Next City’s leadership team has two new voices that I want you to meet.

Kelly Regan, a journalist with decades of experience in newspapers, magazines, books, and audio and digital technologies, has joined Next City as our new editorial director. As a former editorial director at the Frommer’s Travel Guides and senior team lead for content strategy at Google, Regan understands how telling stories about people, places and policies can inspire change. She also has worked as a writer and project manager in education, tech and at think tanks; her clients include the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, where Regan edited their website content in advance of a relaunch with an eye toward expanding the reach and impact of Lincoln’s research.

Regan earned her bachelor’s degree in government from Georgetown University and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University. With significant energy and a healthy dose of skepticism, Regan leads our editorial team with a determination to find stories that will inspire you to make cities better.

“I’m thrilled to join this dedicated team,” Regan says. “And I share Next City’s passion for wielding thoughtful, ethical, in-depth journalism to advocate for underrepresented communities around the world. In reporting on the change we want to see in the world, we invite planners, designers, policymakers, financiers, and all engaged citizens to collaborate in direct action to mold more beautiful, livable and equitable cities.”

Oscar Perry Abello is no stranger to Next City, but in his new role as editor, he commands the voice of our daily content and ensures that equity and inclusion — two mainstays of his journalism — remain hallmarks of our content. Abello started with Next City in 2015 as an equitable cities fellow, and most recently served as lead writer for The Bottom Line, our collaboration with Citi that covers the investments, technology and policies shaping cities. Since 2011, Abello has covered community development finance, community banking, impact investing, equitable and inclusive economies, affordable housing, fair housing and more for media outlets such as Shelterforce, B Magazine, Impact Alpha, and Fast Company.

Abello earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Villanova University, after growing up in Greater Philadelphia. Here at Next City, he will command the front lines of our daily reporting to ensure our solutions-oriented reporting is even more relevant and useful to you.

“As journalists, we shape prevailing narratives about cities,” Abello says. “As a reporter for Next City, it was my privilege to elevate voices that have historically been underrepresented when it comes to the ongoing endeavor of making cities what they are. As editor, I look forward to working with a team of journalists to elevate such voices.”

Please join me in welcoming these two new members of our leadership team, whom I am confident will help strengthen our mission to “inspire social, economic and environmental change in cities through journalism and events around the world.” Together with Associate Editor Kelsey Thomas and the best freelance journalists in the world, these two have hit the ground running and are working on new and exciting ways to bring you the insightful journalism you’ve come to expect.

Reach out to our new editorial leadership with story ideas as well as suggestions for platforms that can make our editorial content even more impactful. With journalism under siege and nonprofit organizations struggling to afford quality content, Next City remains optimistic that readers like you value our work. I have been incredibly impressed with our new editorial leadership, and I know you will be too.

Tom was president, CEO and publisher of Next City from May 2015 until April 2018. Before joining Next City, he directed the Center for Resilient Design at the College of Architecture and Design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Prior to that, he ran the Regional Plan Association’s New Jersey office, and served as a senior adviser on land use for two New Jersey governors. Tom is a licensed professional planner, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, as well as an adjunct professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he teaches land use planning and infrastructure planning.