About Phoenix Forward

Tina May has worked at newspapers across the country, from New York’s Newsday to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Her proudest professional moments include being an editor at The Denver Post when it won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Columbine High School massacre, and supervising the 2004 presidential election team at The Arizona Republic. Though she is enjoying online publishing, she will always have ink in her veins.

Lana Gates — AP style maven, trademark guru and proofreader extraordinaire — has been writing and editing since 1991. (Really, she started in third grade with a story about a dragon and a fly.) Her work has been featured in Software Magazine, Computerworld, Sourcingmag.com, eHow and Livestrong.com, among others. Lana is on a continuous hunt for dangling modifiers.

Mary Barry is a writer with more than 12 years of experience, primarily working in health and education.  She specializes in marketing copy for print, web and social media, but has also been published in fitness and business magazines, including Commercial Executive Magazine. Mary enjoys fashion, fitness and poker, avoids gluten like the plague and is rarely seen without her kitten heels.

Leslie Gospill began her career in Colorado as one of state’s first female sportswriters. She moved on to write for national publications — including San Francisco Chronicle, Golf Digest, Self Magazine and Shape Magazine — eventually starting her own marketing communications agency in San Francisco and publishing a regional lawyers’ magazine. Now living in Phoenix, Leslie is celebrating her seventh year with the University, where she also earned her MBA.

Jill Elaine Hughes has worked as a professional writer, editor and journalist for nearly two decades, contributing articles to, among others, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader and The Washington Post; she has also authored several books. Jill's beats include health care, psychology and technology, though she also enjoys covering topics she knows nothing about. Based in Chicago, she is a history buff who loves old Hollywood movies and Renaissance fairs.

Jenny Jedeikin has been a professional writer for 20 years; her work has been published in a range of publications from Rolling Stone and InStyle to the San Francisco Chronicle. Most recently she worked as communications director for a national environmental nonprofit. Jenny likes to think she has infinite curiosity for the world beyond her San Francisco back yard, and enjoys the challenge of transforming complex issues into palatable prose.

John Krause has worked for University of Phoenix since 2006, when he graduated from Arizona State University. Before that he wrote for 944 Magazine. He is also a musician and doesn't regret passing on the opportunity for his band's music to be featured in Jersey Shore. John's favorite piece for Phoenix Forward to date is his article on moon rocks.

After cutting his teeth on short stories about surfing centaurs in elementary school, Shadi Mirza graduated to more serious fare, creating copy for brands like Starwood Hotels as well as nonprofit organizations. Shadi has both a BA and MA in English and, as a result, has read “The Grapes of Wrath” more times than he’d like to admit. He never refuses a good hamburger.

Manny Ramos has interviewed more than 20,000 people and won nearly 20 journalism awards. He's written for the San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle and appeared on the Today Show, The Early Show and CBS Radio. Manny was awarded six Emmys while working in TV news and was named Reporter of the Year by the Associated Press Television and Radio Association in 2004. His favorite pastime is torturing his daughter by disco dancing in the car.

Stevie Ann Rinehart has been writing primarily in a marketing capacity for nonprofits and private-sector companies since 1993. A former professional cartoonist, her writing pen beat her drawing pen for her affections, and she now enjoys interviewing faculty and alumni to create a compelling story. Stevie Ann has a BA and MA in political science, is a certified specialist of wine, and loves her hometown Pittsburgh Steelers.

Marissa Yaremich has been a journalist for nearly 15 years, and has wielded her pen at CBS’s Inside Edition and the New Haven Register as well as for The Washington Post. Marissa often finds her status as a first-time mom leaves her mentally crafting sentences at the most inopportune times, like when she’s simultaneously juggling groceries and receiving toddler karate chops to her shins.