Board and Officers
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)