2013-2014 Board Elected at Miami Media Conference
The chapter’s annual election meeting was held on Saturday, July 13 — immediately following the Miami Media Conference at Coconut Grove’s Mayfair Hotel. The year-long board positions are effective August 1, 2013.
Executive Officers
President: Jason Parsley
jeparsley@gmail.com | @jeparsley
Parsley is an award-winning reporter. He currently works as the Associate Publisher of the South Florida Gay News. Previously he worked for Forum Publishing Group for three years covering West Boca, Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and a minor in Political Science. While in school he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper, the University Press. He has also served as the treasurer for the SPJ South Florida Pro Chapter.
Executive Vice President: Brandon Ballenger
btballenger@gmail.com | @btballenger
Ballenger is a freelance writer and graduate of Florida Atlantic University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and English. He is a regular contributor to The South Florida Business Journal, and Money Talks News, an online outlet dedicated to personal finance and regularly featured on MSN, Yahoo!, Business Insider, The Christian Science Monitor, and broadcast on NBC, ABC, and CBS affiliates nationwide.
Vice President of Membership: Dori Zinn
dzinn3@gmail.com | @dorizinn
Zinn is the Associate Editor for Bundoo.com – a startup pediatrics website – as well as a freelance writer for South Florida Gay News and Social Media Manager for Money Talks News. For four years, Zinn has served on the board as Vice President of Membership for the SPJ South Florida Pro chapter, helping win “Chapter of the Year” in 2010. She graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Multimedia Journalism.
Vice President of Programs: Lynn Walsh
Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com | @lwalsh
Walsh is the Investigative Producer at WPTV, NewsChannel 5 in West Palm Beach where she manages the Contact 5 unit. She has worked in a variety of TV stations across the country and has spent time working for online non-profit journalism organizations where she focused on government transparency and accountability issues. She also heads a national SPJ Committee, Generation J and blogs for the Radio Television Digital News Association. Lynn is obsessed with politics, pop culture, new media & freedom of information issues. She is from Columbus, Ohio and is a graduate of Ohio University.
Secretary: Caity Kauffman
caitykauffman@gmail.com | @caitykauffman
Originally from Fort Myers, Kauffman was a member of the first graduating class of the Florida Gulf Coast University Journalism program. She has worked in all facets of journalism – print, radio, television, online – highlighted by her two years as a television reporter for the FGCU Sports Report. She now works full-time in public relations at O’Connell & Goldberg PR in Hollywood, but stays active in the journalism industry as a weekend NHL producer on Sirius/XM radio.
Treasurer: Christopher Persaud
christopher.mark.persaud@
Persaud is an Editorial Research Specialist with Bankrate.com, a national personal finance and news website based in North Palm Beach, Fla. At Bankrate, he mainly researches and analyzes economic and financial data. Prior to that, he was News Editor at the University Press, Florida Atlantic University’s student newspaper. He graduated from FAU in December 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning.
Immediate Past President: Michele Boyet
mboyet@gmail.com | @mboyet
Boyet is the social media manager for The Breakers Palm Beach. She serves on the SPJ National grant committee, is the vice president of the Florida College Press Association and the former assistant director for College Media Associations’ national 2011 and 2012 journalism conventions in New York City. Boyet formerly worked as an associate homepage producer at the Sun Sentinel, was named College Journalist of the Year in 2010 by the SPJ’s Sunshine State Awards, and received the Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment award from SPJ National in October 2010.
Board of Directors
Sergio Candido
sncandido@gmail.com | @sergioncandido
Candido works as web editor for South Florida Gay News and is a monthly columnist for Ocean Drive Magazine. Before that, he served as assistant editor for Open Media Miami, a hyper-local project by The Miami Herald. He is a 2011 graduate of the New York Times Student Journalism Institute. Candido holds an Associate in Arts degree from Miami Dade College, where he worked as multimedia editor for the student newspaper, The Reporter. He was also a finalist for a national award while serving as news editor for the University Press, Florida Atlantic University’s student-run magazine. He’s set to get his Bachelor of Arts degree in Multimedia Journalism in the fall of 2013.
Gideon Grudo
ggrudo@gmail.com | @ggrudo
Grudo previously served as the Executive Vice President of SPJ South Florida. Likewise, Grudo served on the National SPJ Board as a student director before graduating in May 2012. Grudo has been involved — from directing to advising — with numerous SPJ programs, both local and national: The Unethical Press, Will Write for Food, First Amendment Free Food Festival, One Night Stand, All on Paper, Death Race, F%^& Words with Friends, and Ethics Hold ’em. He’s the former editor at South Florida Gay News.
Andrea Richard
andrearichard954@gmail.com | @Ondrea954
Richard is a contributing writer at WLRN Public Media. A Broward native, she also writes for various blogs and publications covering the art and culture scene in South Florida. While her background consists of mostly print and web media, she aims to break into radio, one day. In addition to her journalism gigs, she provides copywriting and editing services for corporate and nonprofit clients alike. She is a self-proclaimed fan of art, bicycles and quirky folks.
Jen Stone
Jenstone20@gmail.com | @jenstonetv
Stone is currently the Video editor/reporter for Boca Raton and Delray Beach magazine, and the host of “The Boca Minute.” She graduated from Lynn University with a degree in Radio, Television, and Internet Media. While in school, Stone interned with Cleveland’s top morning show “Good Company,” VH1 News in New York City, and Extra TV in Los Angeles. Stone has also freelanced for numerous outlets including Miami’s Plum TV, The U.S. Navy, and Delray Beach’s International Tennis Championships Tour.
Gabriel Tyner
talktogabriel@gmail.com | @gabrieltyner
Tyner was first introduced to journalism when he got a job at a news station in Gainesville, Fla. as an Associate Producer. After that he made his way to director and finally producer of live TV. After getting the investigative bug, Gabriel decided to move to a larger market in Orlando where he produced an award winning documentary “Chiefland.” He writes for several online publications including examiner.com, productionapprentice.com, and his own blog about gangs in schools chasing-ghosts.com. He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Anthropology and a minor in Classics and Latin American Studies. Currently, he teaches TV and Film at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale.
Dina Weinstein
dina_w@hotmail.com
Weinstein is a Miami-based journalist whose work is published in local and national publications. She mentors young journalists as newsroom assistant at The Reporter, the Miami Dade College student newspaper. Weinstein’s reporting experience includes work at The Hyde Park Herald in Chicago, Illinois; The Trentonian in New Jersey; The Cape Cod Times in Massachusetts; and WDIY-FM in Pennsylvania. Weinstein has taught journalism and mass communications at a number of colleges including Miami Dade College. A graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Boston University School for the Arts, she is a Boston native.