Candidates for 2012 Chapter Board Announced
In accordance with our chapter bylaws, this notice is being posted to our website 30 days prior to the chapter’s annual meeting on Dec. 12.
Nominating Jason Parsley has reviewed the candidates’ bios and verified their membership status and eligibility to serve. A brief summary of qualifications of each candidate for office is provided below. To find out more information about the voting on Dec. 12, click here.
Michele Boyet – President
Boyet is the current executive vice president for SPJ South Florida and the social media coordinator and wedding blogger for The Breakers, Palm Beach. Michele is also the vice president of the Florida College Press Association and assistant director for College Media Advisers’ national journalism conventions in New York City. She serves on the SPJ National membership and college membership committees. Michele formerly worked at the Sun Sentinel and was named College Journalist of the Year in 2010 by the SPJ South Florida Sunshine State Awards, and received the Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment award from SPJ National in Oct. 2010.
Jason Parsley – Executive Vice President
Parsley is an award-winning reporter. He currently works as the Editor in Chief 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’s 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.
Dori Zinn – V.P. of Membership
Zinn is a communications assistant and contributing editor for The Association for Retail Environments, a non-profit retail trade organization in Hollywood, Fla. For the past year, Dori has served as Vice President of Programs for the SPJ South Florida Pro chapter. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Membership, helping recruit nearly 30 new members. Dori graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2008 with a degree in Multimedia Journalism.
Lynn Walsh – V.P. of Programs
Walsh is an Investigative Producer for WPTV in West Palm Beach. Previously she worked as an Investigative Journalist for Texas Watchdog, a non-profit online journalism organization in Houston, Texas. She is a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and has also put time in at several other media organizations including WSYX/WTTE in Columbus,OH, WRGT/WKEF in Dayton, Ohio, WMAR in Baltimore, and “The Today Show” in New York City. Walsh is a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association, SPJ, where she serves as head of the Generation J committee, and IRE.
Brandon Ballenger – Treasurer
Ballenger is a freelance writer and graduate student at Florida Atlantic University, where he also received his bachelor’s degree in communication 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! and broadcast on NBC, ABC, and CBS affiliates nationwide.
Rachael Joyner – Secretary
Joyner is a staff writer and photographer for Cross International, a South Florida-based charity that supports social development projects in 36 countries. Before coming to Cross, Joyner worked as a staff reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. She has worked as a contributing travel writer for Jazziz Magazine and freelances as a Web designer, photographer, and writer. Joyner has served as Secretary for the SPJ South Florida Pro chapter for two. She graduated from Florida Atlantic University — where she served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, University Press — with a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism and political science.
Sergy Odiduro – Director
Odiduro is a reporter for the Forum Publishing Group. She began her journalism career as an editorial assistant at the Daily Business Review. She graduated from Bernard M. Baruch’s School of Communication with a bachelor’s in journalism. While in school, she was features and op-ed editor for the campus newspaper, The Ticker. She was also a contributor to Dollars and Sense, Baruch College’s review of business and society. Prior to joining the Daily Business Review, Odiduro interned with Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) and Radio Soleil D’ Haiti, where she produced and hosted a regular English-language news segment.
Lucy Chabot Reed – Director
Reed has been a reporter and editor in South Florida for 20 years. She has worked with the Sun Sentinel, South Florida Business Journal, CityLink, and New Times. She now is the owner and editor of The Triton, an internationally circulated, monthly newspaper for the folks who earn their living working on luxury yachts.
Rebekah Monson – Director
Monson has worked at the Sun Sentinel since 2005 as a designer, design director and a community manager for the business section of SunSentinel.com. She currently serves as a reporter covering Boca Raton. She also blogs for the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism on multimedia and online journalism. After graduating from Louisiana State University’s Manship School for Mass Communication in 2003, Rebekah worked at newspapers in the Northwest as a copy editor and a designer.
Devin Desjarlais – Director
Desjarlais is currently a Social Media Manager at Max Borges Agency where she manages the social media presences of high-profile consumer electronics companies. Before joining the MBA team Desjarlais was the Web Editor for Broward-Palm Beach New Times. She’s a regular speaker at the semi-annual national student media conventions where she teaches new media sessions. Desjarlais graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in Multimedia Communications and a minor in Sociology. During her college years she served as Editor in Chief of FAU’s student newspaper during which time the staff produced a first-place award-winning story.
Cassie Morien – Director
Morien is the web and shop editor for Boca Raton and Delray Beach magazine. She joined JES Publishing in January 2011 after earning a degree in journalism and a minor in creative writing from the University of Central Florida. While at UCF, Morien served as a staff writer and columnist for aXis Magazine and interned at WOFL Fox 35. She created her own music website and has freelanced for a variety of publications out of Austin, Texas, including The Deli Austin, Rare Magazine, Round Rock Leader, and Austin Music + Entertainment.
Gabriel Tyner – Director
Tyner was first introduced to journalism when he got a job at a news station in Gainesville Florida 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 major in Anthropology and a minor in Classics and Latin American Studies. Currently, he teaches TV and Film at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale.
Gideon Grudo – Student Director
Gideon Grudo has been a member of the SPJ South Florida chapter since the summer of 2010. He’s currently on the national board of SPJ as a student representative, on the board of the Florida College Press Association, the Editor-In-Chief of the University Press, Florida Atlantic University’s student-run newspaper, an intern with the Miami Herald, and a freelancer. Grudo has helped coordinate 4 SPJ programs: Will Write for Food 2011, All on Paper, Unethical Press and the First Amendment Free Food Festival (2011 @FAU).
Michael Koretzky – Immediate Past President
Koretzky served on the SPJ South Florida board from 2005-07 and the SPJ national board from 2008-10. He’s currently president of the Florida College Press Association, spring convention director for College Media Advisers, and volunteer adviser for the student newspaper at Florida Atlantic University. He’s been a freelance journalist for The New York Times, USA Today, and the National Enquirer; a staff reporter for the Sun-Sentinel, Florida Times-Union, and Athens (Ga) Banner-Herald; and an editor at the nation’s largest jazz magazine, two alternative weeklies, and a national website. His SPJ programs — Ethics Hold’em, Will Write for Food, and the First Amendment Free Food Festival — have won thousands in grants and been replicated around the country.