Statesboro native Whitney Turner Lavoie has joined Grice Connect as Assignment Editor. In this role, she is responsible for sourcing content throughout the community and assigning work to Grice Connect's network of stringers and reporters.
"Thanks to the financial support of community leaders like Assured Partners Insurance, Franklin Motor Group, Southern Chiropractic and Wellness, Ogeechee Area Hospice, City of Statesboro, Vyve Broadband, and Wing Maxx, we are able to begin to build out our team at Grice Connect," said DeWayne Grice, Founder/Publisher of Grice Connect. "Having the capacity to hire Whitney Lavoie has allowed us to take a quantum leap forward in connecting our community."
"Whitney is one of the most talented digital and news operation strategists that I have ever met," he added. "She is brilliant, inspiring, and brings an unmatched passion of telling the story of her beloved hometown. Whitney does this while balancing her most important responsibility, which is being a phenomenal mom to her two children. Certainly, Whitney has raised the bar and set the stage for the level of talent that we are looking to recruit to help take Grice Connect to the next level."
As a news organization, Grice Connect must first think of itself as connecting, supporting, and empowering people to be active in our community with shared values -- and not primarily as creators of news that people will consume. This solutions-based journalism model is an industry-leading rebirth of hyper-local news.
Whitney is invested in this approach and understands the importance of creating a culture where every person is unique and has a wonderful story to tell -- stories that connect and enrich us as a people and a community.
Statesboro Native
Whitney graduated from Statesboro High School in 2002 and went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism and mass communication with an emphasis in public relations from the University of Georgia. (She would like to add, "Go Dawgs!")
She previously worked with Ogeechee Technical College, the Bulloch County Recreation and Parks department, and the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority. She later worked in health communications at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, before taking time off to be with her children.
"Making connections with people and community organizations has always been at the heart of what I do," she said. "My goal is to bring more of that to Grice Connect, where I hope to be able to tell the stories of the people who make Statesboro and Bulloch County a great place to live."
Nose for good news
Lavoie also recalls being a fan of Grice's local cable television news station, Northland Cable News, as a child, and that's something she has carried with her into adulthood. She understands the importance of bringing this hyper-local style of news gathering and sharing back to our community.
"I've always had a 'nose for news,' as they say. I'm always interested in the latest and greatest, and I love sharing it with others, too," she said. "I love Grice Connect's mission of connecting citizens to our community, and I'm really excited to play a part in that."
One initiative Lavoie plans to spearhead is a focus on more "Grice Good" news on the site.
"We're always going to cover the big and important things that are happening in Statesboro and Bulloch County, of course, but I also want to work on bringing uplifting and encouraging news to our readers," she said. "I think everyone appreciates hearing about positive things that are happening and ways we're all working together for good."
Lavoie is married to Andrew Lavoie, partner at Bruce, Mathews, and Lavoie, and together they have two children, ages 8 and 6.
She can be reached at whitney@griceconnect.com.
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