Jeannette Andruss is a longtime journalist, public school parent and believer that civil discourse and a free press are vital for democracy. She founded Spotlight Schools in 2021 with the help of the Tiny News Collective.

She writes and reports the weekly Spotlight Schools newsletter.

Before launching Spotlight Schools, Jeannette was a freelance journalist in Orange County and was published by The Los Angeles Times, The Sun Newspapers and the Event-News Enterprise.

Prior to freelancing, Jeannette worked in local TV news as a morning newscast producer for ABC7 and KTLA in Los Angeles and at various stations in San Diego. She earned her Masters Degree at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 2003 and completed her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley. She was born and raised in Orange County and attended public schools from 4th-12th grades. She lives in Seal Beach with her husband and two kids. Her parents are from Puerto Rico. Wepa!

David N. Young is an editor at Integrity Newspapers, having edited the Seal Beach Sun, the Catalina Islander, and now the Event-News Enterprise.

He has worked with the Department of Justice on informational products for the education community and spent many years in Washington, D.C. as a public affairs strategist, working with a host of federal agencies.

He has twice been named to Who’s Who in America and is a former television journalist at KATC and Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

He completed the LSU School of Journalism before studying broadcasting at the University of Southwestern, where he received the “Telecasting Award” for innovative programming.