Staff and Board

Kathryn Dugal
Director of Marketing and Audience

Kathryn is the Director of Marketing and Audience at Tradeoffs, bringing more than a decade of experience in nonprofit communications, marketing and audience growth and engagement strategy. She previously led the audience team at the Better Government Association/Illinois Answers Project in Chicago and oversaw philanthropic fundraising and community engagement at Bridge Michigan. Kathryn currently resides in Chicago.

Email: kdugal@tradeoffs.org

Melanie Evans
Reporter and Producer

Melanie is a reporter and producer for Tradeoffs. She spent eight years at The Wall Street Journal, where she reported on hospital costs, health care quality and the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the Journal, Melanie covered health policy and business for Modern Healthcare and began her career at the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota, her home state. Her coverage has won awards from the New York Press Club, Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing and Association of Health Care Journalists. She lives in New York.

Email: mevans@tradeoffs.org

Deborah Franklin
Editor

Deborah is a consulting editor for Tradeoffs, drawing on more than a dozen years on NPR’s Science Desk as an audio, digital, and multimedia journalist. Deborah has worked as a staff writer and editor for award-winning magazines, including Fortune, Health, Hippocrates and Science News. Her work has also appeared in Scientific American, Smithsonian, and the New York Times’ science section and Sunday magazine. Deborah lives in San Francisco.

Email: dfranklin@tradeoffs.org

Dan Gorenstein
Founder and Executive Editor

Dan is the Founder and Executive Editor of Tradeoffs, setting the vision for the organization’s journalism and strategy. Before Tradeoffs, he was the senior health care reporter at Marketplace and spent 11 years at New Hampshire Public Radio. He got his start in journalism at the Chicago Reporter, an investigative journal that examines race and class disparities in the Chicago area. Dan’s work has earned numerous national awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi investigative reporting award. He is based in Philadelphia.

Email: dgorenstein@tradeoffs.org

Haley Lerner
Production Assistant

Haley Lerner is a production assistant for Tradeoffs, helping get the organization’s journalism into the world on its digital channels. Previously, she worked as a Multimedia Producer/Editor for Boston University School of Public Health and reported on arts and culture for public media station GBH News. She lives in Boston. 

Email: hlerner@tradeoffs.org

Ryan Levi
Managing Editor

Ryan is the managing editor for Tradeoffs, helping lead the newsroom’s editorial strategy and guide its coverage on its flagship podcast, digital articles, newsletters and live events. Ryan spent six years as a reporter and producer for Tradeoffs covering Medicaid, mental health, addiction and health technology, including artificial intelligence. Ryan’s work has won numerous national awards and been featured on NPR, PBS NewsHour and The Marshall Project. Ryan lives in Washington D.C.

Email: rlevi@tradeoffs.org

Andrew Parrella
Producer and Sound Designer

Andrew is Tradeoffs’ sound designer, responsible for shaping the show’s sound and storytelling. Andrew has more than 15 years of experience producing live radio and podcasts, including at NHPR and WGBH. Andrew teaches audio production at UMass Lowell and runs Dot Mug Productions, helping others create compelling podcasts.

Email: aparrella@tradeoffs.org

Kate Sepe
Operations Coordinator

Kate is the Operations Coordinator for Tradeoffs, providing administrative support to the team. Kate has over a decade of nonprofit event management and fundraising experience, including assisting a national team with the strategy, planning and resourcing of a multimillion-dollar event portfolio.

Email: ksepe@tradeoffs.org 

Colleen Scheck
Chief Operations Officer

As fractional COO, Colleen contributes her wide range of nonprofit expertise to Tradeoffs’ people, planning, and process work. She’s spent over two decades working at the intersection of media and community, including as a producer, project manager, and operations leader at Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media, WithAll, and The On Being Project. At Tradeoffs, Colleen focuses on planning and operationalizing strategy, bridging culture, structure, and strategy for growth, and managing HR and finance operations. Colleen lives in the Twin Cities.

Email: cscheck@tradeoffs.org

Jessica Silverman
Executive Director

Jessica is Tradeoffs’ Executive Director, leading strategy, operations, and revenue development. Jessica has over 15 years of experience helping a wide range of nonprofits scale their impact, including Signal Messenger, the National WIC Association, and the Public Rights Project. She built the fundraising team at Code for America and began her career at Carnegie Hall, where she specialized in public sector funding. Jessica resides in the Bay Area.

Email: jsilverman@tradeoffs.org

Leslie Walker
Senior Reporter and Producer

Leslie is a senior reporter and producer for Tradeoffs covering a wide range of health policy issues including prescription drugs and Medicare. Her story, “Inside Big Health Insurers’ Side Hustle,” was awarded first place in audio reporting by the Association of Health Care Journalists and her work has been featured on Marketplace, NPR and STAT News. Before Tradeoffs, Leslie worked as a freelance writer and editor, in nonprofit communications, and at a health care social enterprise. She lives in San Francisco.

Email: lwalker@tradeoffs.org

Cedric Wilson
Production Engineer

Cedric is a producer for Tradeoffs, assisting with audio production. Cedric has eight years of experience in audio, with work spanning from post production for TV to engineering for indie music artists. Cedric got his podcasting start on Gimlet Media’s The Nod, where he mixed and composed music for the show.