Joel Gross
General Manager
Joel Gross is our General Manager and oversees the sustainability and strategic direction. He was previously the CEO of the Austin Monitor and was born and raised in the greater Austin community. Gross began his career on Capitol Hill working in the United States Senate. He has worked for numerous local nonprofits and led multiple social impact campaigns serving the Austin community. During his tenure at the Austin Monitor, Gross led the successful transformation from a niche paid-subscription publication into a free and fully accessible local news organization. He lives in the hill country with his wife and two kids and can often be seen on foot on Lady Bird Lake Trail, though he would call it the Town Lake Trail.
Melissa Barragán Taboada
Editor-in-chief
Melissa Barragán Taboada is our editor-in-chief. She’s a veteran journalist who worked for more than 20 years as reporter and editor in Austin. Most recently, she spent the past four years as editor of The Boston Globe’s Great Divide, an enterprise team that investigates educational inequities throughout Massachusetts. Under her tenure, the Boston team won multiple national awards, most recently sharing an Edward R. Murrow Award for overall excellence for coverage that included Boston’s school desegregation 50 years later and the failures of the Massachusetts special education system. Taboada previously served as an adjunct journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, her alma mater. A native Texan, Taboada is married with two sons, has an affinity for large dogs and has a sweet tooth that would put any 5-year-old to shame. More by Melissa Barragán Taboada.
Elizabeth Pagano
News Editor
Elizabeth Pagano is our news editor. She previously served as editor of the Austin Monitor, where she spent just over a decade making sure the publication covered all there was to cover at City Hall and beyond. Prior to launching the Monitor as a nonprofit, Pagano was a freelance reporter and writer who basically lived at City Hall. Her pre-journalism days were much more varied, with stints in an Alaskan cannery and as a cheesemonger, among other things. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and studied English at Hampshire College and Portland State University. She acquired a Master of Science in Information Studies from UT Austin in 2006 and has lived here ever since. Pagano lives in Montopolis with her dog and an ever-evolving project-of-a-backyard. More by Liz Pagano.
Andrea Ball
Reporter
Andrea Ball is our growth/development reporter and has lived in Austin for 26 years. She worked at the Austin American-Statesman for more than 20 years, specializing in mental health, child abuse, homelessness and other social services issues. Before joining Austin Current, Ball worked as an investigative reporter for USA Today and the Houston Chronicle. She was part of the Statesman’s team named a 2023 Pulitzer finalist for its work covering the Uvalde school shooting. Her work also has been recognized by National Headliners, IRE, SPJ/Sigma Delta Chi and Texas APME. Andrea loves found footage movies, peanut butter cup ice cream, foster dogs, storytelling and talking to strangers. More by Andrea Ball.
Acacia Coronado
Reporter
Acacia Coronado is our education reporter and an Austin native. Coronado previously worked for The Associated Press in Austin, where she covered breaking news, the Texas Legislature, voting, immigration and violence against women in the military. She also covered the Uvalde school shooting and spent two years embedded in the community there. Coronado has received Best of AP worldwide recognitions and honorable mentions, including for her coverage of voting and Uvalde, as well as for her bilingual coverage of a chocolate factory explosion. She also has bylines in The Texas Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and Texas Observer. Most recently, she worked as a senior writer and editor with the marketing and communications team at UT Austin’s College of Education, building relationships with Austin ISD educators and students. More by Acacia Coronado.
Chase Karacostas
Community Engagement and Events Manager
Chase Karacostas is our Community Engagement and Events Manager. He’s a longtime Austinite who grew up in Dallas. He previously worked for KUT News, Texas Standard and KUTX 98.9, where he ran newsletters and further developed his love for Austin music. Karacostas has reported on travel, health care and the LGBTQ+ community for 11 newspapers across Texas and South Carolina. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin — the sixth person in his family to do so — where he earned degrees in journalism and political communication. You might see him out and about in Austin as we build this newsroom. He often thinks about how pop culture is reflective of the most important news of the day and values ways to make stories something you would tell your friends about. Never met a stranger, he’s always happy to chat.
Sam Stark
Reporter
Sam Stark is our multimedia government and communities reporter. Stark most recently worked at KXAN, where he has spent the past three years reporting on breaking news, public safety issues, and in-depth coverage of growth. Prior to KXAN, Stark worked as a freelancer for the Austin Monitor, where he covered local government and transportation. He began his reporting career in 2022 after earning his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. He grew up and attended college in California and spent a few years in Sydney Australia, where he worked in clinical neuroscience research. More by Sam Stark.