Board and Officers

Pictured are 2022-23 board members for SPJ of Central Ohio.
OFFICERS FOR 2025-26

Officers of Central Ohio SPJ for the 2025-2026 programming year are:

  • President: Mikel Livingston, assistant editor, Gongwer News Service
  • First Vice President (programming): Zachary Jarrell, data reporter, Columbus Business First
  • Second Vice President (membership): Natalie Fahmy, Ohio Statehouse reporter, NBC4
  • Secretary: Lisa Benton, contributing writer, Columbus African American News Journal
  • Treasurer: Garth Bishop, content writer, ForeFront Web; contributing editor, CityScene Media Group
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Central Ohio SPJ Board of Directors consists of 12 members. Directors serve staggered three-year terms, with four directors starting new terms each year.

Our 2025-26 Directors are:

Elected in 2025 – to serve 2025-26, 2026-27, 2027-28

  • Lisa Benton, MD, contributing writer, Columbus African American News Journal
  • Zachary Jarrell, data reporter, Columbus Business First
  • Mikel Livingston, assistant editor, Gongwer News Service
  • Nathaniel Shuda, suburban communities editor, The Columbus Dispatch; editor, Newark Advocate

Elected in 2024 – to serve 2024-25, 2025-2026, 2026-2027

  • Sarah Mills Bacha, president, SMB Communications
  • Natalie Fahmy, Ohio Statehouse reporter, NBC4
  • Amelia Robinson, opinion and community engagement editor, The Columbus Dispatch
  • Clare Roth, managing editor, The Ohio Newsroom

Elected in 2023 – to serve 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26

  • Garth Bishop, content writer, ForeFront Web; contributing editor, CityScene Media Group
  • Mary Ann Edwards, retired editorial writer, The Columbus Dispatch
  • Julanne Hohbach, editor, Columbus Parent
  • Bonnie Baldwin, director, MAD Global Strategy
    • (Baldwin replaced Hayleigh Colombo in 2024)
BOARD MEETINGS

All meetings of the SPJ Central Ohio Chapter’s Board of Directors are open to Chapter members in good standing. For information on how to attend a meeting, please contact the board at spjcentralohio@gmail.com or any individual board member.

Board meetings are generally held at noon on the third Monday of the month. The board typically does not meet in June or July and meeting dates may be adjusted to accommodate holidays falling on the third Monday of the month. Planned meetings for the 2025-2026 Chapter year are currently as follows and will be held at noon virtually unless indicated otherwise:

  • May 19, 2025;
  • Aug. 18, 2025;
  • Sept. 15, 2025;
  • Oct. 20, 2025;
  • Nov 17, 2025;
  • Dec 15, 2025;
  • Jan. 26, 2026;
  • Feb. 23, 2026;
  • March 16, 2026;
  • April 13, 2026.