Quartz hires four new editorial staffers

Financial news site Quartz has hired four new editorial staffers.

Annabelle Timsit has joined Quartz as a reporter, focused on our science of learning obsession. Annabelle joins us from the Atlantic, where she participated in its fellowship program and wrote stories on topics ranging from Japan’s overhaul of its university admissions system to the push to make the French language gender-neutral. As a student at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, Annabelle wrote for Politico Magazine and served as opinion columnist and editorial board member of the student newspaper, The Hoya. She is currently based in Washington DC and will relocate to London in the early summer.

Alva French joins Quartz as the newest member of our video team. She comes to us from BuzzFeed News, where she produced, shot, and reported breaking news videos and features. Previously, Alva has worked as a producer for Reuters, NBC’s Meet The Press, and the Associated Press. Before journalism, Alva was an online marketer for Elektra Records and Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Amanda Shendruk is joining Quartz as a reporter on the Things team. The Things team is chiefly responsible for Quartz’s data-driven, visual, interactive and experimental journalism. She comes to us from the Council on Foreign Relations, where she was its first data-visualization designer. There she worked with journalists and researchers to enhance their work with graphics and visualization, and also reported and published her own stories and analyses. Prior to CFR, she worked at Maclean’s Magazine in Toronto and the Guardian in London in editorial roles. She also organizes the New York Data Storytelling Meetup. Amanda will start in the New York office on June 5 before relocating to the London office in the fall.

Phoebe Gavin is the newest member of Quartz’s Growth team, which leads efforts to grow Quartz’s audience. Phoebe joins Quartz from ThinkProgress, where she was senior audience engagement editor. In that role, she developed a new digital distribution strategy and revolutionized the site’s Twitter presence — growing it by 120 percent in just a year. Outside of work, Phoebe spends her time mentoring with newly separated veterans to help them make successful career transitions. She will be based in Washington.