Development & Growth Co-Director

Gianna Santelli is a fundraising professional with nearly 15 years of experience supporting small nonprofits across New Jersey, with a focus on arts, education, healthcare, and workforce development. She brings a relationship-driven, systems-thinking approach to resource development, and has successfully launched inaugural fundraising programs that fuel long-term growth. Gianna holds a degree in Environmental Policy, Institutions and Behavior from Rutgers University and is passionate about advancing civic and environmental solutions across the state.

Reach her at development@civicstory.org, or connect on LinkedIn.

Editor & Co-Director

Jessie Graham is an award-winning reporter, editor and producer. She’s most recently worked on narrative podcasts for clients like Foreign Policy and Audible. She got her start in the newsroom at WNYC, covered courts at the New York Post and has filed for NPR, BBC and CBC shows as well as Newsday and the The New York Times. Jessie spent over a decade producing audio and video stories for Human Rights Watch. She’s taught journalism at the Columbia J-School and for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Iraq. Jessie lives and gardens in Maplewood, New Jersey and is developing projects on shade and heat equity, urban forestry and renewable energy.

Reach her at jessie@civicstory.org, or connect on LinkedIn.

Scripps-Howard Fellow

Davian Arroyo is studying Media/Communications and English Literature at Drew University and plans to pursue a Masters degree in Journalism. As CivicStory’s inaugural Scripps-Howard Fellow, Davian will be reporting on creative solutions to global warming on his campus and in the wider community. Davian is a writer, actor and musician who spent his youth with either a pen, a script or a guitar in his hands. He is proudly Puerto Rican, was born in Newark and is also a mixed media artist and an avid outdoorsman. He plays in a cover band called Living Room Lecture and recently played the role of King Phillip in a local production of The Lion in Winter.