. An entrepreneur at heart, he started Paper Moon Printing Co. At Noozhawk, Chris has pioneered the art of online advertising and social media, and is continuously developing new and innovative ways to enhance the branding, marketing and sales of Noozhawk clients. Call him for a free consultation. And for your printing needs.
Reach Chris at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call him at 805.616.1270
Garrett Geyer, photographer
Garrett Geyer has been working with Noozhawk since June 2011. He attends SBCC and also works part time at 240 Studio, where he helped develop the Orbit 360° photography system. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Garrett received his first official photography press pass at age 15 from Nederlander Concerts for the Smashing Pumpkins and started photographing on the red carpet at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival at age 16. He is a member of the Professional Photographers of America, Professional Photographers of California and the Channel Islands Professional Photographers Association.
Reach Garrett at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or see more of his concert and red carpet photos at www.garrettgeyer.com
Alex Kacik, business reporter
Alex Kacik started with Noozhawk as a summer intern after earning his journalism degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in June 2010. After working at the Mustang Daily for more than two years and an internship at KCOY, he thought Santa Barbara would be the best place to pursue his journalistic endeavors. Alex enjoys anything sports related, but is broadening his horizons and adding to his adventures as a business reporter and photographer.
Reach Alex at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow him on Twitter: @NoozhawkBiz
Giana Magnoli, reporter
Giana Magnoli came to Noozhawk right after graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a journalism degree. After working at the Mustang Daily for three years and interning at the Pacific Coast Business Times, she decided to jump aboard the enterprising online news train and moved down to Santa Barbara. She’s a general assignment reporter and photographer who wishes more work could be done outside.
Reach Giana at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow her on Twitter: @NoozhawkNews
Michelle Nelson, managing editor
Michelle Nelson joined the Noozhawk nest in April 2008. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in political science. She previously worked as a copy editor for The Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene, Ore., a position she held for more than 10 years. Michelle and her husband, Pete, have two sons, Garrhett and Blake.
Reach Michelle at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Edgar Oliveira, Web services director
Edgar Oliveira is a Web designer by trade but a drummer at heart. He’s played in jazz bands, rock bands and Latin bands in his hometown of Minneapolis. One day, he and his wife, Isabel, decided to move to Santa Barbara. He sold his drums, she packed their cat, Sue Ellen, in the car and they drove West. Edgar bought a surfboard, Isabel got a tan and neither of them has ever looked back.
Reach Edgar at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Valorie Smith, contributing photographer
A recent transplant from Los Angeles, Valorie Smith joins Noozhawk as a photojournalist raring to document the news while becoming steeped in Santa Barbara culture. A graduate of UCLA with a major in English Literature and a minor in Art, she enjoyed a 12-year career as both a production manager and art department assistant in the film industry. There she met and married her husband, Kelly, and together they enjoy raising their two teenage sons, Dalton and Daniel. Through her lifelong passion for photography, Valorie records life’s passages and achievements. Her favorite assignment is roaming an event and capturing the small moments.
Reach Valorie at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or see more of her work at www.valoriesmith.com
Melissa Walker, iSociety columnist
Melissa Walker is Noozhawk’s iSociety columnist, a contributing writer and a photographer, and her favorite assignments are nonprofit events and covering local people in the community. Originally from Lake Tahoe, she worked for The Presidio Trust in San Francisco, where she helped create the first sustainable national park while developing a passion for writing with articles for The Presidio Post. She is a graduate of UCSB, did an internship at KEYT and created a public-service announcement for the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara on the Santa Barbara Channels. She now calls the American Riviera home and likes to run, surf, snow ski, write short stories and spend time with her cat, Java, and husband, Ron. In 2012, Santa Barbara County 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal appointed her to the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women.
Reach Melissa at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow her on Twitter: @NoozhawkSociety
John Conroy, contributing photographer
John Conroy was one of the first staff photographers for the Santa Barbara News & Review, predecessor to the Independent. He trained at Brooks Institute for two years and spent two years as an apprentice photographic assistant in Europe. He later emerged as a freelance photojournalist in California. As a contributing photographer for Noozhawk, John says, “My images really pop in an online publication, and I’m getting out into the community, meeting people and getting a real sense for what is going on in and around Santa Barbara.”
Reach John at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or see more of his work at www.johnconroyimages.com
Leslie Dinaberg and Zak Klobucher, columnists
Leslie Dinaberg lives in her hometown of Santa Barbara with her strikingly handsome husband, Zak Klobucher (who maybe wrote this for her), and their son, who can only hope to someday be as strikingly handsome as his father. She and Zak write the weekly She Said, Z Said column for Noozhawk. Leslie also writes feature stories, humor columns, magazine articles and grocery lists. Zak is a technical writer by day and a novelist/screenwriter by night. Leslie is also the editor of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine and is working very hard to someday support her husband in the luxurious lifestyle he would like to become accustomed to.
Reach Leslie and Zak at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or follow her on Twitter: @LeslieDinaberg
Jessica Ferguson, intern
Jessica Ferguson joined Noozhawk as a copy editor intern in July 2011. She attends the University of Oregon as a journalism and English major and would like to, someday, become a full-time copy editor. She enjoys reading, traveling, games and time with her husband.
Reach Jessica at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Sonia Fernandez, contributing writer
Before becoming a reporter, Sonia Fernandez was a comic book store manager, an EMT, a medical assistant and an administrator for a weight-loss clinic. She joined the Goleta Valley Voice in 2003 as an intern and ended up as its staff writer. Along the way she’s lost her fear of bees, gone to band camp and developed a fascination with parasite ecology. Armed with her trusty reporter’s notebook, a tape recorder and her camera, Sonia is a contributing writer to Noozhawk.
Reach Sonia at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Jenn Kennedy, contributing writer and photojournalist
Jenn Kennedy is a writer and photographer who recently relocated to Santa Barbara from Los Angeles. A Pepperdine grad, she worked in public relations for six years before jumping to the media side. She contributes profiles, lifestyle and travel content to a range of publications, including Jane, LA Confidential, Las Vegas Home & Design, Las Vegas, Sierra, SheWired.com, Female FYI and Fit Yoga. She has shot ad campaigns and projects for corporations such as Citibank, Maytag, MTV, Yahoo!, Safeway and Women’s Entertainment Network. She is a new member of the Santa Barbara Art Association and plans to get involved in the local art community.
Reach Jenn at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or see more of her work at www.kennedypix.com and follow her on Twitter: @jennkennedy
Kevin McFadden, contributing writer
After graduating with a B.A. in business and economics from Westmont College in 2003, Kevin McFadden moved to Florida, where he freelanced part-time for several local publications while working in the service industry. When he returned to Santa Barbara, he decided to pursue journalism as a full-time career. Since then, he has been a contributing writer for Noozhawk, as well as a writer for Food & Home and Touring & Tasting magazines. As a former college baseball player, he is an avid sports fan, and ran his first marathon in December 2009.
Reach Kevin at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Jeff Moehlis, contributing writer
Jeff Moehlis is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at UCSB, and a self-proclaimed music fanatic who started writing concert reviews and previews for Noozhawk in the summer of 2008. He enjoys most genres of music, but his favorites are psychedelic rock, progressive rock, Krautrock and Old School punk rock. His Web site, music-illuminati.com, covers music in the Santa Barbara area and beyond, and includes extensive interviews with musicians and recommendations for upcoming local concerts.
Reach Jeff at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Rochelle Rose, contributing writer
Rochelle Rose was a columnist for the Goleta Valley Voice and the Santa Barbara News-Press, covering nonprofit organizations, society events and Goleta news for 10 years. A UCSB graduate, she has worked and volunteered for many community groups in the areas of affordable housing, health care, youth development, women in business, music and dance. Rochelle likes to go to the gym, movies and museums, and tries to keep up with her teenage children on Facebook.
Reach Rochelle at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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