Seven elected to IRE Board of Directors

IRE members returned three incumbents and elected four new members to the organization’s board Saturday.

Incumbents Jill Riepenhoff (Raycom Media), Nicole Vap (KUSA/9NEWS Denver) and Lee Zurik (WVUE-New Orleans) will be joined on the board by Matt Dempsey (Houston Chronicle), Jennifer LaFleur (Investigative Reporting Workshop/American University), Norberto Santana (Voice of OC) and Jodi Upton (Syracuse University).

Other candidates for the board were Emily Le Coz (GateHouse Media), Phil Williams (WTVF-Nashville) and Chrys Wu (Matchstrike LLC).

Board members serve two-year terms, with seven seats up for election during even-numbered years and six seats up for election in odd-numbered years.

After the election, the newly configured board selected members of the Executive Committee for the coming year: Cheryl W. Thompson, president; Lee Zurik, vice president; T. Christian Miller, treasurer; Jill Riepenhoff, secretary; and Nicole Vap, at-large member. Matt Goldberg, the immediate past board president, will serve in an advisory role on the Executive Committee.

The membership also elected two members to the Contest Committee: Jonah Newman (Chicago Reporter) and Jim Polk (retired journalist).