With new people, businesses and more, the city of Hazleton is undergoing a kind of renaissance. On the one hour season premiere of Keystone Edition Reports, we visit the Hazleton integration project to see what's changed and what's to come.
Guests:
Rossanna Gabriel - Exec. Dir - Hazleton Integration Project
Yosara Gonzalez - Exec. Dir. - Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress
Yoshie is an architect, teacher, and realtor that has been an active member of the Greater Hazleton community since she moved here 10 years ago. She has worked as a teacher and bilingual liaison for the Hazleton Area School District schools. Yoshie was the first instructor to give art classes for the Hazleton Art League in their new location in the Hayden Family Center for the Arts.
As an Arts and Humanities professor at Penn State University and an active real estate agent for Luzerne County, it is evident that she enjoys working with the community. Yoshie stated, "I feel a responsibility to be a positive role model in society. I put my best effort into bringing value, listening, and learning from others when working in teams. Working with people has made me passionate about teaching and inspiring others to be the best version they can be of themselves. Teaching has also been a learning process, as I show students skills that can help them succeed. I also grow and have become more conscious of our community's needs like becoming more united and empathetic toward others."
Her past and present professional experience working in the Hazleton public sector in various areas gives her a broad and unique perspective and a fresh vision to revitalize and unite the community. Yoshie is a professional businesswoman and educator that believes in the power of communication through language and the arts. She has exemplary creative skills and charisma with the fluidity of English and Spanish. Yoshie believes in tradition and that art is essential to help cultures integrate and evolve and implements it wherever she goes.
Charles McElwee - Founder/Editor of RealClearPennsylvania
Charles F. McElwee is the founding editor of RealClearPennsylvania. He was previously an editor at City Journal. His writing has appeared at City Journal, RealClearPolitics, The Atlantic, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, among other publications.
McElwee was the inaugural John Farley Memorial Fellow (2020-2021), part of the Robert Novak fellowship program. He previously worked in government affairs in Harrisburg, and the economic-development sector in Hazleton, where he spearheaded revitalization projects, from downtown renewal to neighborhood-improvement efforts.
McElwee has a B.A. in history from Lebanon Valley College, where he is an adjunct professor, and an M.P.A. in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mary Malone - President of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce
Mary R. Malone has been named the 11th president and chief executive officer of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce. Malone, a familiar face to the Greater Hazleton community, has been employed at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton (formerly the Greater Hazleton Health Alliance) since 2008. Her role includes overseeing the grants and government relations program for the hospital.
Prior to that, Malone served as the strategic planning facilitator at Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania and as the president and CEO of United Way of Greater Hazleton.
In her various positions, Malone has coordinated community health needs Assessments and is extremely familiar with the Greater Hazleton area.
A member of the Hazleton Rotary Club since 1999, Malone is an alum of the Leadership Hazleton program and a past chamber Athena award recipient.
Malone holds a master's degree in organizational management from Misercordia University and lives in Hazleton.