Caption:
Marie D. De Jesús
Athens, GA. - The National Press Photographers Association annual held the winter board meeting on January 22, 2022 via video conference. Elected to the board were three new executive committee members. Two board members were officially sworn in as a regional chair and a student representative. Two resolutions and the 2022 budget were unanimously adopted.
Our new president is Marie D. De Jesús. She is the first Latina and the first woman of color in NPPA’s 75-year history to be elected president. She is the sixth woman president. De Jesús has been actively dedicated to the organization since 2018 as secretary and co-chair of the mentorship program. Born in Puerto Rico, De Jesús is a photojournalist at the Houston Chronicle, where she was a Pulitzer finalist in 2017 in Public Service.
“After a year of transformation, packed with important conversations and big decisions, I couldn’t be more proud to hand the reins over to Marie,” said immediate past president Katie Schoolov. “As we start the next 75 years, it feels like we are turning a page, becoming the NPPA for up and coming visual storytellers. Marie embodies this change, not only because of her Puerto Rican heritage and willingness to be the first woman of color to lead as president but because her dedication to running all things behind the scenes as secretary for the last three years is the driving force behind our growth.”
In 2007 De Jesús was a founding member of the NPPA student chapter at the University of Central Florida, Daytona Beach campus. The experience as a student helper at the Best of Photojournalism judging at Poynter changed her view of photojournalism. Listening to the judges’ opinions while viewing the photography shaped how she perceived photojournalism and the power of photography.
Homeschooled in Puerto Rico, at 19 years old, De Jesús packed her bags for Florida in 2003. She enrolled in Daytona State College for a degree in human behavior. But taking an elective course in photography was a game-changer. She found what she wanted to do and hasn’t looked back.
“I insisted on this: Photography is what I’m doing. It is an act of will. Photography is why I’m here,” De Jesús said.
Growing up in a conservative environment and discovering herself has been a journey she hopes will resonate with people of color.
“Advocating for myself has been the hardest part. Having a voice is like a muscle. You have to exercise it to recognize your voice,” De Jesús said. “I learned to speak my mind. I want the Marie’s of the world to know that I have been there, and I hope they see me as an example of how we can do this.”
“The changes we have seen in the NPPA have been intentional in how we are making the NPPA more inclusive,” De Jesús said. “The conversations are conscientious. We want people to bring different perspectives because of their experiences. If you want to be with us, we will embrace you with open arms. What wouldn’t I have given to have a Puerto Rican woman in leadership as a mentor. I want to be that person for others. And I want this year to be the year of the student,” said De Jesús.
De Jesús lives in Houston with her partner Myr Olivares Bonilla and with their dog Kodak.
Sabrina Godin was elected vice president. She is a senior at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she started an NPPA student chapter. Her priority is bringing more students into the NPPA.
”When I started the new student chapter, I didn’t know it would eventually lead to me becoming vice president. However, I hope that other student members can look to me for inspiration,” Godin wrote. “While I am serving this role, I plan on continuing my efforts of creating more student chapters across the U.S. I would love to see a student chapter in each state, and a more diverse group of schools represented. Current students are the future of NPPA. Soon, they will be working as visual journalists and joining the executive board. I hope to keep involving student members in our events and providing them with resources. Since I am still a student, advocating for our student members is my main initiative.”
De Jesús and Godin will serve one-year terms and are eligible for reelection.
Also new to the board is Tara Pixley. Pixley is a Los Angeles-based photojournalist and journalism professor with an MFA in photography and a Ph.D. in communication. With two decades of experience as a news photographer and editor, she has been a photo editor for Newsweek, CNN, and The New York Times. She is co-chair of NPPA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and previously served on the board of NPPA’s sister foundation, NPPF. Pixley is a founding member of Authority Collective, a 2019 awardee of the World Press Photo Solutions Visual Journalism Initiative, and a 2016 Nieman Visiting Fellow at Harvard University.
Pixley’s is a two-year term as secretary.
Officially sworn in were new board members: Danielle Gatewood-Gill and Boyzell Hosey with Regional Chairs Representative Carey Wagner and Student Representative Matt McCabe.
Safety & Security Committee expanded
Five board members joined the Safety & Security Committee, chaired by Chris M. Post. They plan to strengthen the support NPPA can provide its members to educate the industry on the risks journalists are pressured to take while doing their work. Multitasking activities, such as solo live-shots, often bring unnecessary risks and the task force wants to revise safety standard procedures to help bring awareness and minimize harm.
Changes honor our history, broaden inclusivity
Over a year ago, a task force helmed by former president Michael P. King explored a reorganization of the annual honors and recognition program. Their goal was to ensure that the names of the awards represented the diverse voices of modern visual journalism and concluded the best way to represent the industry was to focus on the goal of each award.
Their final report was submitted to the board in December 2021 and is available to the public.
Past-president Andrew Stanfill introduced the resolution to adopt the task force’s recommendations for the following awards cycle in 2022. The board unanimously passed the resolution that changes the name of NPPA honors and awards that is now part of the association's Policies and Procedures.
The awards are now:
NPPA Founder’s Award
The Founder's Award is the highest honor bestowed by NPPA. Our association exists because of the efforts of Joseph Costa — NPPA's founder, first president, and longtime volunteer and supporter. Those who came after him shared his passions for the very best visual journalism, and excellence in leadership and service. NPPA warmly welcomes honorees of this award into this decades-long legacy of keeping the visual journalism profession and NPPA strong and vibrant.
The Founder's Award celebrates and recognizes the careers, achievements and contributions of the most deserving individuals in our field. Those to be considered for this award are visual journalists, including editors and team leaders, who rise to the top of the profession by their conduct, initiative, leadership, skill, and devotion to duty. Also worthy of consideration are individuals who are not working visual journalists but have made contributions through service or achievement beneficial to visual journalism, or for advancing the technology or techniques utilized by visual journalists.
NPPA Distinguished Service Award
This award recognizes an NPPA volunteer, contractor or employee for their instrumental and invaluable service to the operational, programmatic and strategic needs of the association.
NPPA First Amendment Award presented by Alicia Calzada
This award recognizes individuals who have embraced and lived NPPA's mission of vigorously promoting freedom of the press in all its forms, to promote and advance the First Amendment especially as it relates to visual journalists. The award is presented by Alicia Wagner Calzada, a past president of NPPA, the founder and longtime chair of NPPA's Advocacy committee, and currently an attorney who practices media law.
NPPA Ethics Award presented by John Long
This award recognizes individuals who have embraced and lived NPPA's mission of upholding and promoting the ethical responsibilities and practices relating to visual journalism. The award is presented by John Long, a past president of NPPA and longtime chair of NPPA's Ethics committee.
NPPA Innovation Award
This award recognizes individuals who discover, develop or pioneer new and emerging technologies, techniques or strategies to help visual journalism reach new heights.
NPPA Longevity Award
This award recognizes a visual journalist who has completed at least 40 years of service in the visual journalism profession, whether or not they are members of NPPA.
NPPA Mentorship Award
This award recognizes an individual who has served as an outstanding mentor, either to a specific individual or to the visual journalism community in general.
NPPA President’s Award
This award is given at the discretion of the NPPA president for special services and support rendered to NPPA.
NPPA Special Citation
This award recognizes individuals or organizations for their significant contributions that advance the interests of visual journalism and the NPPA.
NPPA Educator of the Year Award
This award recognizes an individual for their outstanding work as a visual journalism educator, helping their students reach their full potential.
NPPA Humanitarian Award
This award recognizes an individual for playing a key role in lifesaving, rescue or protective situations, or other circumstances in which extraordinary compassion or mercy was shown to others in need.
NPPA Outstanding Leader Award
This award recognizes the leadership and advocacy roles visual journalism editors and team leaders play in their newsrooms and communities. This award honors those who facilitate and inspire the best work from visual storytellers and advocate for its publication and best use in a multitude of ways. Independent editors and leaders outside traditional workplaces are also eligible.
NPPA Outstanding Student Chapter
This award recognizes one NPPA student chapter for excellence in serving students of visual journalism with highly engaging and beneficial programming and activities.
NPPA Community Award
This award recognizes an individual's efforts to build community and foster a united and inclusive atmosphere within NPPA and across our broader visual journalism industry.
Nominations for Honors and Recognitions shall be accepted from the close of the previous cycle until the first of the month of January, and selections shall be made during the month of January.
Also new, instead of a short nomination window, the process to recognize an individual or a group will be open year-round for efficiency and immediacy. Beginning March 1, the newly named Honors and Recognitions are open until the end of the year. For example, nominations during 2022 will close on December 31, 2022. Honor selections will be made during the following month of January.
Note: The current nomination period for 2021 is open until Feb. 14.
Student Representative
The board passed a resolution introduced by Josh Davis and Sabrina Godin that changed how and when the Student Representative is selected. Student representatives will now be selected by the Vice President, following recommendations by the outgoing Student Representative and the Education Committee chair. The goal of this change was to encourage a more equitable and inclusive selection process. The Student Representative will now be selected in June to accommodate most academic calendars. Additionally, the resolution defined the eligibility for a Student Representative as either a current student or a recent alum who graduated less than 12 months before being appointed.
Advocacy
The board unanimously approved the filing of the petition for cert in the Supreme Court in ASJA v. Bonta.
ASJA v. Bonta is the case that NPPA and its sister organization, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, filed against the state of California after it passed a state labor law that discriminated against journalists. The case was dismissed, and the dismissal was upheld by the Ninth Circuit court of appeals. The NPPA board voted to ask the Supreme Court of the United States to review the case through a process called a petition for certiorari.
The NPPA Board also voted to authorize our pro bono attorneys at the Pacific Legal Foundation.
Related link.
