Board of Director elections now underway. Meet the candidates
The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will conduct its annual election for open Board of Director positions.
Voting will begin Tuesday, Dec. 17. Members have until Thursday, Dec. 19 to cast their ballot.
Results will be announced the following week.
There are four seats available this year. Candidates for this year’s online election include incumbent board members Joel Bellman, Alexi Chidbachian, David Zahniser, Rick Montanez and new candidate Sitara Nieves.
SPJ/LA members will receive a link to vote online and their passwords via email when the election opens. Look for an email from vote@electionsonline.com (please check your "spam" and "promotions" folders).
Because you have to be a paid-up SPJ/LA member to vote, now is a great time to make sure your membership is in good standing. The chapter uses member information provided by SPJ national headquarters for the ballot list. Members are required to renew or sign up as a member of SPJ/LA by Dec. 12 to be eligible to vote.
Full bios for each are listed below and will also be included in your ballot. New board members will begin their three-year term on Jan. 1, 2025.
Rick Montanez currently serves as the Secretary for the SPJ/LA Board of Directors. He joined SPJ/LA in August 2021 as an associate board member. Rick is currently a general assignment and breaking news reporter for KCAL News Mornings on KCAL and KCBS-TV. He's been with the CBS News duopoly since November 2020. Rick previously worked as a freelance reporter for KNBC. He's from Southern California and is highly invested in helping SoCal journalism thrive.
Joel Bellman has been involved with Los Angeles journalism for more than 40 years. He worked as an award-winning radio editorial director and documentary producer, a newspaper editorial writer and long-running local columnist, an occasional radio talk-show host, a press deputy to three County Supervisors, and a longtime journalism instructor through UCLA Extension. A member of the SPJ/LA Board since 1989, he strongly supports SPJ’s mission to defend the First Amendment and champion press freedom and government transparency, elevate professional standards, and hold institutions accountable to the public.
Alexi Chidbachian currently serves as the president of SPJ/LA. She has been on the board since 2019. Throughout her time, Chidbachian has served as chair of both the Generation J and Communications committees. She has also assisted the Scholarship, Awards, and Banquet committees. Under her leadership as chair of the Generation J committee, the LA Chapter earned the 2023 Circle of Excellence Award in Campus Relations, recognizing their exceptional contributions to student journalists. In addition to volunteering with SPJ/LA, Chidbachian is a digital producer at FOX 11 Los Angeles, where she has worked for the last five years covering breaking news, crime, and politics in Southern California. In 2022, she received a Golden Mike for the FOX 11 documentary 'Lost Angeles: City of Homeless'. In her free time, Chidbachian loves doing yoga, running and playing with her 1-year-old daughter.
Sitara Nieves is running to support Southern Californian journalists in their essential work to hold powerful people accountable, provide useful and accessible information to communities, and document history. She believes strongly in the power of SPJ-LA and would draw on her experience in training, membership development and events to help expand SPJ-LA’s membership and offerings. Nieves works with journalists across the country in her role as vice president of teaching and organizational strategy at The Poynter Institute, where she leads training programs in leadership, media ethics and newsroom sustainability. She started her career as a local newspaper reporter and photographer, and has worked at a range of media outlets, including WNYC, Marketplace, and The Economist. She’s certified as a workplace mediator, in conflict resolution and as a leadership coach, and is a super-fan of her 4-year-old dog, who often joins her for Zoom meetings. Nieves would be honored to serve all of you on the SPJ/LA Board, and appreciates your consideration.
David Zahniser has been a reporter for the Los Angeles Times since 2007, covering LA City government. Prior to that, he wrote for the L.A. Weekly, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Daily Breeze, the Pasadena Star-News and the Claremont Courier. David was a member of the Times team that earned the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news in 2023, for its coverage of a leaked audio recording that triggered a major shakeup at City Hall. David is a graduate of Pomona College and lives in L.A. He is a past president of SPJ/LA, leading the organization as it revamped its website and renewed its focus on advocacy and support for journalists in need.