This headshot of co-executive editor Roxanne Patel Shepelavy accompanies her bio on The Philadelphia Citizen's mastheadRoxanne Patel Shepelavy oversees the workings of The Citizen, including its editorial content.  She also writes and edits stories about solutions to problems in Philly.

Roxanne has been a Philadelphia journalist for more than two decades. She’s an award-winning magazine writer whose work in national and regional magazines explored the effects of war; the moral and literal cost of healthcare; kick-ass female athletes; art capers; self-help scams; and a range of women’s and social issues.

Roxanne is passionate about Philadelphia, a city she loves and worries over in equal measure.

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Stories by Roxanne Patel Shepelavy:

Calling All Nonprofit Leaders!

The Fitler Club Foundation’s new impact residency offers a year of membership, wellness and mentoring for the most worthy Philadelphians — those on the frontlines of helping others

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Ideas We Should Steal: More Worker-Owned Businesses

How about a workplace where you share the wealth with your co-workers — including your boss? Pittsburgh, Boston and other cities are helping local businesses become employee-owned, with benefits for all

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

The Citizen Recommends: Ideas We Should Steal Festival

Looking for a way to turn post-election blues into healing, inspiration and action? Join us this week at The Citizen’s 7th annual event celebrating heroic thinkers and problem-solvers

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Ideas We Should Steal Festival 2024: The YIMBYS Have Won

San Francisco pro-housing activist and Philly native Sonja Trauss will return to her hometown on November 15 to herald a solution to our housing crisis. Here, she reflects on how to avoid the pitfalls of Bay Area unaffordability

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

How to Support Veterans

More than a dozen ways to give back to those who fought to keep you free

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Ideas We Should Steal Festival 2024: When Will We Start Listening to Working Class Voters?

Author Batya Ungar-Sargon and former PA Congressman Patrick Murphy will talk about the underappreciated voters who may have decided the 2024 election at our festival on November 15

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Choose Democracy

The 2024 election was the beginning, not the end, of saving our democracy. Here's what else you can do

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Ideas We Should Steal Festival 2024: A 24-Hour Marathon of Giving Local

The director of Austin’s annual event that raised $10 million for 700 local nonprofits — in one single day — talks about how it works at The Citizen’s 7th annual event on November 15

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

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