Danielle Sweeney
Danielle Sweeney
Experience
Freelance Writer
May, 1997-Present
Credits and clients include: CityLab, Greater Greater Washington, Baltimore Brew, Baltimore Sun, Maryland Matters, Popular Resistance, Urban Mobility and Equity Center at Morgan State University, Southeast Community Development Corporation, City Paper, Baltimore magazine, Johns Hopkins Medicine (International Physician Update, Change), Hopkins Nursing, Baltimore Fishbowl, Family Circle, Discovery.com, Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, MSN Sidewalk.com, eToys' BabyCenter.com, the Nemours Foundation’s Kidshealth.org, Sunspot.net, Public Administration Times, Public Management, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery newsletters, and the University of Maryland’s Geriatrics and Gerontology Education and Research Program’s Advances in Aging newsletter.
Organizer
Central Maryland Transportation Alliance
March, 2019 - Present
Organizer for Greater Baltimore's transportation and public policy and advocacy organization. Work with graduates of CMTA's citizens' academy (Transportation 101) and coalition partners to improve public transportation and mobility in the Greater Baltimore region; write press releases and correspond with the media; analyze data for legislation; formulate talking points for advocates and elected officials; plan coursework for Transportation 101; write blog posts , commentaries, and op-eds. Co-author of CMTA's 2020 Transportation Report Card.
Interviewer
BeSure, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
September - December, 2018
Using a computer-assisted personal interview tool, interviewed and obtained consent from 100 IV drug users participating in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/CDC BeSure study. BeSure is part of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system to measure HIV prevalence, risk behaviors, and exposure to prevention services among persons at high risk for HIV transmission.
Covered Baltimore politics, inclusionary housing, planning, transit, education, utilities, city council, liquor issues, law enforcement, crime, school police, and neighborhoods for Baltimore's government accountability news blog, a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, which focuses on news in the public interest.
Posted stories daily using Wordpress. Engaged with readers, answered questions, and monitored social media presence via Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit. Many stories had a civic data component.
Stories of national interest include Bishop Heather Cook's vehicular homicide, Freddie Gray's in-custody death, Baltimore City's water-billing controversies, and the Baltimore Uprising.
Wrote news and features focusing on Baltimore City’s oldest southeast Baltimore neighborhoods: Canton, Fell’s Point, Fell’s Prospect, Patterson Park, Douglass Place, Upper Fell's Point, Kresson, North Patterson Park, McElderry Park, Brewer's Hill, Baltimore Highlands, O'Donnell Heights, and Butchers Hill.
Covered development, business, zoning, city hall, parking, green space, public transportation, non-profits, schools, and crime.
Writer
University of Maryland Geriatrics and Gerontology Education and
Research Program
June 2003 - June 2013
2010 - present
2010 - present
Contributed articles and short pieces to Advances in Aging, the research program’s semi-annual newsletter.
Interviewed UM faculty and scientists from the schools of medicine, public health, nursing, social work, pharmacy, and law who were conducting research on all aspects of aging across the lifespan. Topics included the Baltimore Hip Studies, gero-pharmacology, the genetics of longevity, stroke rehabilitation, the Beers’ Criteria for medication use in older adults, PTSD and the elderly, and how the new Medicare Part D drug data impacts the care of older adults.
Worked with managing editor to promote Walden University, a 35-year-old online university, in print, online, and multimedia formats. Wrote news, features, department pieces, and profiles of students, alumni, and faculty for the university’s online newsletter (sent to 40,000 former and prospective students), Web site, individual school Web pages, view books, and e-mail blasts.Interviewed students and alumni regarding their master’s and doctoral research—this included theses and dissertations on a wide range of topics produced in Walden University’s schools of Management, Education, Health and Human Services, and Public Policy and Administration.
Concepted and wrote features and department pieces for Walden magazine, the university’s alumni publication, which won a Gold Award from the University Continuing Education Association in 2007.
Writer/Editor
University of Maryland, Baltimore, Office of External Affairs
September, 2000-March, 2003
Freelance: March, 2003-March 2008
Worked with a team of editors and designers to create publications for the campus's graduate school and School of Pharmacy, School of Nursing, School of Law, Dental School, School of Social Work, School of Medicine, the Center for Health and Homeland Security, campus administration, and the office of the president.
Using an in-house style guide and AP stylebook, wrote and edited university publications and internal documents in manuscript and layout.
Projects included marketing materials, alumni magazines, newsletters, brochures, course catalogs, maps, posters, finding aids, special event and commemorative publications, self studies, Web page content, and student recruitment materials—including the 2006 view books for the school’s master’s and doctoral programs.
Provided substantive and developmental editing for press releases, media advisories, and Web content for the university’s media relations staff.
Co-edited, copy-edited, and contributed to a variety of University of Maryland publications: the university's Maryland magazine, the School of Medicine’s Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science’s annual PTRS Newsletter and annual Proficio magazine; the Dental School’s tri-annual alumni magazine, MDental, which garnered the Public Relations Society of America’s Best in Maryland award in 2006; the School of Nursing’s alumni publications, The Pulse, and Maryland Nursing; and the School of Pharmacy’s alumni magazine, Capsule.
Contributed profiles and department pieces to the 50,000-circulation city magazine, including cover stories, health features, real estate pieces, business and lifestyle features, short pieces, first-person as-told-tos, obituaries, and year-in-review articles
Researcher, “Best Places to Live” 2007
Section editor, “Best of Baltimore” 2004
Contributor, “Best of Baltimore” 2003
Writer, “Top Doctors” 2000, 2002
Education
Towson University
1993, BS, English
Computer and Online Skills
Familiar with standard software applications and web site and content management tools (Wordpress, Elementor).
Experience with HTML 5, CSS, Github, JavaScript, Socrata (cloud-based civic data platform), CARTO, and Mapbox developer platform.
Certifications
JHSPH Basic Human Subjects Research Course (CITI Program)
HIPPA and Research
Bloodborne Pathogens