Who We Are

Ana Liss, Laura Fox and Tanya Zwahlen are three like-minded Rochestarians trying to improve the discussion about Rochester by showing her a little love.

From left: Laura Fox, Ana Liss, and Tanya Zwahlen

Ana Liss was born in the South Wedge and grew up in Pittsford. She fell in love with Rochester as a kid, frequenting the Public Market, Seneca Park Zoo, and the Strong Museum with her family; and nabbing more than her fair share of chocolate chip cookies out of the free cookie bin at Wegmans during the '90s. Today, she's helping to build a brighter future for all of Upstate as an Empire State Fellow working in the New York State Executive Chamber on Governor Andrew Cuomo's economic development team. Previously, she worked in business development and policy analysis at the Greater Rochester Enterprise and the Center for Governmental Research; and was President of the Monroe County Young Democrats. Before that, she was the morning news anchor at WETM 18 News in Elmira, and did a stint as a reporter for our own 13 WHAM News. She is a staunch defender of the Flour City, possessing a war chest of trivia knowledge about it that sometimes comes in handy. Try her.

Laura Fox is an urban planner working for Bergmann Associates as a full-fledged Rochester resident after ten years of convincing her family that she'd never return. After a four-year love affair with Philly, she backpacked around the world for over a year, became a yoga instructor, worked on a bunch of farms in places difficult to find on a map and earned her Master's in Boston when the siren's call from Rochester became too loud to ignore. Her love for Rochester is wrapped up in her love for and from her family, boyfriend and friends. As an adult now living and working in Rochester she is inspired by the possibility of progress and sense of optimism alive in the city and her supporters. She spends her free time dreaming up ways to grow food in the city, running in the woods and being slowly converted into a carnivore by the culinary skills of her boyfriend Marty of Marty's Meats.   

Tanya is a city planner who relocated to Rochester from Boston via Ithaca in 2003. She tried not to love Rochester, but gave in around 2005. In 2007, she founded a city planning consultancy called Highland Planning, which specializes in commercial district revitalization and public outreach. In 2012, Tanya and her friend Jason Haremza started Young Lion, a company that creates works of art that celebrate Rochester as a place of opportunity and culture. She lives in the Highland Park neighborhood with her husband (Christian), their two children (Claire and Hartley), four chickens (Princess, Featherball, Deer Boss and Freckles), and cat (Ginger).