About Julie

A life-long lover of words, Julie Donofrio decided to turn her passion for storytelling into a career in journalism. Whether it was a devoted music teacher in his inner city classroom or the President of the United States in the Oval Office, Julie’s been able to meet people and visit places she never could have imagined – and hopes to continue doing so as co-founder of TheHardestYear.com.

Julie joined the national bureau of ABC News in Washington, DC after graduating from Syracuse University. She worked her way up the production ranks at “World News Tonight,” “This Week” and other ABC News programs before joining the documentary long-form unit.

During that time, Julie worked on projects for “20/20,” “PrimeTime” and “Nightline.” As Field Producer for the program “Nightline: The Survivors,” which profiled two of the burn survivors from the 9-11 Pentagon attack and their rehabilitation, she received a 2002 George Foster Peabody Award and was cited in the Smithsonian Institution Exhibit “September 11: Bearing Witness to History.”

Julie returned to daily news coverage as an Assignment Editor/News Writer/Producer, where she was responsible for providing day-of-air editorial guidance to all ABC News platforms.

In 2006, she was named a RIAS German / American Journalist Exchange Program Fellow. Later that year, Julie left ABC News and made her first road trip from coast to coast – and loved seeing America so much, she made it a round-trip!

Once back in the DC area, she took on clients as a multi-media production specialist. She enjoys a good laugh, a good book, a good movie, and a good drink – and not necessarily always in that order!