Meet the Newest Members of the Strong Towns Staff

Strong Towns has grown a lot this year, and we've got quite a few big projects lined up for 2023. To help make those new initiatives a success, and to bring you more and better content than ever, we've hired not one, not two, not three, but four new people onto our team! A lot of great candidates applied for these positions, and it wasn't easy narrowing them down to our final four—but now that we have, we're confident we've chosen some amazing new colleagues to help further this movement. We got to meet for the first time last week at our December staff retreat, but now we'd like to introduce them all to you.

First up, we have Ben Abramson, one of our two new staff writers. In his career as a travel journalist with The Washington Post and USA TODAY, Ben has visited many destinations that show how Americans were once world-class at building appealing, prosperous places at a human scale. He has also seen the worst of the suburban development pattern, and joined Strong Towns because of its unique way of framing the problems we can all see and intuit, and focusing on local, achievable solutions. A native of Washington, DC, Ben lives in Venice, Florida; summers in Atlantic Canada; and loves hiking, biking, kayaking, and beachcombing.

Next up is Tony Harris, our new action team coordinator. Tony was drawn to further his career with Strong Towns because the organization places collective well-being, incremental action, and humility at the center of its approach to critiquing development patterns and catalyzing community growth. Prior to joining the team, Tony worked in operations and communications with start-up ventures operating across the renewable energy and collaborative technology markets. His vocational experience spans project management, process design, facilitation, fundraising, and organizational development. Tony holds a Master of Arts in conflict transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. He currently calls Annapolis, Maryland, home and spends a lot of his free time by the Chesapeake Bay.

Our other staff writer is Asia (“ah-sha”) Mieleszko. A dilettante urbanist since adolescence, she's excited to convert a lifetime of ad-hoc volunteerism into a career. Her unconventional background includes directing a Ukrainian folk choir, pioneering synaesthetic performances, photographing festivals, designing websites, teaching, and ghostwriting. She can be found wherever Wi-Fi is reliable, typically along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

Last but not least, we have Michael Pasternock, the new video producer for Strong Towns. After graduating from the University of Missouri, he taught high school English and government in CoMo. Mike and his wife then moved to Arizona, making his side-hustle wedding filmmaking business his full-time job. Mike also worked as chief editor for several prominent YouTubers around the Phoenix area. After discovering Strong Towns and resonating with the message, he realized that his hometown of Chicago was a better fit for his family’s lifestyle. He now lives near the lake and loves to document his travels on camera, play board games with friends, and explore the many delicious restaurants near his lively neighborhood.

Please join us in welcoming Ben, Tony, Asia, and Mike to the movement. We’re excited about the incredible talent they’re all bringing to Strong Towns!