ST. JOSEPH HILL ACADEMY Career Conversations: Hill Alumnae Panel Series
January 8, 2024 Careers in Communications and Media
April 10, 2024 Careers in Government: Analyst, Attorney and Forensic Science
March 18, 2024 Careers in Medicine: Medical Doctor, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and Physician Assistant
May 20, 2024 Careers in Banking, Compliance and Finance
SESSION ONE: JANUARY 8, 2024 Careers in Communications and Media
Courtney Brogle, ES '12, HS ’16 Assignment Editor, NBC National News Desk
Gabriella Marinelli, HS ’20 GMA3 Production Intern, ABC News
Christy Calcagno, HS ’14 Morning Anchor and Journalist, WLTX-TV
Elisa Raffa, HS ’11 Meteorologist, Weather Anchor and Correspondent, CNN
Jessica (Orbon) Easthope, ES ’05, HS ’09 TV News Reporter and Anchor, Currents News
CAREERS IN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA SESSION 1
Monday, January 8, 2024
COURTNEY BROGLE, ES '12, HS ’16 Assignment Editor, NBC National News Desk Courtney is an Assignment Editor with the NBC National News Desk and is based in New York, NY. Day-to-day responsibilities in this role include coordinating with correspondents and producers for our various cable MSNBC and streaming News Now platforms for live shots; leading news gathering efforts on breaking/developing news and disseminating verified reporting across the news division; and managing the logistics of sending crews and reporters out into the field. She has been nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards for her work at NBC News in the Outstanding Live News Special and Outstanding Live Breaking News Coverage categories, for her role in the coverage of the 2022 midterm elections and the Uvalde, TX elementary school shooting, respectively. She is also very active in the alumni chapter of her collegiate student newspaper, “The Fordham Observer.”
CHRISTY CALCAGNO, HS ’14 Morning Anchor and Journalist, WLTX-TV Christy Calcagno is an anchor and journalist at WLTX-TV in Columbia, SC, where she appears on the station's daily morning newscasts. Her career has taken her to several cities in the Southeast both as an anchor and reporter, including Bristol, Virginia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her commitment to the community is what drives her passion for journalism. Christy has a degree in Journalism from Ithaca College’s Roy H. Park School of Communication. During that time, she worked in local and national newsrooms including NPR’s WKNO, NBC Sports for the 2018 Winter
CAREERS IN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA SESSION 1
Monday, January 8, 2024 Olympics, and Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Circa News. She enjoys engaging with the community including schools, charitable organizations, churches, and other associations statewide. In addition to her journalistic passions, Christy spearheads the recognition of great educators, through the “Teacher of the Week” awards. She is enthusiastic about telling the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things and more importantly she loves to give a voice to those who might not otherwise be heard.
JESSICA (ORBON) EASTHOPE, ES ’05, HS ’09 TV News Reporter and Anchor, Currents News Jessica Easthope is currently a reporter and anchor for Currents News, NET-TV’s nightly award-winning broadcast. After graduating from Hill in 2009, Jessica attended Ursinus College where she majored in Media and Communications and minored in Middle Eastern Studies. There, Jessica served as editor-in-chief of Ursinus’ newspaper, The Grizzly and the president of Ursinus’ Theta Chi chapter of Lambda Pi Eta national media and communications honor society. During college Jessica completed internships as a production assistant at The Colbert Report and CNN International. Jessica has been working in the number one news market in the nation for more than a decade, delivering breaking news and feature stories to viewers at NY1 and FiOS1 News prior to her arrival at Currents. While at NY1 Jessica worked extensively on Eric Garner’s arrest and death and the city-wide and national aftermath, as well as the murders of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos.
CAREERS IN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA SESSION 1
Monday, January 8, 2024 At FiOS1 News Jessica covered breaking news across New Jersey and New York. Her coverage earned her principal roles on ABC’s 20/20, NBC’s Dateline and A&E’s American Justice. While at Currents News Jessica has earned three Emmy nominations for a series of stories on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the murder of NYPD officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora and the remains of a WWII veteran being returned to his family 80 years after his death. Jessica lives in New Jersey with her husband, Jerome and daughter, Violet. Upon graduation from Hill, her 10 best friends started a Facebook message chain they still use daily.
GABRIELLA MARINELLI, HS ’20 GMA3 Production Intern, ABC News After graduating Hill in 2020, Gabriella attended Hofstra University's Lawrence Herbert School of Communication where she earned a Bachelor of Science in TV and Business with a minor in journalism in August 2023. Her love for media stemmed out of the Hill TV program, where she was one of the first producers and directors among a handful of students. During her three years at Hofstra (thank you Hill for providing college courses which allowed her to graduate early), she worked on many productions within the school and started immediately building her resume and LinkedIn. During her fourth semester of college, she started her internship journey at FOX News, then moved over to FOX Weather, and finally landed her dream year-long internship with GMA3 in June 2023, where she currently works today.
CAREERS IN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA SESSION 1
Monday, January 8, 2024 Gabriella is an award-winning producer by the Alliance for Women in Media Gracie Awards and Edward R. Murrow Awards for her production work on Hofstra Votes Live, a four hour simulcast charting the 2022 midterm elections. She dreams of becoming an executive producer for a morning show. This internship has given her a chance to work on her editorial and production skills, while also traveling the country and covering stories anywhere about anything to give viewers what they need to know.
ELISA RAFFA, HS ’11 Meteorologist, Weather Anchor and Correspondent, CNN Elisa Raffa is a weather anchor and correspondent at CNN, based in Atlanta and appearing across all of CNN’s networks and platforms. She has earned the distinction of Certified Broadcast Meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society, a designation which recognizes excellence and expertise in her field. With a passion for communicating climate change, she’s earned national and international recognition for using everything from beer, chocolate, snow shovels, and vultures to help the audience relate to the climate crisis. While Raffa has spent nearly a decade covering sunny, snowy, and stormy skies across the country, she got her start as an intern with CNN’s domestic and international weather teams. Prior to returning to CNN, Raffa was the meteorologist and climate
CAREERS IN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA SESSION 1
Monday, January 8, 2024 specialist for Queen City News in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her reporting took her shark tagging in the open Atlantic, tracking hurricanes and sea-level rise on the Carolina coast, and to innovative climate resilient farms. She previously covered tornado outbreaks as a meteorologist for the CBS/FOX affiliate in Springfield, Missouri, and blizzards for the ABC affiliate in Sioux City, Iowa. Raffa is a Station Scientist Committee Member with the American Meteorologist Society and a Climate Matters Meteorologist for Climate Central. In 2023, she presented peer-reviewed, published research to the AMS Broadcast Conference, highlighting how survey participants understood and cared about the climate crisis when framed as a local story featuring local people. She also writes lessons and tests hands-on activities in weather and climate science for children at local science museums. Raffa earned her Bachelor of Science in Atmospheric Science with Minors in Spanish and Communications from Cornell University.