Run for the 2020-21 SPJ Oregon board! Deadline Oct. 2

SPJ Oregon is governed by an eight member volunteer board that meets at least once a month by phone. The board elects its own president, vice president, secretary and treasurer at the first meeting of the year.

Starting this year, SPJ Oregon is transitioning to two-year board terms, with half the board elected each year. For the 2020 election only, candidates must declare their interest in either a two-year or a one-year term. The top four vote-getters in each category will be elected to the board.

Board members plan journalism trainings and other events, run our annual contest, fundraise to support our lobbyist and guide our advocacy work around press freedom in Salem. Board members have considerable leeway to take on projects of interest to them in service of improving journalism in Oregon. The time commitment is roughly 5-10 hours per month.

To run, candidates must be members in good standing of the Society of Professional Journalists and live in Oregon or southwest Washington. We believe SPJ Oregon does its best work when our board represents a diverse selection of Oregon journalists. To that end, we especially encourage journalists of color, journalists in rural and eastern Oregon, freelance journalists, visual journalists and broadcast journalists to consider running.

Candidates may declare their interest until 5 p.m. Friday, Oct 2 and must be SPJ members in good standing. To join SPJ, visit the national website here.

If you are interested in running for a seat on the board of directors, please email us at spjoregon@gmail.com with the subject line: “Board of Directors Candidate.” Please include your SPJ member number and whether you are seeking a one- or two-year term, as well as a bio paragraph of no more than 150 words describing your journalistic experience and your interest in serving SPJ Oregon.

If you have questions about what being on the board entails, please feel free to contact any current board member.

ELECTION TIMELINE:

Candidates will be accepted until 5 p.m. Friday, Oct 2.

An electronic ballot will be emailed to active chapter members Oct. 5, with a deadline to vote of 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9. We will use the most current roster from SPJ national to email members.