Josh Friedland
Born in Boston and raised in Berkeley, California, I have more than 20 years of experience developing digital and print communications and content for businesses and nonprofits. I have served in leadership positions in organizations in addition to providing editorial services as a consultant. My industry experience ranges from higher education to healthcare, law, and food.
At the global EdTech startup Emeritus, I was Managing Editor, providing editorial oversight over comprehensive content marketing campaigns for more than 30 online executive education programs. This included developing comprehensive collateral — brochures, websites, email drip campaigns, social media, articles, and press releases — in partnership with top universities including Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern, among others. Serving as Assistant Director of Communications at Fordham Law School, I was the editor-in-chief of Fordham Lawyer magazine, ran an online newsroom publishing more than 150 articles per year, and was the lead on all marketing content, from admissions publications to development communications. At Hospital for Special Surgery, I was Director of Communications, overseeing all communications, including the annual report, marketing materials, fundraising communications, brochures, and newsletters. I also have extensive experience consulting with law firms on digital marketing projects and have worked with many nonprofit organizations to shape their content and messaging.
In addition to working with universities, businesses, and nonprofits, I am a published author and journalist, mostly about food. I am the author of Comfort Me with Offal: Ruth Bourdain’s Guide to Gastronomy and Eatymology: The Dictionary of Modern Gastronomy.
For three years, I maintained a secret identity as the mystery behind “Ruth Bourdain” (@ruthbourdain), a Twitter parody mashup of food luminaries Anthony Bourdain and Ruth Reichl. Before revealing my true identity to The New York Times, I won a James Beard Award— the first ever Beard Award for humor — for the character’s satirical tweets.
Before becoming Ruth Bourdain, I was the founder and editor of The Food Section, a pioneering food blog. Gourmet magazine called it “the consummate gastronomic blog,” and Food & Wine magazine named me a “Tastemaker.” Bon Appetit, Time, the Washington Post, Boston Globe, and USA Today are among the many magazines and newspapers that praised The Food Section.
As a freelance journalist, my articles on food and travel have appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Olive magazine (BBC), and Time Out New York.
I have a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles.