Gratitude to our advisors for their issue-area expertise and counsel in the development of Nu?Detroit.
Mitch Barnett is a digital content strategist currently working for SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers) and is also a co-founder of the Urban Hockey Foundation. In his free time, Mitch enjoys playing hockey and riding his bicycle around town. He loves the Detroit Red Wings and spending time with his dog Pasha and fiance, Ellie Farber. Mitch grew up in the Farmington Hills area and is now a resident of Detroit.
Laura Berman is a veteran Detroit journalist, who wrote a three-times-a-week column for The Detroit News for 30 years. She's a widely-published magazine writer, whose profiles and commentary have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Fortune, and other publications, online and in print. She now works as a writing coach, editor, freelance writer and board member of the Wayne State University Press Visitors Board and the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.
Erika Bocknek, PhD, LMFT is Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Wayne State University. She is Associate Editor of the Infant Mental Health Journal and serves on the editorial boards of the journals Infancy and Adversity and Resilience Science. Her writing has appeared in academic journals, including Child Development and the Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy, and in popular media, including PBS Newshour, Marketwatch, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She currently serves on the boards of Brilliant Detroit and the Coalition for Jewish and Black Unity.
Gabriella Burman is the Director of Communications and Public Relations at Beyond Basics, a nonprofit working to eradicate illiteracy. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University and an award-winning journalist, throughout her life and career, Gabriella has always been writing, editing, and creating content. She is the author of Michaela, a chapbook of essays, and resides in Huntington Woods with her husband and daughters, and without a pandemic puppy.
Aaron Foley is a Detroit native living in Brooklyn. He is the author of “How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass,” contributor to "This American Life," and has appeared in several publications and anthologies. He was the first Chief Storyteller for the City of Detroit Government and former editor of BLAC Detroit Magazine. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.
Brian Gottlieb is an award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times. His experience includes launching new community-oriented monthly publications, including: Red Thread (for the former publisher of the Detroit Jewish News); 90072 in the Pacific Palisades-section of Los Angeles, and; The Santa Monica Sun, in Santa Monica, Calif. He is a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication and earned his M.A. in Journalism from UCLA. He currently advises companies on media strategy, content offerings and collateral production. Gottlieb lives in Huntington Woods with his wife and three children.
Rabbi Marla Hornsten is a rabbi at Temple Israel. She is passionate about everything she gets involved in! Currently, she co-chairs the Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, fights domestic violence and serves on the boards of JFS and Henry Ford Hospital. Among her many interests during the pandemic has been baking and binge watching Netflix with the family.
Allan Lengel, co-founder of Deadline Detroit, is a veteran journalist who has worked at major publications including the Washington Post and the Detroit News. He served as an intern under the late investigative columnist Jack Anderson, taught journalism at the University of Maryland and was a contributing reporter for the ABC News Brian Ross Investigative Unit. He is also editor of a website on federal law enforcement news called ticklethewire.com.
Hannan Lis, originally from Haifa Israel, is past COO of the recently sold family-owned The WW Group (Weight Watchers), founder and CEO of Lis Ventures LLC, a venture fund investing in emerging technologies and companies, founder and Chairman of Michigan based Firebolt Group Inc (an international manufacturing and software firm), principal of the GSH Group (an owner-operator of multi-family communities) and Chairman of Israel based EazyShow Inc. Hannan has also served as Chairman of Forgotten Harvest, Detroit Public Television and the Michigan Israel Business Bridge; and past member of Metro Detroit Federation board of Governors and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).
Howard Lupovitch is a fourth-generation Detroiter, and a graduate of Hillel Day School, the University of Michigan, and Columbia University, where he earned a Phd in Jewish History. He is currently associate professor of History and the Director of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University.
Rabbi Jason Miller is an ordained Conservative Rabbi (Jewish Theological Seminary, 2004), Tech Entrepreneur & Blogger. Rabbi Jason is passionate about how technology and globalization have helped to shape 21st century Judaism. In addition to owning Access Technology (a managed service provider) and an international kosher certification agency, Rabbi Jason can also be found officiating bar and bat mitzvahs in fun places like the Grand Canyon, Caribbean Islands, Major League Baseball stadiums or Bubbe's backyard.
Nat Pernick is a third generation Detroiter, growing up in Oak Park and Southfield and now living in Huntington Woods. He attended Wayne State University (BS mathematics) and worked his way through the University of Michigan Medical and Law Schools. He had a private law practice for 20 years and served as Special Assistant Attorney General under Frank J. Kelley, Jennifer Granholm and Michael Cox. Then he did a pathology residency and fellowship at Wayne State. In 2001, he started PathologyOutlines.com, which provides a free online textbook used by pathologists worldwide based on his belief that medical information should be free and easily accessible. He also writes papers and a blog on cancer and complexity theory and has drafted a strategic plan on curing cancer.
Zak Rosen was reared in West Bloomfield and lives in Detroit. He’s the host of The Best Advice Show (give him your advice!) and Director of Podcasts at Graham Media Group. He also facilitates workshops and consults with museums, high schools, universities, and community organizations on various story-based projects. He's a counselor with Radio Campfire and a podcast coach with the Detroit Writing Room.
Ashira Solomon is a diversity and inclusion specialist in metropolitan Detroit. She is the Community Associate at the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee Detroit, working to build and enhance initiatives in unity, diversity, equity and inclusion. Since co-founding the Diversity Council at Berkley High School, she has honed her efforts to build bridges and bring people together. Ashira pursues interests in social and environmental progress and spends her free time hanging out with daughter Mimi and their rescue dog Hunter.
Stephanie Steinberg is the founder and CEO of The Detroit Writing Room, an event and writing space in downtown Detroit that offers professional writing coaches. She’s also the executive director of the nonprofit arm Coaching Detroit Forward that offers free writing and photography programs for Detroit high school students. Stephanie has been a journalist for over a decade. She's held editing positions at U.S. News & World Report and SEEN Magazine and has had her work published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, USA Today, CNN.com, The Detroit News, Hour Magazine and more.