Quick Contact Info
Circulation: Jill Wagner (jill@oakpark.com)
Legal Notices: legals@growingcommunitymedia.org
Advertising: Lourdes Nicholls (lourdes@oakpark.com), Emma Cullnan (emma@oakpark.com)
Editorial: Dan Haley (dhaley@wjinc.com)
Mailing Address: PO Box 6670, River Forest, IL 60305
Phone: 708-613-3340
Editorial Staff
Brendan Heffernan
Staff Reporter (he/him)
brendan@oakpark.com
After a few months freelancing for Growing Community Media, Brendan started as a full-time staff reporter for Wednesday Journal in February 2025. He started his journalism career covering crime and criminal justice issues in Shreveport, Louisiana. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio and graduated with a degree in mass communications from Loyola University New Orleans in 2023. He likes to spend most of his free time with his two dogs — Mister and Ryu.
Ken Trainor
Viewpoints Editor (he/him)
ktrainor@wjinc.com
Ken Trainor has been with Growing Community Media for 30 years, wearing almost every hat available, including Forest Park Review editor, Austin Weekly News editor, Wednesday Journal managing editor and, currently, copy editor, Viewpoints editor, and obituaries editor. He has written upward of 2,000 columns and still hasn’t run out of things to say.
Lacey Sikora
Homes Editor (she/her)
Lacey graduated from Duke University with a degree in English and Art History and then went to law school at the University of Michigan. After working as an attorney in Chicago for a few years, she took some time off with her two children. Her family was rehabbing their second Oak Park home when the Journal put out a call for real estate reporters. Lacey has happily covered architecture and the historic homes and buildings in the Oak Park area ever since.
Maribel Barrera
Social Media and Digital Coordinator (she/her)
maribel@growingcommunitymedia.org
Maribel earned her degree in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is a marketing professional who creates digital content to build community and amplify diverse voices. Beyond work, she enjoys concerts and sporting events!
Stacy Coleman
Senior Audience Manager (she/her)
stacy@oakpark.com
Stacy graduated from Millikin University and moved to Oak Park shortly after. She has been with Growing Community Media since 2021, where she manages newsletters, websites and social media. When she isn’t at work, she can be found curled up with a good book or sitcom, typically with a cat by her side.
Dan Haley
Senior Advisor (he/him)
dhaley@wjinc.com
Dan was one of the three founders of Wednesday Journal in 1980. He’s still here as its four flags – Wednesday Journal, Austin Weekly News, Forest Park Review and Riverside-Brookfield Landmark – make the switch to the nonprofit model of Growing Community Media. He sees independent community journalism as the glue that makes a neighborhood vital.
Max Reinsdorf
Interim Executive Director (he/him)
max@growingcommunitymedia.org
Max has spent his career building a sustainable future for journalism. He’s led digital transformations in news organizations nationwide, developed innovative models for mission-driven news and forged partnerships to sustain valuable local reporting. Passionate about community journalism, he’s focused on making local news stronger, more innovative and built to last.
Sales Staff
Lourdes Nicholls
Senior Media Strategist (she/her)
lourdes@oakpark.com
Lourdes, a Berkeley, California native, has called Oak Park home for over 30 years. She joined Wednesday Journal in 1995 and has been an integral part of the company ever since. When not pitching stories for Growing Community Media writers, Lourdes can be found researching her family history.
Emma Cullnan
Marketing & Advertising Associate (she/her)
emma@oakpark.com
Emma, a South Side native, graduated from Knox College and has been working in local news for three years. When she’s not trying every latte in Oak Park, Emma enjoys biking the lakefront trail and writing screenplays.
Design Staff
Andy Mead
Design & Production Manager (he/him)
Andy has been a part of Wednesday Journal/Growing Community Media’s design department since 2005. He grew up in the Oak Park of the 70s, with two movie theaters, Summer camp at Hephzibah, buying records at the THREE record stores in town, and watching Lake St. get torn up and re-paved…several times!?
Javier Govea
Editorial Design Manager (he/him)
Javier has been working in the newspaper industry for more than a decade, the majority of which he spent at Pioneer Press and Growing Community Media. A North Side Chicago native, Javier is a lifelong Cubs fan and enjoys catching games at Wrigley Field. He is also a father of two, a beer connoisseur and a foodie.
Susan McKelvey
Designer (she/her)
Business Staff
Mary Ellen Nelligan
Development Manager (she/her) maryellen@oakpark.com
After 10 years living in Oak Park and reading the Wednesday Journal, Mary Ellen joined its staff in 2015. Initially responsible for Classified ad sales and Legal Notice placements, as Growing Community Media was born as a nonprofit news organization she assumed responsibilities for Development.
Jill Wagner
Circulation and Reader Engagement Manager (she/her)
jill@oakpark.com
Since 2014 Jill Wagner has been Managing Circulation and Reader Engagement for the five publications. Jill has a special interest in local history and contributes a weekly history nugget to the Forest Park Review. Once a month she pulls an option column about Forest Park out of the sky which always has an alliteration in it. Jill can be seen delighting in the opportunity to contribute photos and stories to any of our publications, or growing a giant pumpkin in her backyard.
Growing Community Media’s Team
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- Judy Greffin (Oak Park)
- Darnell Shields (Austin)
- Eric Weinheimer (River Forest) Chairperson
- Nile Wendorf (Oak Park) Treasurer
- Deb Abrahamson (Oak Park)
- Steve Edwards (Oak Park)
- Charles Meyerson (Oak Park)
- Horacio Mendez (Oak Park)
- Audra Wilson (Oak Park)
- Mary Cahillane (Chicago)
Max Reinsdorf: Interim Executive Director
Stella Brown: Staff Reporter
Jessica Mordacq: Staff Reporter
Brendan Heffernan: Staff Reporter
Ken Trainor: Viewpoints Editor
Lacey Sikora: Real Estate Editor
Stacy Coleman: Senior Audience Manager
Maribel Barrera: Social Media and Digital Coordinator
Andy Mead: Design & Production Manager
Javier Govea: Editorial Design Manager
Susan McKelvey: Designer
Lourdes Nicholls: Senior Media Strategist
Emma Cullnan: Marketing & Advertising Associate
Mary Ellen Nelligan: Development Manager
Jill Wagner: Circulation Manager
Dan Haley: Senior Advisor