Kelly Kissel

About

A former Associated Press journalist born for the wire. Raised reading newspapers, worked in radio and television to raise money for college, enjoyed an AP career that extended from New Orleans to Pennsylvania and then back to the South. Experience managing a budget for a 12-person newsroom, producing monthly newsletters, writing and editing copy for a worldwide audience, mentoring young staffers for bigger and brighter things at the AP; giving writing and editing seminars in AP-member newsrooms.Exceptional writing and public speaking skills. Guest lecturer at a number of universities. An extended family of ex-colleagues that extends around the globe.Too many awards to mention, but the ones that hang on the wall are the William Randolph Hearst national collegiate writing championship and, with AP's race and ethnicity team, the company's internal prize for digital storytelling for coverage of the 60th anniversary of Little Rock Central High's desegregation.Top stories covered: Whitewater, bad tornadoes, multiple executions (witnessed 10), political shifts, transportation disasters. Some interest in sales and political consulting, for the right cause.