AI for Public Media: A Case Study with Connecticut Public

Susan Bell

Susan Bell is an experienced media leader with a background in product development, project management, marketing, and digital strategy. Her work spans OTT, mobile, broadcast, and digital platforms, along with experience in infrastructure, sales strategy, and training, giving her a practical, cross-functional perspective on how teams and technology come together.
Since 2022, Susan has served as Senior Director of the Data and Digital Services Bureau at Connecticut Public, where she leads development, project management, and data teams to move digital work forward across the organization. She focuses on driving innovation, making smart use of new technologies, and using audience and performance insights to inform decisions.
Throughout her career, she has worked on launching and scaling digital products and services, bringing together content, audience engagement, revenue, and technology in a cohesive way.

Brendan Foley

Brendan is Senior Director of Membership at Connecticut Public, Connecticut's only statewide public media organization.

He leads the team responsible for a far-reaching, multichannel fundraising program that supports the mission to inform, educate, and inspire the people of Connecticut. From optimizing direct mail programs, to evolving digital donation experiences, Brendan touches every aspect of Connecticut Public’s membership program comprised of more than 60,000 donors.

Before joining Connecticut Public, Brendan served as the director of communications for the Morehead-Cain Foundation, the preeminent undergraduate scholarship program in the United States. He also has more than a decade of journalism experience, producing award-winning broadcasts in Raleigh-Durham, NC; Boston, MA; and Albany, NY.

Brendan lives in Connecticut with the love of his life, Jenna, and their terribly behaved rescue dog, Jack.

Rob Gabaree

Rob Gabaree is Director of Digital Development at Connecticut Public, where he leads the technical work behind the organization's websites, digital tools, and the systems that power them.

Since joining Connecticut Public in 2013, Rob has been the organization's lead developer, designing and building digital products and tools used across the newsroom, membership, marketing, underwriting, and operations. His work covers everything from public-facing websites to internal staff applications and the systems that keep them running.

Rob's recent work has focused on building mission-aligned AI tools for Connecticut Public, including the Public Meeting Monitor, which he developed in partnership with the newsroom to surface newsworthy moments from local government meetings, and Curio, a chatbot that answers audience questions using Connecticut Public's own content.

Rob lives in Connecticut with his dog, Hera.

Jim Haddadin

Jim Haddadin is a longtime community journalist in New England who focuses on using data and public records to tell stories about local government. He is an editor for The Accountability Project, Connecticut Public's investigative reporting initiative. Haddadin was previously an investigative producer at NBC Boston. He also reported for newspapers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. His work at NBC received a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and a pair of New England Emmy awards. He was also recognized by the Public Media Journalists Association, Society of Professional Journalists, New England Newspaper & Press Association, New Hampshire Press Association and Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists for political coverage, investigative reporting and stories about government transparency.

Lauren Komrosky

Lauren is the Chief Digital Officer at Connecticut Public, where she leads the organization’s Digital Services, Membership, and Marketing teams.

Since joining Connecticut Public in 2015, Lauren has helped strengthen the organization’s use of audience insights, digital innovation, and performance analytics to support strategic decision-making across platforms and departments. Her work has included digital product development, content distribution strategy, and audience engagement initiatives.

Before joining public media, Lauren held leadership roles in marketing and advertising at agencies including DRAFT/FCB and Ogilvy & Mather, and later focused on performance-based digital marketing at BusinessOnline.

Lauren lives in Connecticut with her husband, two tween daughters and Golden Retriever, Georgia.