SPJ Florida Endorses Refresh Slate

The SPJ Florida board has unanimously approved to endorse three SPJ Florida members, including two board members, that are running for national SPJ office.

Last month, the board voted to endorse the SPJ Refresh slate: Jason Parsley, Chris Delboni, and Emily Bloch.

“All three of these candidates have a long history of experience in the Florida journalism community,” says Dori Zinn, president of SPJ Florida. “Their proven track records make them an easy vote in the SPJ Elections. I’m excited others will learn and prosper from their experience.”

Elections, which start at the opening business session of Excellence in Journalism 2016, are open to all current SPJ Members and you do not need to be in attendance of EIJ16 to vote.

Former chapter president and current vice president of membership Jason Parsley, who was named the Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member earlier this year, is running for At-Large Director. Parsley has served on the SPJ Florida board for more than seven years, from a member of the board of directors to treasurer to president. Locally, he oversees the Sunshine State Awards and when president, he spearheaded the expansion of the chapter from South Florida to Florida: now encompassing the entire state. He was also president of the 2014 chapter of the year. He currently serves nationally on three committees: diversity, awards, and bylaws. Parsley is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of South Florida Gay News.

Chris Delboni is running for Campus Adviser-at-Large. Delboni is a former Adviser of SPJ FIU. In 2014 Delboni won SPJ’s David L. Eshelman Outstanding Campus Adviser Award. Also during her time at FIU, the chapter was named Region 3 campus chapter of the year three years in a row. Currently, she’s the co-adviser of the SPJ chapter at FAU in Boca Raton and a Miami-based columnist for O Estado de S. Paulo, a major Brazilian newspaper.

Emily Bloch is the current President of the recently revived FAU chapter and is running for SPJ National Student Representative. She’s organized SDX-funded events, like Zombie Stories, First Amendment Free Food Festival, and Death Race. Bloch wants to take the events she’s organized locally to a national level. Along with her role at FAU, Bloch is the student representative for SPJ Florida.

SPJ Florida members and all members nationally can vote in the elections, starting the evening of Sept. 18 and ending right before the closing business session on Sept. 20. SPJ National will email all members in good standing on voting.