Notes from the Class of 2018

Tessa Diestel (Jour’18) spent the summer reporting on the climate of hate in America as a Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellow. In addition to contributing reporting for stories on the News21 Hate in America website, Tessa was a producer for the documentary American Hate. She shared her experiences with CMCI through updates, stories, photos and more as she reported from multiple cities in four states.

Chase Gregor (InfoSci, Anthro) is an analyst in DaVita's compliance department where he assists in the maintenance and accuracy of Davita's kidney dialysis payment and performance data. 

Nick Mott (MJour) is a reporter at Montana Public Radio and a producer for Threshold, a podcast founded by former Center of Environmental Journalism fellow Amy Martin that tackles environmental issues. Nick's reporting has been featured by news outlets including The Washington Post and NPR's Morning Edition. 

This spring, Kelsey Simpkins (MJour) left her position as a science and news writer in media relations at CU Boulder after more than three years, where she was a 2023 Hermes Creative Awards gold winner and received a 2022 Silver Pick Award from the Public Relations Society of America, Colorado Chapter. She joined Colorado’s Regional Air Quality Council, the lead agency for improving air quality in the Front Range, as its communications and programs coordinator. 

After graduating from CMCI, Kimberly Coffin (CritMed, StratComm’18) found a way to stick around. She joined the college staff in 2019 as CMCI’s video and multimedia coordinator, and loves capturing the stories of students, faculty, alumni and friends. Kimberly specializes in video production and photography, and has previously worked for clients including Modern Market, Buck Ross Productions, HGTV’s Tiny Paradise and the University of Colorado Law School.

Paige M. Ensor (Advert) moved to New York City shortly after graduation to pursue a career in advertising. Through the 2018 MADE program, she was selected by IBM to participate in its summer advertising internship, after which she was hired as a campaign production manager for the Watson and Developer campaigns in IBM’s Worldwide Advertising department. In December 2018, she launched her first global advertising campaign, called “Behind the Code,” for IBM.

Lauren Harano (Jour) moved to New York City after graduation to pursure a career in journalism. She works for PopSugar as an editor in the features department. 

Shortly after graduation, Max Levy (Jour) joined The Holyoke Enterprise as a staff reporter. While at CMCI, Max served as a multimedia journalist for CU News Corps and was a reporting intern for the Daily Camera. 

John Marinelli (Jour'18) has been working as a general assignment reporter covering Longmont for the Daily Camera and Longmont Times-Call. Previously, he was an education reporter for the Yuma Sun in southern Arizona. He plans to pursue a master’s degree in computer science at CU Denver.

In July 2019, Jackson Lansing (StratComm'18) started as a production assistant at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., where he assisted in covering the Washington Nationals’ 2019 World Series championship, the impeachment inquiries and COVID-19 developments. He is training to become a newscast director and hopes to continue to travel, write and enjoy the great outdoors as his career progresses.

Bobby Gehlen (Jour) is a production assistant for ABC News in Washington, D.C. He writes for ABC’s digital team and field produces for Good Morning America and World News Tonight. In addition, Bobby produces for ABC News live, a streaming platform, covering politics and local stories in Washington.

Austin Braun (Advert) is the digital media strategist at CU Boulder’s College of Engineering & Applied Science, using social and digital media to advance research, elevate reputation and build community in the college. During his free time, when he isn’t distance running or climbing 14ers, he’s working to create a better future with next-generation drone software engineering as chief strategist and creative at Ascend Engineering.

Riley Clinton (CritMedia), along with other CU alumni, co-founded Boulder Media House LLC, a video production company now located in Denver. The alumni are slowly building their team and are always looking to expand their network and client base. BMH is passionate about working with and supporting local Colorado companies and helping the state thrive.

Tessa Diestel (Jour) is an associate producer in event production with ESPN, where she has worked since June 2019. She primarily works on college football and tennis, but is also involved in production for golf, the WNBA and the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament. She has worked in college football for four seasons, including on the Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Football crew. When working on tennis, she produces features and creative content during the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Since Audrey (Rodriguez) Holcomb (Jour) graduated, she has gone on to work in social media marketing for the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Lakers. She is now the social media manager for StockX, a live marketplace for exclusive sneakers, apparel, handbags and watches. During her time with the Lakers, she had the opportunity to experience winning a championship with the team in 2020. She was married in 2021 in her hometown of Laguna Beach, California, and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband, Reed, and puppy, Sushi.