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BCI's Award-Winning Staff:
Each staff member brings his or her own unique experience to the BCI team, including expertise in the areas of news reporting, feature and editorial writing, interviewing, photography, public relations, marketing, video production and graphic design. This combination of abilities and experiences is unique in the labor communications world.
And our staff is 100 percent union. We have had a collective bargaining agreement with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324 since 1946.
Ellen Anreder, President and CEO, joined BCI in 1984, working in all aspects of the firm’s business before buying it in 2003. BCI products created under her leadership have won dozens of awards for excellence in writing and graphics. Anreder is the Director of the Food & Drug Council which has grown into a multi-state coalition of unions representing working people in the retail food and drug industries. She is the founding president of the Coalition to Advance Working Women, a vice president of the International Labor Communication Association, a trustee on a Taft-Hartley Benefits Trust, and a board member for the Loveall Foundation for Children in Northern California. She frequently lectures for the International Foundation of Benefit Plans about effective communication and chairs two Union Scholarship Committees. Anreder is the leading independent spokesperson for working people in the United States. During the Southern California supermarket strike of 2003-04, she was quoted throughout the world as the workers’ primary presenter of information and opinion. Early in her career, Anreder worked in marketing for Columbia Pictures Television, coordinating special events and creating promotional materials. She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from University of California at Santa Barbara.
Frank Casciato, Executive Vice President, joined BCI in 1994 from the California Democratic Party where he learned first-hand the crucial role labor unions play in the political arena at all levels of government. His writings, graphic designs, layouts and photographs have received many journalism awards on behalf of our clients. He holds a B.A. in Government from St. Mary's College in Moraga, California.
Dan Brin, Managing Editor and Senior Writer, is in his fourth decade as a professional journalist. He began on the police beat for the legendary City News Bureau of Chicago. After returning to his home state of California, he became editor-in-chief of the Heritage chain of Jewish newspapers, serving in that capacity for more than 25 years. Brin had his formal education at Brandeis University and the University of California Graduate School of Journalism at Berkeley. He founded and chairs the Cinema Heritage Project and serves as an elected board member of the West Hills Neighborhood Council, part of the city government of Los Angeles. He has been with BCI since 2002.
Mike Delano, Staff Writer and Communications Assistant, joined BCI in 2005 after working as a newspaper journalist and freelance writer in Massachusetts and New York. He has written on topics from music and film to school budgets and criminal trials in publications such as the Village Voice, the Old Colony Memorial and Boston’s Weekly Dig. He holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Mike is in charge of BCI-East, located in Boston, MA.
Rob Galloway, Staff Writer and Communications Assistant, has a background in creative writing, music and advertising and has had formal training as a novelist and screenwriter. He joined BCI in 2006, and has further developed his skills in reporting, photography, graphic design, layout and event production. He holds a B.A. in creative writing from Pepperdine University, Malibu, and is a licensed private pilot.
Carmen Allard, Office Manager, joined BCI in 2008 with more than 25 years of experience in television production and network management. Among the series she coordinated were JAG, Midnight Caller and Felicity. She was Director of Talent Relations and Special Events at CBS, where she worked on Everybody Loves Raymond, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Miami, among other shows. Allard has a B.A. in Radio/Television/Film from California State University, Northridge. She is fluent in Spanish.
Richard Castañeda, Staff Writer and Communications Assistant, joined BCI in 2011 after five years of covering Los Angeles' music scene for /Campus Circle/, /Chordstruck Magazine/ and /Daily Sundial/. He earned his B.A. in journalism from California State University, Northridge in 2008 and has a background in creative writing. A published writer since the age of 17, Castañeda has written short stories and poems that have appeared in scholarly publications. He is also fluent in Spanish.
Bob Bleiweiss, Chairman, has written hundreds of articles for Education and Labor publications over the past 50 years. During that time, he has been honored with hundreds of awards in labor and educational journalism. Bleiweiss is an accomplished author and lecturer and travels the country speaking about topics of national and international significance. He also served as Editor and Publisher for Jewish Spectator magazine, one of the most prestigious Jewish intellectual journals in the English language. Bleiweiss holds degrees in literature and the arts from Colgate University and USC. He has recently completed production on the full-length feature film, “The Golden Pomegranate,” based on a best-selling novel.
