Staff

Dave Altimari, Investigative Reporter

Dave is a member of CT Mirror’s investigative team, pursuing stories focused on government accountability including financial oversight, abuse of power, corruption, safety monitoring, and compliance with law. Before joining CT Mirror Altimari spent 23 years at the Hartford Courant breaking some of the state’s biggest, most impactful investigative stories, including the investigation that led to the impeachment and eventual arrest of former John G. Rowland on corruption charges, children being improperly restrained and dying in psychiatric hospitals, child abuse in the Catholic Church, disabled people dying in group homes due to staffing shortages or criminal activity, and multiple investigations into police misconduct. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and has been awarded the Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award for Public Service, the Roy W. Howard Award, a National Headliner Award, and numerous other prizes over the years for his work. Dave is a graduate of the University of Dayton.

Email: daltimari@ctmirror.org

Andrew Brown, Investigative Reporter

Andrew is a member of CT Mirror’s investigative team, and his coverage is largely focused on government accountability, financial oversight, abuse of power, corruption, safety monitoring, and compliance with law. Prior to joining the CT Mirror, Brown was a news reporter at papers in North Dakota, West Virginia and South Carolina. He’s covered business, environmental issues, local governments and state legislatures. His stories garnered several investigative and public service journalism awards, including one for coverage of how utility executives strung along a failing $9 billion nuclear power project in South Carolina in order to cash in on bonuses. Brown grew up in western Pennsylvania and attended the University of Missouri’s graduate school of journalism.

Email: abrown@ctmirror.org Twitter: @Andy_Ed_Brown

Stephen Busemeyer, Managing Editor

Stephen is CT Mirror’s managing editor, where he helps to manage and support the reporters on the news staff.  His career in daily journalism includes 20 years at The Hartford Courant, where he served as a member of the editorial board, data editor, breaking news editor and bureau chief. Prior to that Stephen was city editor at the Casper Star-Tribune in Casper, Wyo., and the editor of the Daily Press in Craig, Colo.  He was won many awards for editorial writing, data journalism and breaking news. While he was breaking news editor, The Courant was a named finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for its coverage of the Sandy Hook shootings. Busemeyer is a Koeppel Journalism Fellow at Wesleyan University, where he teaches data journalism, and he has also taught at the University of Hartford, the University of Connecticut and the University of Colorado.

Email: sbusemeyer@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @StephenBus

Jim Cameron, Columnist

Jim Cameron has been a broadcaster and journalist for over 50 years, turning his passion for trains into publishing his “Talking Transportation” commentaries for almost 30 years. During that time he also served on the CT Metro-North Commuter Council and Merritt Parkway Conservancy as well as local task forces studying parking and transportation planning.

A resident of Darien for 30+ years he is an elected member of that town’s Representative Town Meeting, Board of Ethics and serves as Program Director of Darien TV79.

Email: TalkingTransportationCT@gmail.com Twitter: @CTRailCommuters

Jenna Carlesso, Health Reporter

Jenna is The Connecticut Mirror’s health reporter, focusing on access, affordability, equity, and disparities. Before joining the CT Mirror, she was a reporter at The Hartford Courant for 10 years, where she covered government in the capital city with a focus on corruption, theft of taxpayer funds, and ethical violations. Her work has prompted reforms on health care and government oversight, helped erase medical debt for Connecticut residents, and led to the indictments of developers in a major state project. She is the recipient of a National Press Foundation award for a four-part series she co-authored on gaps in Connecticut’s elder care system.

Email: jcarlesso@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @JNCWriter

Tom Condon, Urban and Regional Issues Reporter

Tom writes about urban and regional issues for CT Mirror, including planning, transportation, land use, development and historic preservation. These were among his areas of interest in a 45-year career as a reporter, columnist and editorial writer for The Hartford Courant. Tom has won dozens of journalism and civic awards, and was elected to the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2016. He is a native of New London, a graduate of The University of Notre Dame and the University of Connecticut School of Law, and is a Vietnam veteran.

Email: tjcondon@comcast.net

John Dankosky, Host, Podcasts and Events

John is a well-known and highly-regarded radio personality and moderator, who co-hosts our podcast Untold and Steady Habits. He also serves as Director of News and Audio for the public radio program Science Friday. Previously John was executive editor of the New England News Collaborative and the host of NEXT, a weekly program about New England. He also appeared weekly on The Wheelhouse, WNPR’s news roundtable program. His nearly 30 years in public media also include serving as vice president of news for Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, host of WNPR’s Where We Live, and as a regular moderator for political debates and moderated conversations at The Connecticut Forum, the Mark Twain House and Museum, The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, The World Affairs Council of Connecticut and The Litchfield Jazz Festival.

Twitter: @johndankosky

Gabby DeBenedictis, Manager of Audience Engagement

As manager of audience engagement, Gabby works to grow CT Mirror’s reach and visibility. She is responsible for our website, newsletters, CT Mirror Explains product, and social media channels. Her role also involves working with editors on the production of stories and analyzing audience data and trends. Gabby previously worked as a reporter on Patch.com’s Connecticut team, as an associate editor at The Woonsocket Call in Rhode Island and as an editing intern at the Houston Chronicle through the Dow Jones News Fund. She is a Connecticut native and holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UConn.

Email: gdebenedictis@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @gabbydeben

Clare Dignan, Director of Philanthropy

As CT Mirror’s Director of Philanthropy, Clare is responsible for securing the financial resources to sustain and grow CT Mirror’s accountability journalism. She started her career in journalism as a reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media, where she has won multiple awards for her reporting, including being honored with the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Theodore Driscoll Award for Investigative Reporting for her contribution to a series exploring gun deaths in the state and the Stephen Collins Award for Public Service Journalism for an investigative series she led digging into intimate partner homicides during the Coronavirus pandemic. She grew up in Connecticut and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University.

Email: cdignan@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @clare_dignan

Jaden Edison, Justice Reporter

Jaden is CT Mirror’s justice reporter. He was previously a summer reporting fellow at the Texas Tribune and interned at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. He received a bachelor’s degree in electronic media from Texas State University and a master’s degree in investigative journalism from the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University.

Email: jedison@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @edisonjaden

Luke Feeney, Legislative Reporting Intern

Joining as a legislative reporting intern for the 2024 session, Luke Feeney is a senior at the University of Connecticut. Luke is currently studying political science and journalism and expects to graduate in June. At UConn he is currently a columnist for their student-run newspaper, The Daily Campus. In his weekly column he explores politics, international relations and current events. In addition he is a member of the Daily Campus Editorial Board.

Email: lfeeney@ctmirror.org

Katy Golvala, Investigative Reporter

Katy is a member of CT Mirror’s investigative team. Originally from New Jersey, Katy earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Mathematics from Williams College and received a master’s degree in Business and Economic Journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in August 2021. Her work experience includes roles as a Business Analyst at A.T. Kearney, a Reporter and Researcher at Investment Wires, and a Reporter at Inframation, covering infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Email:  kgolvala@ctmirror.org

Lisa Hagen, Federal Policy Reporter

Lisa is CT Mirror and CT Public’s shared federal policy reporter. Based in Washington, D.C., she focuses on the impact of federal policy in Connecticut and covers the state’s congressional delegation. Lisa previously covered national politics and campaigns for U.S. News & World Report, The Hill and National Journal’s Hotline. She is a New Jersey native and graduate of Boston University.

Email:  lhagen@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @LA_Hagen

Elizabeth Hamilton, Executive Editor

Elizabeth is CT Mirror’s executive editor and has responsibility for all of the journalism content on CT Mirror. She partners with the publisher in leading the organization and manages the news staff.  Prior to joining CT Mirror in 2018 Elizabeth spent 20 years in Connecticut newsrooms, including more than a decade at The Hartford Courant where she was Reporter of the Year in 2000 and where she won the prestigious Theodore Driscoll Investigative Award for a series of stories about deaths in group homes for the developmentally disabled. Elizabeth has a degree in history from the University of Connecticut and an MFA from Southern Connecticut State University, where she taught writing as an adjunct professor.

Email: ehamilton@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @ekhamilton4

Jessika Harkay, Education Reporter

Jessika is CT Mirror’s Education Reporter, covering a wide range of issues including the K-12 achievement gap, education funding, curriculum, mental health, school safety, and inequity in education.  Most recently, Jessika was a breaking news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Prior to that she was a breaking news reporter for the Hartford Courant and a reporting intern at the New York Daily News.  Jessika earned an Associates of Arts degree from Colorado Mountain College and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Baylor University.

Email: jharkay@ctmirror.org

Ally LeMaster, Legislative Reporting Intern

Ally LeMaster is a CT Mirror 2024 legislative intern. She is a senior at University of Connecticut studying English and journalism. In addition to The Connecticut Mirror, she acts as the editor-in-chief of Long River Review, UConn’s undergraduate-run literary magazine and works as a research assistant on The Mansfield Training School Memorial and Museum project, recording and writing about disability history. She has also written for The Daily Campus, her university’s newspaper.

Email: alemaster@ctmirror.org

Irene Mackey, Manager of Membership

Irene is CT Mirror’s Manager of Membership and responsible for member outreach, growing CT Mirror’s membership program and driving annual giving. Irene brings years of experience in nonprofit development and a strong commitment to community engagement. With a career rooted in nonprofits, she found her passion in connecting with people on community issues. Prior to joining CT Mirror, Irene served as the Development Manager at Chrysalis Center, where she was responsible for the organization’s social media and email marketing, third-party fundraising events, in-kind collection drives, and donor outreach and cultivation. Irene was raised in West Hartford, CT and received her Bachelor’s Degree from Central Connecticut State University.

Email: imackey@ctmirror.org

José Luis Martínez, Data Reporter

José is CT Mirror’s data reporter, reporting data-driven stories and integrating data visualizations into his colleagues’ stories. Prior to joining CT Mirror he spent the summer of 2022 at the Wall Street Journal as an investigative data intern. Prior to that, José held internships or fellowships with Texas Tribune, American Public Media Group, ProPublica, Bloomberg and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. A native of Houston, he graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in journalism.

Email: jmartinez@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @dv7jose

Ginny Monk, Housing and Children’s Issues Reporter

Ginny is CT Mirror’s housing and children’s issues reporter, and a Report For America corps member. She covers a range of topics, from affordable housing and zoning to child welfare.  Ginny grew up in Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas’ Lemke School of Journalism in 2017.  She began her career at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette where she covered housing, homelessness, juvenile justice, and investigations. Along the way Ginny was awarded a 2019 Data Fellowship through the Annenberg Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California. She moved to Connecticut in 2021 and covered housing for Hearst CT.

Email: gmonk@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @GinnyMonk

Briana Nelson, Community Engagement Intern

Briana works for our team doing intelligence gathering for Connecticut’s underrepresented communities of color to develop CT Mirror’s relationship and understanding with the Black communities in Bloomfield, Hartford, and Windsor. She has recently graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Prior to graduation she worked as a writing intern for the university’s Office of Institutional Equity, editing hiring narratives and writing a guidelines handbook for Office’s search committee.

Email: bnelson@ctmirror.org

Christine Nilson, Director of Operations

Chris is CT Mirror’s director of operations. She joined CT Mirror’s business team in early 2022 as its Engagement Officer, deepening relationships with existing donors and building relationships with prospective new donors. Chris was with Trinty College previously, where she gained over twenty years of experience at in the areas of donor stewardship and volunteer engagement, philanthropic giving, event planning, executive administrative support, and relationship and partnership building. Her prior experience includes marketing and advertising. Chris grew up in Kansas and New Mexico and attended Kansas State University.  She lives in Bristol, CT.

Email: cnilson@ctmirror.org

Keila Torres Ocasio, Enterprise Editor

Keila is CT Mirror’s enterprise editor. Prior to joining CT Mirror, Keila was managing editor of the Connecticut Post, one of Hearst Connecticut Media’s largest dailies. Keila began her career as a reporter there after interning at the newspaper and held several roles at the company in the 15 years she worked for Hearst Connecticut, including as a columnist, business writer and editor. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree in global media and communications from the University of Bridgeport.

Email: ktorres-ocasio@ctmirror.org

Mark Pazniokas, Capitol Bureau Chief

Mark is a founder of CT Mirror, a former staff writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer and a former contributing writer for The New York Times. In 40 years as a reporter, he has covered some of the most compelling political stories in the state, including the impeachment inquiry and resignation of Gov. John G. Rowland in 2004, the nationally watched Senate race won by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman as an independent in 2006, and Linda McMahon’s efforts to remake campaigning in Connecticut by spending $100 million on runs for U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012. The Washington Post included Mark on its list of best state capitol reporters in the U.S. in 2014. Mark is a graduate of Boston University.

Email: mpazniokas@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @ctmirrorpaz

Keith Phaneuf, State Budget Reporter

Keith is CT Mirror’s state budget reporter, joining the newsroom shortly after it launched in 2010. He has spent most of his 35 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks.  Prior to joining CT Mirror Keith was State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, political reporter for the Day of New London, and a former contributing writer to The New York Times.  Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.

Email: kphaneuf@ctmirror.org  Twitter: @ctmirrorkeith

Erica E. Phillips, Economic Development Reporter

Erica is CT Mirror’s economic development reporter. Before joining CT Mirror in August 2021 Erica was a writer / producer for public radio’s Marketplace, and was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal for seven years, first as a general assignment / regional economy reporter and then as a supply chain reporter covering freight, trade, and e-commerce. She grew up in Minneapolis, MN, graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania with a degree in economics and a concentration in Latin American studies, and received a master’s in specialized journalism from the University of Southern California.

Email: ephillips@ctmirror.org Twitter: @ericaphillips

Bruce Putterman, Publisher and CEO

Bruce is CT Mirror’s publisher and CEO, responsible for the strategic direction of the organization, revenue generation, product innovation, reader engagement, and all business operations.  Before joining CT Mirror in 2017 Bruce owned and operated a West Hartford-based consulting practice for 16 years, providing strategic planning and marketing services to more than 50 nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, public agencies, private equity firms, and other for-profit clients. His interest in journalism dates back to his college years when he worked in commercial radio and TV news. Bruce served as an elected member of the West Hartford Board of Education from 2003 through 2015, including three years as chair of the board. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History and an M.B.A. in Marketing from Cornell University.

Email: bputterman@ctmirror.org Twitter: @bruceputterman

Shahrzad Rasekh, Photojournalist

Shahrzad is CT Mirror’s photojournalist. Her role is to tell visual stories about the impact of public policy on individuals and communities in Connecticut. She has served as CT Mirror’s Columbia University Visual Journalism Fellow and earned a Master of Science from Columbia Journalism School in May 2023, after completing her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations at American University. She is a Houston native with roots in France and Iran.

Email: srasekh@ctmirror.org Instagram: @shahrzad.rasekh

‏Jan Ellen Spiegel, Environmental Reporter

Jan is an award-winning energy, environment and food and agriculture reporter. In 2013 she was the recipient of a Knight Journalism Fellowship at MIT on energy and climate. She is a former editor at The Hartford Courant, where she handled national politics including coverage of the controversial 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. As a freelance reporter, her stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and elsewhere. She was an editor at the Gazette in Colorado Springs and spent more than 20 years as a TV and radio producer at CBS News and CNN in New York and in the Boston broadcast market. She graduated from the University of Michigan and attended Boston University’s graduate film program.

Email: janellenspiegel@comcast.net Twitter: @janellens

Paul Stern, Viewpoints Editor

Paul is the editor of CT Mirror’s opinion page, CT Viewpoints. He has more than 40 years of reporting and editing experience at newspapers in New Jersey, Florida and Connecticut. He worked 22 years at the Hartford Courant in various editing roles including as deputy state editor, assistant editor of Northeast Magazine, and as an associate editor at Courant.com. He began his journalism career in New Jersey, then migrated to the Sun-Sentinel and Fort Lauderdale News where he was a county government reporter and white-collar crime investigator. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University. A trained chef, he and his wife own and operate a bed and breakfast in an historic home in Mansfield.

Email: pstern@ctmirror.org

Kat Struhar, Audience Engagement Intern

Kat Struhar is an audience engagement intern at CT Mirror this spring. Hailing from Prince Frederick, Maryland, she is now a junior at Wesleyan University where she majors in English. Kat found her passion for journalism when she began writing for The Wesleyan Argus in her freshman fall semester, and has previously held positions at The Argus as managing editor, news editor, arts & culture editor and copy editor.

Email: kstruhar@ctmirror.org