Co-Founder and General Manager/Vice President

Rufus Griscom co-founded Babble with his wife, Alisa Volkman, in December 2006. Prior to that, Rufus co-founded Nerve.com in 1997 and served as the website’s first editor and CEO. In the decade that followed, Rufus grew Nerve Media into a profitable website and online dating business, in the process spinning off Spring Street Networks, an online dating technology company that was acquired in 2005. Rufus serves as an advisor to several New York-based internet companies and sporadically updates his blog, Moments in Succession. Rufus graduated from Brown University in 1991 and has three sons, Declan, Grey, and Rye, with his wife, Alisa.

Co-Founder and Director, Product and Sales Strategy

Alisa Volkman co-founded Babble with her husband, Rufus Griscom, in December 2006. In her capacity as Director of Product and Sales Strategy, Alisa oversees design, influences product development, and leads a team that creates and sells innovative custom advertising programs for leading brands like Proctor &amp Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Target, Hewlett Packard, Playtex and American Express. As as result, sales have more than tripled annually for three consecutive years. Before launching Babble, Alisa served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Nerve.com, where she grew advertising into Nerve’s largest source of revenue and prior to that was a story editor at Julia Roberts’s Shoelace Productions, an assignment editor at CNN and a development assistant at Oliver Stone’s Illusion Entertainment. Alisa and Rufus have three sons, Declan, Grey and Rye.

Director, Operations

Ramon Vinluan has 14 years of experience in such diverse fields as online media, media and tech corporate banking, public relations, government affairs and risk management. He was previously a Vice President in Citi’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications group. He received a degree in theater directing from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Columbia Business School, where he was student body president. Ramon has been a celebrity judge for the Miss Washington USA pageant and is both an accomplished singer and the proud uncle of 3-year-old Maya.

Director, Analytics and Content Strategy

Jack Murnighan is a devoted dad of two boys. He also happened to engender, among others, the book Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature’s 50 Greatest Hits, a guide to enjoying the classics no parent has time for.

Director, Blogs and Social Media

Catherine Connors is a recovering academic, absentee Canadian and unrepentant mommy blogger. She’s the founder and author of HerBadMother.com, one of the Internet’s original ‘bad mother’ blogs, and one of the top-ranked mom blogs on Babble’s annual list of same. In a previous life, she taught political philosophy, which means that she can translate Goodnight, Moon into Latin and work Socrates into a conversation about sleep-training, although she really tries to avoid doing those things in polite company. She left Toronto and her sippy-cup-strewn home office to join Babble as Director of Community and Social Good in 2011, and only misses Canadian bacon sometimes.

Director, Technology and Development

A lead guitarist, filmmaker, wannabe sci-fi author and emerging veggie chef, Vora Vor, after a decade of hard web engineering wins and losses, hurled herself into Babble in 2011 as the Director of Technology and Development.

Manager, Blogs and Social Media

Andrea Zimmerman is from Chicago, IL, home of the Cubs and deep-dish pizza. Before coming to Babble, Andrea worked for Glamour, lemondrop.com, and many of Meredith’s custom publications. She graduated from Drake University and lives in the Upper East Side. Follow her on Twitter @azimm (she announces blogger openings!), Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Google+.

Managing Editor

Dara Pettinelli grew up in the ‘burbs of Philly and now calls New York home. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, More, Philadelphia, and Billboard, among others. She believes that reality television is real, candy is a food group and that writing is fun.

Blog Coordinator

Lindsay Hood found her way to Babble after four years with MTV Networks. Prior to becoming the Blog Coordinator, she created, edited and contributed to mtvU’s Music Blog, writing about indie music and going to concerts for free. She has appeared in The New York Post and Lovelyish.com and her work has been featured on The Hairpin. In her downtime, she liked to practice yoga and hang out with her honorary niece, Layla.

Blog Coordinator

Alexandra Martell is a blog coordinator and sandwich expert. She has written for The Hairpin and New York Weddings and worked at New York Magazine’s website and ElleDecor.com. Her first journalism job, however, involved making newsletters on the photocopier at her mom’s office at age six and selling them for quarters for the vending machine. She spends her free time going out to restaurants, watching far too much television, and pining for a puppy.

Blog Coordinator

Born and raised in New Jersey, Corinne Bagish migrated to New York to attend NYU and never left (can you blame her?). After graduating, she ventured into the working world as a community editor at Yahoo! before finding her way to Babble. When she’s not coordinating blogs and whatnot, she writes about indie music. And, when she’s not doing either, she enjoys a good bagel, frolicking in Central Park, and watching embarrassing ghost hunting shows.

Associate Editor

Andrea Roxas graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University, where she was editor in chief of the longest-running mag on campus. Currently living in Long Island, she’s a huge fan of the serial comma, fitted hats, and 44-ounce iced teas from the Northport Deli. Pronounce her last name correctly on the first try and she’ll give you a million dollars.

Editorial Assistant

Jillian Capewelll is an editorial assistant and graduate of SUNY Geneseo in upstate New York, where she was an editor for the college newspaper. Jillian started at Babble as an intern and returned after spending a year teaching Beatles songs to French children. She has wanted to write for a living since completing the construction-paper classic Penguin Surprise Do Stuff at age four with the help of her mom, who had to spell all the words. Aside from Babble, Jillian’s work has also appeared on xoJane and Nerve.

Editorial Assistant

Jennifer Gimbel left the sunshine of Florida to study Arts Administration at Wagner College on Staten Island. She regrets to inform you that she still lives there. When she’s not partying with the mob wives, you can find Jenn [unknowingly] singing in public, nabbing the best sales at Target, and [innocently] stalking The All-American Rejects. And while America runs on Dunkin, Jenn runs on Red Bull … lots of it.

Social Media Analyst

Reece Karbowski learned to walk on the world-famous 8-Mile Road — or at least a street pretty close to it. After dropping out of college, he moved to NYC and soon joined the remarkably attractive Babble family. In his spare time, Reece can be found decoupaging old cabinets, over-thinking sitcoms, and hunting down the best slice in the city. Give him a bagel and he’ll give you a hug.

Ad Sales Account Executive

David Agnew comes to Babble with over 10 years industry experience ranging from agency buying to media sales. Prior to joining Babble, David spent the last 6 years at the Chicago Sun-Times working with digital agencies from all around the country. A passionate sports fan, David still plays league hockey and he occasionally “busts out the skateboard”. David currently lives in the River North area of Chicago with his wife Sonya, and is also a Babble dad to daughter Paisley.

Ad Sales Account Executive

Kristin Wong-Valle is a digital advertising veteran, selling ad solutions since early 2008 between her current role as East Coast Account Executive for Babble Media and previously for The Weather Channel Companies. Kristin started her career managing and planning strategic media solutions over the course of 10 years for Initiative, Digitas, Universal McCann, and Bates Interactive. She is a native New Yorker and currently lives in Nassau County with her husband and little Yorkie, Achilles while expanding their family. She enjoys spending her free time with her niece, Charlotte, and younger cousins, Sienna and Cameron.

Sales Development Manager

Brad Benson comes to Babble following positions with Food Network, MySpace, and About.com — solidifying his roles as a formidable cook, social-networking maven, and unassuming know-it-all. His participation in Semester at Sea while at the University of Pittsburgh established an insatiable wanderlust, but when not traveling, Brad can be found training for a race, performing improv with his group Ghost Fight, or socializing with family and friends. He’s most easily identified by his laughs, which are typically heard clearly (and often).

Account Services Manager

Martina England is a Razorback in the Big Apple. She graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2005 with degrees in Art, Art History and Journalism, then went on to work in the agency world for five years before coming to Babble. Her account management experience includes prominent clients such as Sam’s Club and Dick’s Sporting Goods. She lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, is an avid museum-goer, and wants to get another shot to be on Jeopardy, having just missed in her last audition.

Ad Operations Manager

Alex Ying is a native Floridian who misses the palms, sand, and year-round tanning of the Sunshine State. He graduated from FSU with with a degree in Mathematics Education and went on to teach high school math before joining the world of online media. You can often find him on Ebay, bidding on retro sneakers to add to his collection, and you’ll consider yourself blessed if you ever get to taste his homemade vegetarian taco salad.

Ad Operations Coordinator

Petra Forbes joined Babble after working in the Ad Operations team for Travelocity. She is a native Austrian but lives in Hoboken with her American husband, whom she met when he was studying abroad. She misses Vollkornbrot and a few other Austrian specialties, but loves New York and its frenetic pace — and the fact that stores are open on Sunday! You can find her taking long walks with Sir Humphrey Bumblebees, her Miniature Schnauzer

Senior Designer

Mandalee Meisner studied media at the William Allen White School of Journalism, where she forayed into web design and development. After venturing to New York, she took root at Nerve.com, where she became lead designer. She jumped ship to Babble after she designed and helped launch it in 2006. She also designed The Faster Times. A compulsive domain-buyer and super-secret project hoarder, Mandalee is starting a Kansas pasture-raised beef jerky business, staying true to her roots.

Senior Advertising Designer

Lisa Puttagio has worked in the design field for almost 8 years after having positions in marketing and event production. She’s admittedly a Mets fan, as hard as it may be, and enjoys baking, cute kittens and anything delightfully vintage.

Photo Editor

Raydene Salinas, graduate of the Art Institute of Colorado, moved to New York in May 2011, finding a home at Babble. Besides photo editing, she wanders the city shooting street fashion for Lovelyish.com. Raydene challenges herself by running from her home in Queens to random places in Manhattan (biking will be next), reads far too much chick lit (interspersed with “real books”) and has found exactly one person in NYC that can spell her name correctly.

Assistant Designer

Eric Peterson hails from southern Connecticut. He was the editor of an undergraduate newspaper named The Climax, where he obviously missed out on opportunities for content synergy with Babble. If you were to google the correct Eric Peterson, you might learn that he is recovering from a sordid past as a frequent writer of letters-to-the-editor, a habit for which his parents nearly disowned him. He tries to keep snarky emails to a minimum.

Design Assistant

Kayiu Ho grew up eating Chupa Chups and has moved around quite a bit since she was a teen. While she still considers Hong Kong home, New York is clearly now her home away from home. She enjoys being creative and collaborating on ideas with others. She currently lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, and rides her bike “The Praying Mantis.”

Developer

Jonathan Judge, a lifelong Brooklynite, has been programming and making websites since he was 9. He joins Babble after devoting 8 years working for the City of New York, where he spearheaded web-based projects bringing local government and Brooklyn residents closer together. With a B.A. in Classics and Linguistics from Brooklyn College, he’s now looking to change the world by pursuing his Master’s in anti-corruption strategies at New York University.

Developer

Jim Williams is older than he looks, younger than he feels, and has absolutely no idea how to act his age. His name makes him pretty darn Google-proof, thank heaven. He is wondering if this bio is required to be written in the third person, or can I switch to first right here in the middle? I grew up in New Jersey, write songs and computer games for fun and profit, and got a 5 on my Calculus AP test, and I’m sure that I could be a movie star if I could get out of this place.

Interface Developer

Joey Dehnert is an interface developer with a web design background. He started doing graphic design in 2005 and has been doing web development since 2006, mainly working in advertising and lead generation. Outside of web development he co-founded The Positive Change Project, a non profit that provides basic necessities like food, water and shelter to those in need. He also loves home-brewing, surfing and farm-to-table restaurants.

Network Administrator

Dexter Mills is a seasoned IT Professional with 7 years experience building and maintaining networks for media, publishing and entertainment companies. When he’s not working, he dabbles in graphic design and illustration and enjoys watching movies. He loves him a mean cheesecake.

Executive Assistant

Kelli Mears is an ex-pat from the great Lone Star state, where she earned a B.A. in psychology at the University of North Texas. She has overwhelming and startling addictions to peanut butter, pizza, and social media (but not all at the same time). She has never peeled an orange and wants to be a ballerina or an otter when she grows up.