Team
Jonathan Widder
Jonathan founded Squirrel News, and is the director of the Constructive News e. V. He leads both the management and the editorial team, and regularly collects news himself. In the past, Jonathan has worked as a freelance journalist and helped build up different media start-ups in Berlin.
Ed Crasnick
Ed Crasnick is an Emmy winning writer, as well as a performer, producer and development executive, and co-host of the Squirrel News Podcast. He is the founder of Makelight, Inc.; an entertainment studio that unites Mental Health and Comedy, and also hosts several other podcasts, a new book, a number of TV projects and community programs. Ed is a big fan of solutions journalism and believes that everything is possible. He lives by the beach in LA where he drinks coffee and worries.
Leslie Boltron
Leslie is a member of the English edition’s editorial staff. After spending a significant portion of her career at CNN Philippines, she is now pursuing a Master’s degree in Media, Ethics and Social Change at a UK university.
Justin Sandberg
Justin is one of the editors in charge of the English edition. Born in the US and raised in Europe, he enjoys visiting new places and trying new dishes. Outside of Squirrel News, he works as a copywriter, researcher, and editor. In his free time, Justin enjoys the outdoors, hiking, and traveling.
Alex Wade
Alex is an editor in the English edition of Squirrel News. He spent most of his life moving around, which has given him a perspective of cultures and people that he wants to share with everyone. He loves the natural world as well as technology and science, and wants to build a world where the best of them are all brought together in symbiosis for a future we can all be happy with. Communication is key to that!
Nicholas Orloff
Nick is a photographer, copy-editor and communications professional who runs our English Twitter and Mastodon accounts. Originally from New York City and having lived in San Francisco and France, he finally settled down outside of London. As a world traveller having visited over 40 countries, Nick has seen far more positivity and good in the world than the mainstream news leads people to believe and is proud to spread the word about Squirrel News, one tweet at a time.
Amber Brizar
Amber has a background in content marketing and PR, and runs the English Squirrel News Instagram account. She believes that to create productive dialogue in our current society, we need to focus more on solutions instead of problems. This aligns perfectly with the vision of Squirrel News.
Eric Leverentz
Eric is our UK partnerships manager and helps fundraise and build relationships with like-minded organisations in the UK. Eric has an engineering degree, creates digital art and recently has been working in the humanitarian sector. This life developed a real passion for innovation (technical, human and social) aligning with the values of Squirrel News! Eric has a particular interest in ecomodernism, mental health awareness and fighting LGBTQ+ issues.
Nina Bohlmann
Nina Bohlmann studies political science at the Free University of Berlin focusing on environmental ethics and policy. She is a working student in the Audio Content Operations Team at Audible. In her free time she enjoys hiking and biking around Brandenburg. She supports the Squirrel News Team by editing the German and English language Podcasts.
Jennifer Giwi
Together with Jonathan and Nora, Jennifer hosts our German podcast. Outside of Squirrel News she is a writer and speaker, conducts constructive interviews, and does conceptual design for audio and video.
Martin Keiper
Martin is a freelance journalist and layout artist. For almost 30 years he was editor-in-chief of the magazine “EineWelt” of the Association of Protestant Churches and Missions in Germany” and also responsible for its book programme. Since his retirement he is a freelance editor and layout designer. Martin believes that constructive stories also need clear analysis and is looking for such stories for Squirrel News in German-speaking media.
Nora Henze
Nora is a freelance journalist in the field of music and entertainment, and also works as a PR manager and moderator. She is co-host of our German podcast and makes sure as many people as possible know about Squirrel News.
Oliver Erxleben
Oliver is Chief Technical Squirrel. He has developed the Squirrel News App and is happy to support a project that he finds exciting and important.
Sandra Zollner
Sandra supports the Squirrel News team by tirelessly developing and maintaining our app. She’s an experienced software developer whose passion lies in creating user-friendly and accessible online experiences
Leon Wolf
Leon is studying cultural and media education in Merseburg, Germany, with a focus on auditory media. At Squirrel News, he has been editing and mixing podcast episodes since 2022 to create an ideal listening experience. He also creates audiograms for our social media presences.
Stefanie Brettschneider
Steffi runs our Google AdGrants campaigns. She is a passionate online marketer and worked for an agency for a long time before she set up as a freelancer. She believes in the Good of mankind and is happy to use her skills at Squirrel News for a wonderful project.
Jonny Schulz
Jonny supports Squirrel News with the design. He designed our logo and also helps us with the web design.
