From the editor: We’re growing our team — led by longtime San Josean

After celebrating our two-year anniversary in January, San José Spotlight is growing its news team and kicking off 2021 with an experienced leader at the helm.

Leslie Griffy, a longtime San Josean and veteran journalist and editor, is our new managing editor and newsroom leader. She replaces Simar Khanna, who stepped down in December.

Leslie, who has lived in downtown San Jose for 20 years, is the perfect match — she knows journalism, has her thumb on the pulse of important city issues and loves San Jose. She’ll play a critical role in leading our nonprofit newsroom as we expand our award-winning local coverage and double down on our commitment to provide high-quality, independent journalism.

She has reported for the Mercury News, Chicago Sun-Times, San Luis Obispo Tribune and Salinas Californian, among others. After covering all levels of government for more than 15 years, Leslie stepped into leadership roles for the past five years and most recently served as the managing editor of Santa Clara Magazine.

Leslie is passionate about public policy, accountability reporting and digging through data — skills that I know will take our public service journalism to the next level. She’s also well versed in audio reporting.

In the next few weeks, keep your eyes peeled for an exclusive opportunity to meet Leslie during a virtual coffee and hear about her vision for San José Spotlight.

That’s not the only good news to share.

We’ve also hired Lloyd Alaban as a full-time politics and government reporter. A South Bay native, Lloyd served as a freelance reporter for San José Spotlight and quickly proved himself a smart, hardworking and tenacious reporter.

Lloyd will focus primarily on housing, homelessness and elevating the voices of minority and underserved communities.

This growth in our newsroom would not be possible without support from you — our readers. Thank you for continuing to place your trust and faith in us. We will work harder than ever to cover the issues and communities you care about.

Help us continue growing by considering becoming a donor with a tax deductible one-time or recurring donation. Every penny ensures we can hire talented journalists like Leslie and Lloyd — and that we’ll be here for years to come.

Contact Ramona Giwargis at [email protected] or follow @RamonaGiwargis on Twitter.