About Us - Rolli App | Rolli

About Rolli: Journalist-First

Numerous journalists, news executives, press-club board members, and journalism professors nationwide collaborate with Rolli to address today's pressing challenges in news professionalism and anticipate those of tomorrow.

A minority-owned and operated entity, Rolli proudly calls Santa Monica, California its home.

Our Purpose:
To Empower People.

Empowering journalists with the best tools.

Empowering experts to share their message.

Empowering the public with the most reliable information.

Answering Your Questions

LA Press Club Board of Directors and News Anchor, Catalina Villegas asks Rolli’s founder your most Frequently Asked Questions.

Message from Our Founder

Nick Toso Welcomes You to Rolli!

About The Founder

Nick booking experts at CNN (Washington DC, 2013)

About The Founder

Rolli was founded by Nick Toso, former CNN en Español Washington DC Bureau Chief and Senior Producer. During his time in the newsroom, Nick saw the impact that having vetted and diverse subject matter experts had on the quality and depth of news coverage – and how it led to more equitable representation in the media, and meaningful public discourse.

Additionally, Nick saw the challenges that the digital era brought to many newsrooms and wanted to provide all journalists with better tools to accomplish their goals, but few existed.

Meet The Team:

Catalina Villegas, Co-Founder


Catalina Villegas is an anchor for Spectrum News 1 in Los Angeles. She has worked at the local, national, and international level for stations ranging from CNN, to CBS, NBC and Univision.

Catalina is also a member of the Board of Directors for the LA Press Club. She is a mentor with the Foot in the Door fellowship and hosts Rolli’s Experts Explain Everything Podcast. Catalina immigrated to the US from Colombia in 1999.

Stacey Woelfel, Director of University Partnerships


Stacey Woelfel is a renowned journalist and educator, who spent 35 years teaching at the Missouri School of Journalism. He is the past national chairman of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and has held leadership positions in various media organizations. Stacey holds a doctorate in political science.

As Director of University Partnerships, Stacey embodies Rolli’s commitment to the future of journalism and the thousands of young journalists who step into their first newsroom every year

Codelitt, Founding Technology Partner


Codelitt forms a group of talented software developers, designers, and UX researchers who are passionate about Rolli’s technology, solving user problems, and innovating at startup speed.

Since our inception in 2020, Codelitt has helped Rolli create a novel platform from the ground up. Get rolling today and see how their meticulous craftsmanship translates into an experience you will love!

Frequently Asked Questions

Rolli’s founder recently sat down to answer all your questions!

Are there any guarantees?

Rolli has no editorial influence on journalists, therefore we do not guarantee bookings. 

However, we are confident of the value that Rolli provides to qualified subject matter experts (SMEs), organizations, and journalists. For that reason, Rolli offers a full money-back satisfaction guarantee on yearly memberships. Why a year? Because news works on a cycle, and experts may need to wait for their expertise to have increased news relevance to receive media requests.



What does Rolli do with my information?

You are a valuable member of our community, not as a set of data points to be monetized. We only use the information you provide to fulfill our stated purpose of connecting our community of experts, organizations, and content producers.

We do not sell or otherwise make your information available to anyone outside the Rolli platform.

Rolli takes your privacy very seriously and we're proud of our commitment to guarding your information. For more details, please see our Privacy Policy and don't hesitate to contact us at contact@rolliapp.com with any questions.
 
 
 

Who is considered an "Expert"?

Experts on Rolli must have either advanced degrees or at least 7-10 years of experience working in a particular subject. Many Rolli experts are licensed, like doctors, real estate professionals, and lawyers; others are authors, thought-leaders, or involved in groundbreaking research.

Experts on Rolli are vetted to standards backed by the Poynter Institute for Journalism.

 

 

How is Rolli different from other tools, like HARO?

Rolli is nothing like any other tool because unlike most tools created to sell journalists’ data and emails, Rolli is the first platform solely built for journalists. Rolli’s mission is to provide journalists with cutting edge news gathering tools to make their work more efficient, without selling their data or charging booking fees. 

Unlike HARO, Rolli works for any journalist on any deadline, and we vet all of our experts.

Rolli is journalist owned and operated, most other tools out there (including HARO) are owned by PR.

 

 

Rolli's searchable platform empowers all journalists with the resources and research of a state-of-the-art newsroom.