The Deadline Club Board of Governors unanimously voted to support the election of Claire Regan, immediate past president and chair of the club’s Executive Council, and board members Ivette Davila-Richards and Dan Axelrod to national Society of Professional Journalists offices.
These SPJ leaders are tireless advocates for journalists and know the challenges facing news organizations today. As longtime local chapter leaders who have also been active at the national level, they understand what it takes to organize and support SPJ members on the ground as well as from the boardroom. Their skills and experience bring critical perspective to the important decisions faced by SPJ and its membership—and they will continue to move the organization forward in the right direction.
Regan is running for SPJ president-elect, Davila-Richards is seeking reelection as secretary-treasurer and Axelrod is a candidate for one of two at-large director seats.
The election will take place via email, with all SPJ members of good-standing receiving a ballot electronically through simplyvoting.com. IMPORTANT: Please log in to spj.org as soon as possible to verify your membership status in order to participate in the election.
Voting will open at noon ET on September 2. The poll closes at noon ET on September 4 and just a few hours later will be announced during the SPJ 2021 convention closing ceremony. Check your spam folders for an email from simplyvoting.com. If you do not receive a ballot, please email elections@spj.org with your name, email address and membership number.
Learn more about the process and the candidates at SPJ Election Central.
Here are the three Deadline Club board members running for national SPJ positions:
Claire Regan, immediate past president of the Deadline Club, is running for president-elect of SPJ. A passionate journalist with more than 30 years of newsroom experience in reporting, editing, management and design, Claire is an assistant professor of journalism at Wagner College, and a contributing writer for the Staten Island Advance. As Deadline Club president for three consecutive terms, she strengthened the board with top talent and raised the club’s profile with strong programming. She is currently serving on the national board as an at-large director, and hopes to serve the society on a broader platform. She is grateful for the Deadline Club’s friendships and support. Learn more about her on SPJ Election Central.
Ivette Davila-Richards, a longtime Deadline Club board member, is running for reelection as secretary-treasurer of SPJ. Ivette formerly served as an at-large director of SPJ, and is currently serving as the vice chair of the national SPJ Diversity Committee, for which she won an SPJ President’s Award last year. She has helped raise funds to support the Deadline Club and SPJ nationally. She has brought awareness to the need for diversity in the newsroom and within SPJ, while making sure chapters have the resources they need to thrive. Ivette has recruited new members at the national and local levels while mentoring students and early career journalists. She is former vice president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Currently working as a cable network assignment editor, Ivette has been a television producer and multimedia journalist for more than 20 years. Learn more about her on SPJ Election Central.
Dan Axelrod is running for at-large director of SPJ. He’s past president of SPJ Keystone (Pa.) Pro, past chairman of SPJ’s national Digital Media Committee, an alum of SPJ’s national leadership training seminar and assistant treasurer of the Deadline Club. He’s won 15 awards for investigative reporting and feature writing from state press associations in New York, New England and Pennsylvania over nine years as a full-time reporter, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Florida and taught college communication classes. As Keystone president, SPJ named his chapter one of America’s best. As a national board member, he wants every SPJ member to get clear value from their membership, better connect members with national leadership, strengthen chapters and focus more on results and less on process debates. Learn more about him on SPJ Election Central.