| Point Park University, BA | 2007 |
| Journalism and Mass Communications |
Jesse James Helfrich is one of the three co-founders of 20DC.com. He conceived the original idea for an online political hub over a pitcher of Yeungling beer in a hometown bar. The company formed after he convinced his college roommates at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pa. to join the project.
In addition to managing the business and marketing for 20DC, he also coded the design for the majority of the Web site, a skill he learned mostly over the course of building the site.
Helfrich, 23, lives in Beaver Falls, Pa., a fringe suburb about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh. He graduated from Point Park in May 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication. Currently, he is a copyeditor and page designer for the Beaver County Times.
Helfrich has had his writing published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Point Park student newspaper, The Globe.
In his spare time, Jesse enjoys working.
“My greatest ambition for 20DC is that it truly becomes ‘the place to go’ to see what America thinks about political issues,” Helfrich said. “There are infinite possibilities once we bring politics up to speed with the technology that’s out there.”
