Over the last couple of months, Texas Monthly has been fortunate to welcome three new members to the ever-growing editorial staff. In April, we welcomed Andrea Ordonez in a dual role as a copy editor and web producer. Andrea was born in New Rochelle, New York, but moved with her family to Keller, in Tarrant County, in elementary school. She later returned to New York to attend Hofstra University.
Most recently, Andrea has spent several years as deputy copy chief at BuzzFeed, where she managed the team that edited content from the company’s acquired brands, including HuffPost, Complex Networks, and First We Feast’s show Hot Ones. As part of that job, she maintained the BuzzFeed Style Guide, a resource many of us consult, especially for its takes on internet slang and other emerging terms, as well as on sensitivity matters. Before that, she worked at Newsday for six years, after beginning her career with a prestigious Dow Jones News Fund internship.
Andrea teaches in the UC San Diego copyediting certification program. She also serves on the national programming committee for the Asian American Journalists Association’s convention, which will be held in Austin this August, and has written freelance reviews and features on Beyoncé, Black Pumas, Charley Crockett, and others for Texas Music magazine.
Aaron Parsley started in early May as the new senior editor of arts and entertainment, responsible for leading our coverage of books, movies, music, and other cultural offerings across all platforms. Aaron was most recently at the Messenger as a senior editor. Before that he worked at People for many years, where he held positions as both an editor and a writer.
Aaron has deep ties to the state. Although he lived in New York for sixteen years and got his master’s from NYU and his bachelor’s from the University of Colorado Boulder, he was raised in Austin from the age of three and has family roots in San Antonio and Lubbock. He’s been back in Austin since 2019.
Aaron has led coverage of TV, film, and music, of course, as well as the White House, royal weddings, and true crime. He’s interviewed notable Texans from Beyoncé to long shot local politicians. Aaron has a keen sense for storytelling and deep appreciation for collaboration.
Finally, we are excited to welcome Juleanna Culilap as an associate designer in the art department this month. Juleanna joins Texas Monthly from Rambler Sparkling Water, where she was the company’s in-house production designer. Before Rambler, Juleanna designed for Guerilla Suit, an Austin-based creative agency, and the Texas Tribune as a fellow, where she created graphics for the Texas Tribune Festival and the 2022 Texas midterms.
Born in the Philippines, Juleanna immigrated to the United States by moving to California but grew up in Plano, Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BFA in design and was the design editor of The Daily Texan, the design director of Spark Magazine, and a member of UT Austin’s Asian American Journalists Association.
Please join us in welcoming these new TM staffers to the team!
