Natalie Bencivenga, MSW, is a socially conscious, award-winning independent journalist and entrepreneur who uses her platforms to bring attention to issues that build equity in our communities.

 

She launched "Destination with Natalie Bencivenga" in collaboration with WQED focused on the importance of immigrants in our communities as both host and executive producer through her company, Benci Productions, LLC in May 2025.. She hosts and produces “Week in Focus” for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a Harrisburg-based nonprofit news site. Her previous series for the outlet, “Facts Over Fear” won a Keystone Media Award in 2024. 

 

Natalie also hosts and produces, "Just the Source," an occasional digital short for PublicSource. She launched "In Conversation with Natalie Bencivenga" in Sept. 2023, a live radio show which aired every Saturday afternoon from 2-5 p.m on 100.1 FM and AM 1020 KDKA.  Natalie is a regular contributor on “TALK Pittsburgh,” KDKA’s newest afternoon talk show, with her own segment, "Ask Natalie."  

 

She is a current fellow at Duquesne University’s Institute for Ethics and Integrity in Journalism and Media (IEIJM). She was recognized in 2022 by City & State PA as one of “four influential Pittsburghers changing the city through media, art and activism." Natalie was the recipient of Pittsburgh Magazine's 40 Under 40 in 2020 and won Multiplying Good's "One in a Million Award" for her work on her show, Five Minutes With... that ran for 76 episodes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Natalie won a Golden Quill in 2020 for her podcast “The BROADcast" that she co-produced and co-hosted with veteran journalist, Kim Lyons.

 

Since 2015, she has penned the nationally digitally syndicated "Ask Natalie" advice column for the Universal Press Syndicate. Natalie provides digital media consultation and content production work to clients across the country with her award-winning media consulting company, XSquared Media. 

 

She finished her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 and was accepted to medical school in 2008, but declined her seat to pursue creative endeavors. She holds two Bachelor degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in Biology and Philosophy. 

 

She is widely utilized across the region for emceeing events and moderating panels. Subscribe to her new newsletter on Substack: Facts Over Fear. Follow her on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and Facebook: @NatalieBencivenga.