Email: andrea.hart@patch.com
Phone: 847.902.1107
Hometown: Raised in Chicago's northwest suburbs, but the city holds my h(e)art, always.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/wilmettekenilworthpatch
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wilmette_patch

Bio: As a journalist I get to witness the human ability to connect and relate on a daily basis. And every day, that moment is different.

At its heart, digital news enhances that connection. I believe that online media has a great capacity to give voice to the voiceless by putting issues in the context of people. For the past six years, I've been lucky to experiment with this kind of storytelling for various publications in various places—at first as a music journalist for SPIN.com in Chicago and more recently as an environmental reporter for Circle of Blue in India.

During my time as a journalism student at Northwestern, I pioneered an alternative weekly magazine that covered campus and Chicago culture, and helped launch Medill's first D.C.-based multimedia journalism program for undergraduates.

But it was the six months I spent as an immigration reporter in South Africa in 2008 that changed my life and solidified my career path. I wrote investigative stories on immigration abuse at the South African-Zimbabwean border for the Cape Times newspaper in Cape Town. Shortly thereafter I moved to Johannesburg to work for The Times, the country's first multimedia daily newspaper.

In love with the country, I returned on an Eric Lund Global Reporting Grant to examine the South African youth vote in 2009.

At the end of the day, I live to laugh and love meeting new people. So, let's chat and connect if you see me around town.

Politics: I view everything with an open mind and a critical eye.

Beliefs: I believe in people and our ability to understand.