Patch User Profile for Laura Sullivan

Email laura.sullivan@patch.com Phone 770-826-9241 Hometown Atlanta, Georgia Birthday October 2nd

Bio Laura Sullivan is a journalist who grew up in Norcross then Lilburn with a bachelor's degree from Oglethorpe University and a master's in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

After completing her undergraduate work in Atlanta, she moved to a rural town in Niigata, Japan to teach high school English—and to do plenty of snowboarding in the nearby Japanese Alps. She found her passion for journalism there, writing for English-language publications, then continued to write from Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, China, India and Vietnam for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Travelmag, Outdoor Japan and Japanzine.

Laura returned to the U.S. to attend the University of Illinois, where she wrote about the local food movement and urban development. Upon graduation she packed a car and moved to New York to work for magazines and websites, including Time Out New York, Everyday with Rachael Ray and the New York Times' community site The Local. For the last three years Laura was an editor at Parenting magazine, where she wrote a family travel column and served as food writer and editor.

She is beyond excited to bring you this Patch, which she truly sees as the way forward in our media landscape. And she is thrilled to be back in the south, covering her diverse and friendly hometown. In her spare moments, you'll find her downing coffee at 45 South and/or cooking Thai food. Not necessarily in that order.

Your Beliefs At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know. Politics How would you describe your political beliefs? Are you registered with a certain party? I'd describe myself as a person who votes on the issues. That said, I'm a registered Democrat, mostly so I can vote in primaries.

Religion How religious would you consider yourself? (casual, observant, devout, non religious) I'm a lover of culture, so I deeply respect all religious views.

Local Hot-Button Issues What do you think are the most important issues facing the community? Where do you stand on each of these issues? I am interested in the idea of New Urbanism and how it will play out in Atlanta and in Norcross. I'll be closely tracking future downtown development, including the Seven property and the Cemetery Street renovation, because I believe that density, walkability and green space are what foster community.

I travelled over 53,500 miles of Asia and Oceania by myself and am obsessed with exploring new places, so I believe our community is only getting better by embracing the different cultures who have moved here. But diversity in Norcross is a big issue. For education, for business, for our future.