2026 Board Elections

I've worked across private radio, community radio, and public radio - and no matter the model or market, the challenges are the same. Resources are tightening, and the old ways of measuring success aren't holding the same weight.

In Savannah, I worked at a small station recognized as top radio station four years in a row. I've also earned a Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists award. Awards recognize where we've been. They don't guarantee where we're going.

What matters now is whether we're adapting fast enough and how we can collaborate to find new ways to make sure journalism stays relevant. As a board member, I would focus on helping stations — small and large — adapt in practical ways.

PMJA is guiding this next chapter of public media and I would be elated to be a part of that. Thank you for your consideration.

Hello. I'm Julie Drizin. I've been working in and around public media for four decades, most recently as the executive director of Current, your source for news about public media.

At Current, I led our Local that Works initiative for six years. The Local That Works contest and webinars shined a spotlight on successful engagement-oriented news and public affairs initiatives. We partnered with PMJA on Local that Works.

I deeply believe that public media must look and sound like the communities we aim to serve. That's why I implemented source tracking at Current and why I continue to embrace diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and belonging.

I am committed to mentoring the next generation of public media talent. That's why I introduced the Rising Stars initiative at Current and produced annual Public Media Virtual Career Fairs.

I served for several years as a judge in the PMJA Awards because I love making sure that talented people at all stages of their careers get acknowledged by their peers.

I've had the opportunity to attend dozens of public media and journalism conferences and visit many stations. I've also been involved with INN - the Institute for Nonprofit News and LION, the local independent online news association — both groups that PMJA can collaborate with.

I have been an executive producer, managing editor, news and public affairs director, host, and reporter. I have launched successful local and national shows and I have worked at a community radio station, a university station, and a joint licensee.

Besides Current, I have held leadership positions at two academic journalism centers: The Journalism Center on Children and Families at the University of Maryland and J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism at American University.

As a board member, I will listen and learn and assist where needed. I bring significant experience with fundraising, revenue generation, marketing, and project management — all skills I'm eager to share so that PMJA can continue on its amazing trajectory of success.

Public media's future depends on the strength of its journalism. PMJA's mission is to ensure that you have access to the best professional development, diverse opportunities and peer support. I'd be proud to play a role as a PMJA board member. Thanks for your time and attention, and hopefully your support.

I have been a PMJA member since I stepped into my current job as news director at KUNM in 2021, but I've been a journalist for about 30 years with a good chunk of that in public media. I've been a host, a freelancer, a podcaster, and a reporter both in radio and public television. I was honored to be accepted to the 2024 Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative for public media at Poynter. Prior to that I did Poynter's leadership training for women in media.

Since joining PMJA I have been actively involved in meetups for news directors, editors, and small stations. I've also led several sessions for news directors at the PMJA annual conference. Last year I urged my very new reporter to pitch a session on vertical video because I saw how she transformed our social media and I wanted her to show everyone how to do it too. In addition, I've volunteered on the conference committee several times and was even persuaded to sing at the awards event in San Antonio with several of my fellow PMJA colleagues.

My involvement has been driven by a desire to gain the shared wisdom of my colleagues and also share my own learning — including my mistakes — to help us all build a stronger public media ecosystem. We need our collective knowledge and support now more than ever as we face unprecedented challenges in this post-rescission world. I see PMJA as a crucial convenor for all of us to come together and figure out this future and I want to be part of helping us all move forward. That means hearing from everyone — the big players to the smallest 1- and 2-person newsrooms, because scrappy also makes you innovative. None of us can do this alone.

I'm Sky Lebron and am applying to be on the PMJA Board. I believe I'd bring a fresh and professional perspective to the PMJA board.

I've worked in public media since 2017, as a student producer for WUFT, the NPR station in Gainesville, Florida. I reported, hosted shows, and taught my fellow students the ins and outs of audio-based journalism.

Since graduation in December 2019, I've worked in public media. First, as a reporter and back-up host for WJCT in Jacksonville. There, I also worked on a yearlong StoryCorps project ahead of the 2020 election. I returned to Gainesville to teach audio reporting and be WUFT's Morning Edition. In 2022, I earned a regional Edward R. Murrow award for feature series reporting I did on rural internet access.

I joined WUSF in Tampa in 2022 as a host and reporter and work there today. I still report and host for Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Our work was honored in 2025 with the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence. I'm proud to have been a part of that and our regional Murrow for breaking news coverage during Hurricane Helene.

But the biggest chunk of my time at WUSF is as host of our daily podcast, The Bay Blend. I worked nearly a year developing this 'espresso shot' of news and culture. The Blend is not yet a year old and it recently won 'Best Podcast Series' by the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists. I also was named the finalist for best anchor.

PMJA is central to my work in public media. I've attended two national conferences and served on a panel at the 2025 event in Kansas City. I also serve on the PMJA membership outreach committee, where we just presented a first-ever new member orientation!

I believe people like me are crucial to keeping young journalists interested and thriving in public media. I'm not a newsroom manager. I live the day-to-day grind of public media. That adds to how I relate to other PMJA members, who may feel that bosses aren't the only ones with a voice and who can be leaders.

I believe public media lives as long as there is relentless hard work to adapt with the times, as it has done in the past. I want to be on the frontlines of change and new beginnings, with the respect and nostalgia for the public media mission.

I became a reporter in the new era of media. Post-COVID shifts in reporting, AI technology, and changes in media trust and literacy shaped how I've developed in this industry. As a younger reporter, I am committed to moving the industry forward through diversity of voice, experience and identity. I see my experience as part of the "new guard" of journalists as an asset to the board of Public Media Journalists Association. I bring perspective, curiosity and passion for public media and its future.

I discovered my love for public media through radio. I love the challenge of using sound to carve a passageway into people's lives and inform listeners. As a reporter, I've covered tense debates over the rights of transgender students. I've spoken with young Black teens about gun violence and, more recently, I've centered my reporting on the littlest learners, their parents and providers. I'm dedicated to investing in the community by offering news and relevant information about education and early childhood development.

At Minnesota Public Radio, I currently serve on our union's Labor Management Committee. This keeps me tuned in to the concerns and desires of reporters — something I intend to do as a member of your board. For the past two and a half years I have served as the co-chair for MPR News' Diversity Committee. Through this work I have been able to help produce annual story projects highlighting marginalized communities in Minnesota and I've established a culture of prioritizing stories from the committee by sending out monthly minutes and updates to the entire newsroom.

I grew up in leadership roles and am familiar with Robert's Rules of Order and other parliamentarian requirements of being on a formal board. As part of the PMJA Board, I plan to offer an honest perspective of reporters and advocate for training, support and programs that set up the future generation of journalists for success.

I've been doing journalism since I was 15-years-old. I became a peer leader two years in, and I have strived for any and all opportunities to learn, perfect and then guide, ever since. I wish to help shape the future of the public media space and I have the passion and determination to do so.

I bring journalism experience from different mediums and intensities. I have a robust academic and practical background. If elected to a position on the board, I promise to bring forth collaboration and outreach ideas, help others achieve their goals and hopefully work toward something innovative and long-term.

I believe public media lives as long as there is relentless hard work to adapt with the times, as it has done in the past. I want to be on the frontlines of change and new beginnings, with the respect and nostalgia for the public media mission.

Hi! My name is Vinnee Tong. I believe in the power of facts, context and innovation in news and journalism work. As a PMJA board member, I would bring a collaborative approach and a deep understanding and appreciation for public media and news. I love working with journalists. I believe in the power of journalism to arm people with the information they need to make decisions about how they are governed. I'd like to contribute to the support system for other journalists working at public media organizations all around the country.

I'm currently the managing editor at KPBS in San Diego. Before, I was a 2023 fellow at the JSK Journalism Fellowship at Stanford, and an editor, podcast producer and newsroom leader at KQED public media in San Francisco. Before joining KQED, I was a reporter at the Associated Press and newspapers. I'm a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the University of California at Berkeley, where I was editor in chief of the independent student-run newspaper, The Daily Californian. Also, I serve on the board of the Lorana Sullivan Foundation to support investigative journalism in the U.S. and U.K.

I fell in love with PMJA after attending the conference at NPR in 2024. Not only was it a great conference that reflected all types of newsroom positions, but it really valued people.

Since then, I dove in. I've been an active member of both the membership and conference committees, participated in various meetups for small stations and early career journalists. I also attended the PMJA conference in 2025 and helped lead on a panel about how to train a host.

I've also been in the public media space for four years. I've worked at KJZZ, Arizona PBS, the Mountain West News Bureau and now KUNC. I have experience in a variety of different platforms, station sizes and distribution audiences.

I know qualifications don't always mean credentials — I've worked to maintain the amazing culture of PMJA by connecting with people at conferences, in breakouts or through the new Donut feature on Slack.

I want to join the board because I have a fresh fire that's been kindled for this organization and I want to help make it the best that it can be. I also deeply care about early career journalists. The current board is primarily made up of news directors and editors, and I want to advocate for early career journalists during board meetings.

My goal is to ensure conference sessions are inclusive and offer solutions to their questions. I aim to create more spaces for novice journalists to connect and feel welcomed the way I did. I strive to facilitate more closed-door discussions that are safe spaces where they can be honest and have candid conversations, supporting what they may not be able to process otherwise. I'm at the right stage in my career to communicate what types of sessions and trainings we're hungry for. I'm passionate about championing an even better version of PMJA.

Hello I'm Ryan Vasquez and I am seeking a nomination to the PMJA board. I have nearly two decades of experience in public media starting off as a host and reporter to now having been a news director for more than a decade. I am currently the news director for WWNO in New Orleans and WRKF in Baton Rouge and the Managing Editor for the Gulf States Newsroom. Over my time in public media and as a journalist three things really define me:

I believe in training and education. I have been an instructor or professor for 15 years and have run a largely student-run newsroom for 9 years. Nothing brings me more joy than watching that spark ignite in a young student when they have found their passion in journalism — especially if it is in public media.

DEI has become divisive in our country but it has been a big passion of mine over the last five years. I was a DEI officer while I was at WUFT in Gainesville, Florida and have served on PMJA's DEI Committee for the past two plus years. While on the committee I was a part of the efforts to get the Open Doors Initiative off the ground and helped select our first cohort.

Safety for our journalists online and in person is also something very important to me. I've served on the RTDNA Safety committee for three plus years and have contributed to panels and training about safety for journalists in all kinds of situations from protests to hurricanes.

My background in education, collaboration, and efforts to protect and promote journalists from all backgrounds are the kinds of qualities that best qualify me to serve on the board and represent public media journalists across our industry. I think PMJA has a great responsibility and opportunity to make our newsrooms better places to work and our communities better places to live through our coverage. I would love to be able to continue and grow those efforts as a board member.

I'm David Wright, senior reporter at Ocean State Media in Rhode Island, and I'm running for the PMJA board.

I started in public radio, learning the craft at WBUR and KQED, where I hosted The California Report. For more than 20 years as a correspondent at ABC News, I reported breaking news and features from around the world, including politics, the White House, the Vatican and conflict zones. I've worked across platforms in small, agile teams, helping develop a more flexible, efficient approach to storytelling.

Today, I'm back in public media, where I focus not just on my own reporting, but also helping my colleagues adapt to new tools and platforms. Like many of you, I'm working through what it means to do this work now. The media landscape is changing fast. Expectations are higher, attention spans are shorter, and resources tighter than ever.

In the midst of so much noise, meaningful journalism is more important than ever. Public media faces real challenges — political, economic and existential. But I believe in our mission. We're not influencers, we're reporters. Our job is to provide clear, fact-based journalism that serves our communities and strengthens public trust.

If elected, I would focus on helping PMJA members navigate this transition: sharing practical tools and experience, supporting training in video and audio, and strengthening collaboration across the network — while holding onto the editorial values that brought us to public media in the first place.

Thank you for considering me. I'd be honored to serve.