Rachel has been in D.C. for almost her entire adult life, and is proud to call the Red Derby her second living room. She cut her journalism teeth covering the oddities of San Francisco for a now defunct alt-weekly. After moving back to D.C. and covering Latin American politics for a few years, she decided to tackle matters closer to home for Express and The Washington Post. She enjoys tater tots, crosswords, and a good thrift store, and believes people who bike on the sidewalks when there is a perfectly good bike lane nearby should be shipped off to Reston. Mostly, though, she is excited that you can't throw DCist on the Metro floor.

Rachel comes to DCist full-time after wandering in stage-door left as a theater reviewer. She previously worked in news radio, television, mortgage newsletters, and a weekly newspaper in Maine. She grew up in New Jersey, and will defend the state 'til her dying day. She loves hiking, haunted houses, and cracking an egg on just about any meal she eats. Please pass your stories about sex, drugs, and conspiracies her way.

Christina was born and raised in D.C. and proudly accepts the label “D.C. snob.” She’s been exploring the city from Deanwood to Dupont ever since she was old enough to skip school. As a freelance writer for 6 local publications, Christina enjoyed borrowing WiFi and sipping lattes at over 45 coffee shops across the city. Her work has touched on everything from art and tech startups to education and teen pregnancy. She’s most interested in uncovering the disparities that exist in the city in terms of access to food, housing, health, and artistic amenities. In a perfect world, she believes longtime residents and transplants can coexist and collaborate to create an even better D.C.—and drink lots of coffee in the process.

Mount Pleasant native Pat Padua was part of the team that curated programs for the Library of Congress's Pickford Theater, and toils away at digital projects and writes for In the Muse, the Music Division's blog. For America. The Washington Post called him "a talented, if quirky, photographer." Pat is a dues-paying member of the Washington Area Film Critic's Association, and also writes about music, movies, and photography for Blogcritics.org and Spectrum Culture.

Travis was raised in New Hampshire before moving to D.C. in 2007. He holds a journalism degree from American University and has written about the city's diverse food scene for a number of outlets over the years, including Eater DC, Washington City Paper, Washingtonian and DCist. When not covering the District's bar and restaurant news, Travis works as a digital producer and editor. Despite his New England roots, he is a huge Nationals fan and no fan of winter. Send tips to [email protected].

Melinda grew up in Los Angeles, came to DC for school in 2005, and has chosen not to return to LA because she never learned to drive and life is obviously easier without a car here in DC. After beginning her mornings coming up with a list of things for you to do tonight, she heads to Old Town Alexandria to develop logic games. Yes, her job is kind of like the movie Big, and she once spent a good chunk of several days rolling marbles down mazes to make sure they never got stuck. It has to be done! When not dropping marbles down mazes, she enjoys traveling, especially when she's not paying for the hotel or flight (her slight addiction to social media contests has had some great payoffs thus far).

A proud son of Maryland who bleeds Terp red during basketball season and Oriole orange during baseball season, Sriram has called the District home since 2006. He spends his days in Washington as an environmental policy wonk, but lives and plays in D.C., where he has immersed himself in the local arts community. As a drummer, Sriram has performed at the Millennium Stage, Blues Alley, Twins Jazz, Bohemian Caverns and the DC Jazz Festival. He is an organizer for Subcontinental Drift, a collective that uses the arts to build a safe community space for local South Asians. In addition to covering the local jazz scene for DCist since 2007, Sriram has a monthly column at CapitalBop and has contributed to Modern Drummer magazine, Washingtonian, The Examiner and a number of other outlets. You can follow him on Twitter, @srigop8.

Pablo grew up in Nashville, TN, but his southern drawl has since been drowned out by stays in Chicago, Puerto Rico and most recently DC. A mechanic by day, he spends most of his time under the hood of a car, fixing overprieced German automotbiles for D.C.'s politicians and players. In the evening time you'll likely find him watching a soccer game somehow - look for him at RFK during United games. His other interests include: Makers Mark, loud and obnoxious conversation, playing the banjo and restoring vintage mopeds. Yep, he's a real peach.

Executive Editor and co-founder: Jen Chung

Publisher and co-founder: Jake Dobkin

Technology director: Neil Epstein

Logo: Lynne Venart

The views expressed in any given post belong to the author(s) themselves, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DCist or Gothamist LLC.