About
About us
The Jersey Bee is a nonprofit, public service news provider that works with the people we serve to produce news and reporting that meets local information needs, inspires civic participation, and improves the quality of life in our community.
The Jersey Bee was launched in April 2020 as The Bloomfield Information Project to respond to an acute need for quality local news and information amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bloomfield Information Project served the Greater Bloomfield before reorganizing as The Jersey Bee in the summer of 2023.
The Jersey Bee is an initiative of Community Info Coop, a nonprofit that equips communities with the systems, tools, and information they need to design and maintain media institutions that serve their civic information needs.
Our team
Simon Galperin
Executive Editor
Simon is the founder and Executive Editor of The Jersey Bee. He is a Bloomfield resident who grew up in Bergen County and leads our editorial, engagement, product, and business development efforts.
Olivia Rizzo
Civic Info Producer
Olivia is The Jersey Bee’s Civic Info Producer. Olivia was born and raised in Cedar Grove and produces our daily newsletter, reports on issues that matter to residents, and supports our community journalism programs.
Natalie Tsur
Associate Civic Info Producer
Natalie Tsur is The Jersey Bee’s Associate Civic Info Producer. She is a New Jersey resident and produces our daily newsletter and reports on issues that matter to the community.
Nikki Villafane
Engagement Producer
Nikki is The Jersey Bee’s Engagement Producer. She is a Bloomfield resident, originally from the Midwest, and helps run our community outreach and journalism programs.
Former team
Aaliyah Amos
Civic Reporting Intern
Aaliyah Amos was The Jersey Bee’s Civic Reporting Intern for summer 2024. She is a Newark resident and graduate of Rutgers University-Newark, where she studied journalism and social justice.
Kimberly Izar
Public Health Reporter
Kimberly was The Jersey Bee’s Public Health Reporter from 2024-2025. A New Jersey-native, Kimberly worked with our engagement team to produce reporting that responded to public health needs in our community.
Melissa DiPento
Associate Editor
Melissa was The Jersey Bee’s Associate Editor in 2025. Melissa is a journalism educator and project manager who started her career as a reporter in Camden and Gloucester counties. She helped coach, copy edit, and fact check our reporting.
How we work
The Jersey Bee does public service journalism with and for the communities we serve.
We prioritize listening and community engagement to ensure our programs and services meet people where they are. Here is more about our core values.
Accessible and useful
The Jersey Bee makes local news and information more accessible and useful.
The Jersey Bee’s daily and weekly curation services provide easy access to local events and useful news to increase civic engagement, improve community cohesion, and address information inequity. Through community-specific newsletters, text messaging, and social media, The Jersey Bee builds diverse and engaged communities to enroll them in our impact-making journalism programs.
Collaborative and participatory
The Jersey Bee’s programs and services are collaborative and participatory.
The Jersey Bee’s news products and on-the-ground engagement enroll community members in conversations and surveys that identify info needs, inform The Jersey Bee’s reporting, and allow staff to gather and respond to community feedback. Community members can also take assignments surveying, documenting public meetings, conducting interviews, writing explainers, or producing other content to meet civic info needs through The Jersey Bee’s Civic Media Corps.
Reparative and equitable
The Jersey Bee programs and services are reparative and work toward a more just and equitable future.
The Jersey Bee’s reporting and community engagement amplifies what’s working in our community and addresses information and accountability gaps that limit the ability of our community to implement solutions to the challenges they face. That includes addressing systems that have historically marginalized and exploited people of color, women, immigrants, Indigenous communities, the working class, and LGBTQIA+ people.
The Jersey Bee strives to reflect its commitment to justice and equity in how it operates. That includes recruiting members, contractors, and staff from diverse communities, setting living wage and worker-to-CEO pay standards, supporting life-work balance for employees, and maintaining editorial and engagement policies that prioritize the needs of BIPOC and working-class people.
Independent and transparent
The Jersey Bee makes decisions about what it reports and how based on the information needs we identify. The opinions of donors or supporters do not influence our news coverage in order to ensure our public service mission.
The Jersey Bee accepts monetary donations, grants, sponsorships, ad placements, and payments for services from individuals, foundations, and organizations to help us achieve our mission, but news judgments are made independently. We do not accept donations from government entities, political parties, or where a non-disclosure agreement is required.
The Jersey Bee avoids accepting anonymous donations and will make public all donors who give $5,000 or more per year. We may reject donations from sources who seek to compromise our independence or whose interests may conflict with our work.
The Jersey Bee’s staff and contractors do not accept personal gifts or favors of more than nominal value, nor any special treatment from any person or group is or could be the source or the subject of our reporting.
How we’re funded
The Jersey Bee is primarily supported by philanthropic foundations and individual donors. We also earn money by offering sponsorship and advertising, and services like audience research, community outreach, media training, and others. Major supporters include:
- Silicon Valley Family Foundation (2024-2025)
- New Jersey Civic Information Consortium (2021-2025)
- EQUIP NJ (2025)
- Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation (2020-2024)
- Democracy Fund (2023)
- New Jersey Local News Lab Fund (2020-2022)
- Clara Maass Medical Center (2020)
- Reynolds Journalism Institute (2020)
