Election: Meet the SPJ South Florida Pro 2013 Board
Thank you to everyone who attended our annual election and celebration yesterday evening at Southport Raw Bar. A great night — click here for photos!
Congratulations (and welcome!) to the new 2013 South Florida Society of Professional Journalists Board…
SPJ South Florida Leadership
Executive Officers
President: Jason Parsley
jeparsley@gmail.com
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 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: Gideon Grudo
ggrudo@gmail.com
Grudo currently works as the managing editor of the South Florida Gay News. He served on the national board of SPJ in 2011/12 and is currently serving as a student director on the SPJ’s South Florida chapter. Grudo graduated in May 2012 from Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper, the University Press. He’s interned for the Miami Herald and freelanced for various South Florida media outlets.
Vice President of Membership: Dori Zinn
dzinn3@gmail.com
Zinn is a freelance writer for Broward New Times and Money Talks News – a personal and consumer finance website. For two of the last three years Zinn has served on the board, it has been as Vice President of Membership for the SPJ South Florida Pro chapter. She also spent a year serving as Vice President of Programs. 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
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.
Treasurer: Brandon Ballenger
btballenger@gmail.com
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
Secretary: Cassie Morien
cassie@bocamag.com
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.
Immediate Past President: Michele Boyet
mboyet@gmail.com
Boyet is the current social media coordinator and wedding blogger for The Breakers, Palm Beach. She serves on the SPJ National grant committee, is the vice president of the Florida College Press Association and is the former assistant director for College Media Associations’ national 2011 and 2012 journalism conventions in New York City. Boyet formerly worked 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
Mariam Aldhahi
mariam.aldhahi@gmail.com
Aldhahi is a graphic designer for Forum Publishing group and Art Director for several South Florida Sun Sentinel specialty publications. Before joining the Tribune Company, she worked as Interim Creative Director for the South Florida Gay News. She’s a speaker at national student media conventions where she teaches graphic design sessions. Aldhahi graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in Multimedia Journalism and a minor in Political Science. While in school, she served as Editor-in-Chief of FAU’s award-winning student newspaper during which time she won several national design awards.
Caity Kauffman
caitykauffman@gmail.com
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.
Sergy Odiduro
sergy.odiduro@gmail.com
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.
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.
Jen Stone
Jenstone20@gmail.com
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
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.
Student Board Member (non-voting)
Ryan Cortes, Florida Atlantic University
ryan.cortes3@gmail.com
Cortes is an in-depth profile writer for Lifestyle Magazines and the president of FAU’s SPJ chapter. Before joining Lifestyle, Cortes was the editor in chief of the University Press, FAU’s student run newspaper, which was turned into a full-glossy magazine under his editorship. He has also won first place in the Mark Of Excellence awards for best news story.