hello@730dc.com
We are an independent media collective of writers and editors, passionate about elevating critical thinking on local urban issues and opportunities for civic engagement. It’s also not our day job: Our volunteers collaborate in a Google Doc every week night to deliver news and events that matter—for free!—to over 20,000 readers.
We support this work with the help of sponsors (always marked #ad) that share our mission: to help readers connect with the city, its communities, and their neighbors.
Interested in joining? We open applications a few times a year and post about it in the newsletter so subscribe to stay updated. Have other talents? We also need help for things like event planning, social media, web development, sponsorship management/biz dev or whatever else you can think of, drop us a line.
Editors
Hayden Higgins works at World Resources Institute. He is a contributing editor at The Morning News and a co-founder of 730DC. (@hscotthiggins)
Lily Strelich is an artist and lives in Petworth. She studied geology but she's grateful for her new life as an indoor cat, dabbling in science journalism and design. She’s also a bad bartender and biking evangelist, and shreds on the accordion. (@lilystrelich)
Gracie McKenzie grew up in Oregon and now lives in Mt. Pleasant, after a stopover in Somerville, Massachusetts. She works in journalism and has been to the end of every Metro line but still gets lost around L'Enfant. (@graciemckenzie for work updates; @gracieful for foster kitten pics)
Writers
Nina Kanakarajavelu is a woman about town but currently hangs her hat in Columbia Heights. She is gainfully employed and dedicates much of her free time to local organizing, keeping up with the internet's latest hot takes, and making extremely niche Spotify playlists.
Ariana Mushnick grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and has lived in D.C. since 2012 when she moved here for undergrad. During the day, she works on digital strategy for the progressive media landscape at the Center for American Progress. Ariana is always thinking about her next meal and is an obsessive dog mom. (@arianamushnick)
Anne Dolan grew up in Connecticut and moved to DC after college. After a hiatus organizing out west, she has happily boomeranged back to Shaw. She works in political tech and in her spare time she enjoys checking out an unreasonable number of books from the DC library and asking her friends to feed her dinner. (@annne16)
Andrew DeFrank lives off U Street and is originally from Eastern Market. He is a city planner at a local transportation agency. Andrew’s favorite city parks are Malcolm X (for hanging out), Rock Creek (for bike rides), and Marion (for dog walks).
Yousif Al-Amin can usually be found somewhere between his Columbia Heights apartment, Bruce Monroe Community Garden, or the Howard University McDonalds. He is a houseplant collector, proud bird dad, and avid baker. (@yalamin / @yousfulrecipes)
Abi Newhouse grew up in Utah but now lives in Adams Morgan (only once did she call it AdMo on the phone, and immediately apologized). She is a writer and editor with District Fray, a local events and lifestyle magazine, and she also hosts and produces a podcast called We're Here. She has a cat named Jo, who sometimes looks like a mouse, and other times looks like a bear. @abinewhouse
Jay Venables is an audio producer who likes to walk around the city with a book and little else. You can find them at the Angelika pop-up, tiny T-Street Park, on the red line, or not at all—they have a much-beloved balcony that doubles as one of the best vegetarian spots in the city. @jaystaysoffline
Sahar Roodehchi can usually be found bopping around Columbia Heights. When not working her day job as a digital strategist, she spends her time thinking about vegetarian recipes, perfecting her home chef skills, and eating. She loves a good farmers market, walks in parks, and well-loved library books. (@saharroo)
Sarah Cassell grew up in Utah and currently lives in Adams Morgan in her maximalist craigslist apartment with her gecko Wallace. When not at her "job," she performs sketch comedy, cares for too many plants, bikes around the city, and tells everyone to watch the best movie of all time, "Paddington 2." (@sarahrcassell)
Alumni
Co-Founders: Michael Mellody and Nick Desien
Editors and Writers: Christina Pappas, Alyssa Alfonso, Jessica Sheng, Michelle Delgado, Colleen Shaffer, Rachel Mulbry, Tomás Deza, Michelle Goldchain, Matt Gayer, Marcus K. Dowling, Andrew Peng, Kiki Pierce, Dalton Vogler, Katie Malon, Rahwa Fessehatzion, Hana Ford, Ashira Morris, Yuri Chang, Elsa Voytas, Leah Salgado, John Harding, Dhanya Addanki, David Oliver, Margaret Kaufmann, Sheehan Whelan, Lovinia Reynolds, Ilana Ostrin, Ellen Squires, Julie Rubin and Linda Flynn.