The election of a new Board of Governors rings in a new era for the OPC, along with fresh challenges and aims. On Wednesday, Aug. 20, the board revealed election results for officers and 10 Active and three Associate board members. The lineup includes familiar names and brings a few new ones into the fold.
Club members elected Marcus Mabry, an author and Editor-at-Large at The New York Times, to replace outgoing President Michael Serrill, assistant managing editor of Bloomberg Markets, who will remain on the board.
The meeting was sobered by news this week that journalist James Foley was executed at the hands of his captors. Outgoing president Michael Serrill asked for a moment of silence for Foley before passing the traditional gavel. On accepting the position, Mabry said the club faces an “awesome task” ahead.
“Today, more than I think most days, we’re reminded of the importance of being there for our colleagues,” Mabry told the board.
“What we do at the OPC I think is more difficult now, by almost every measure, than it’s ever been before,” he said. “And it’s also more crucial now, by almost every measure, than it’s ever been before.”
Other elected board members include Calvin Sims, President and CEO of International House, who will serve as First Vice President; Abigail Pesta, freelance journalist, who was elected Second Vice President; and Pancho Bernasconi, Vice President/News for Getty Images, who will serve as Third Vice President. Tim Ferguson, editor at Forbes Asia will take over as the club’s new Treasurer, and Jonathan Dahl, Editor-in-Chief of WSJ/Money will take the helm as Secretary.
Ten Active members were elected to the board, including Jacqueline Albert-Simon, U.S. Bureau Chief for Politique Internationale; Rukmini Callimachi, Foreign Correspondent for The New York Times; Deidre Depke, journalist and author; Chris Dickey, Foreign Editor for The Daily Beast, Paris; Peter S. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief at the International Business Times; Azmat Khan, Senior Digital Producer at Al Jazeera America; Dan Klaidman, Deputy Editor at Yahoo News; Paul Moakley, Deputy Director, Photography and Visual Enterprise, TIME Magazine; Lara Setrakian, Co-Founder & CEO of News Deeply; and Liam Stack, a reporter at The New York Times.
Members also elected three Associate board members: Brian Byrd, Program Officer for the NYS Health Foundation; Bill Collins, Director, Public & Business Affairs for Ford Motor Company and Emma Daly, Communications Director for Human Rights Watch.
In line with Mabry’s comments, many of the board’s agenda items centered on changes in the journalism industry, shifting media roles and the growing importance of freelancers abroad.
A proposed amendment to OPC By-laws seeks to addresses some of these changes.
The amendment would expand membership criteria to include bloggers and others working in new media. The new language would require member candidates to be “presently engaged in journalism-related work as their principal professional activity.”
Votes on this amendment must be cast by 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 17. It will pass if two-thirds of the voting members approve the measure.
The board was cheered by news from the OPC Foundation, which recently garnered donations that pushed its endowment past the $1 million mark for the first time. The Foundation is funding 9 fellowships and 5 scholarships this year.