The 2023 election has ended with the unanimous approval of all the bylaws changes and the election of the 2024 board members. Below you can read about the elected members and review the new bylaws. The board will serve until May of 2025 to absorb the new election cycle change approved by the bylaws.
Laura J. Downey was elected to be the next President of SPJ Georgia.
She is the executive editor of WebMD’s magazine and its point-of-care products. In addition, she serves as the company’s lifestyle features consumer team lead on the digital side. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and a master’s in journalism at Florida A&M University, Laura Janelle Downey landed in NYC as a reporter for PEOPLE. Since then, she’s been a fashion/entertainment editor, a magazine journalism professor, managing editor of 944 Las Vegas and Vegas/Rated magazines, as well as Atlanta Best Media’s eight publications, and ForbesTravelGuide.com. She served as senior executive editor for Modern Luxury corporation before spending 18 months as a full-time freelance travel journalist.
Laura was selected as a 2021 Dori Maynard Diversity Leadership Program Fellow for the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition, she is a graduate of the 2022 Maynard 200 Fellowship’s Executive Leadership track. The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding diversity in the news media and dismantling structural racism in newsrooms. In February 2022, she was featured as a Florida State University Black Alumni Black History Month Spotlight. Laura was also featured in the Spring 2022 issue of VIRES Magazine at Florida State University, where she was acknowledged for her career achievements by the Florida State University Alumni Association.
No stranger to giving back, she shared her career journey with first-generation students at Florida State University during a recent in-person speaking engagement. In March 2023, she was featured in The Drum’s Newsletter as FSU Black Alumni’s Women’s History Month Spotlight. Laura also serves as a Board Member At-Large for the Georgia Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and is the chapter’s events coordinator. The dynamic editor is currently working on a Master of Arts in Ministry at Richmont Graduate University, and when she’s not in the books, you can find her on the basketball court shooting jumpers in a weekly men’s league. Laura is a world traveler, sorority girl, volunteer enthusiast, and fitness buff. This past summer, she became a national brand model for Weight Watchers and takes pride in being a lifetime member of the weight loss and wellness company.
Laura has been an active member of SPJ for three years. Most recently, she spearheaded the SPJ Georgia Chapter’s Sip & Share fundraising event, which was a complete success. The passionate and well-connected print and digital journalist was a mentor for The SPJ News at the 2023 Journalism Convention in Las Vegas. For 2024, she would like to serve as president of the SPJ Georgia Professional Chapter to help move the chapter forward in a variety of ways. She wants to increase chapter membership, networking, and partnerships, drive fundraising, mentor up-and-coming student journalists, create unique programming, advocate for journalists in need, and much more. Her motto is: Go big or go home! Follow her on Instagram @laurakadowney
Jatika Hudson was elected to be the next Vice President of SPJ Georgia. She has been a published journalist since 1999 and has loved every step of the way. Her career has taken me to the entertainment, lifestyle as well as activist writing platforms. She has been a staff member as well as a freelancer and loves journalism due to all of the intelligent, dynamic people who are her colleagues. Today, she is a copywriter for Synovus Bank’s Newsroom. She calls herself a “learning journalist” as she loves researching all of the many subjects she’s written about. Hudson says SPJ-GA opened many doors for her. She’s risen from a member, chair and then board member of SPJ-GA and says she would love to see it rise to higher heights.
Christopher A. Thompson was elected to be the next Secretary of SPJ Georgia. He is a strategic advisor, producer, entrepreneur, and lecturer. He is on a mission to help people build inclusive brands and businesses. Christopher is the founder of House of Heralds PR and Creative. A multi-cultural Public Relations, Talent Management, and Experiential Events agency based in Atlanta, GA. Since founding his agency in 2014, he has tirelessly committed his work to serving underrepresented audiences and helping them to create equity and pride in their communities. Previous clients include Facebook, Inc., AT&T, Coca-Cola, ESSENCE Magazine, National Basketball Association, McDonald’s, Hyundai, and St. Jude.
Before venturing into entrepreneurship, he worked for brands like Delta Air Lines, ViacomCBS, and WarnerMedia, where he supported the company’s day-to-day strategic communications, content acquisitions, and social responsibility efforts across various industries. He’s also an adjunct lecturer at Kennesaw State University and Columbia University. When not at work, his time is spent watching classic films, traveling to various exotic locales, kayaking, hiking, or doing anything else outdoors. He holds a dual bachelor’s in Mass Communications and Entertainment Industry Management from the University of Southern Mississippi, received his Master of Science in Strategic Communication from Columbia University and is a Doctoral student at the University of Southern California Global Executive Doctor of Education program in the Rossier School of Education.
Stella Payne was elected to be the next At-Large member of SPJ Georgia. She received her undergraduate degree from Tennessee State University, in Nashville Tennessee in Mass Communication and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. From an early age she wanted to be a journalist and after spending over 20 years as a Television News Reporter and Anchor says she feels extremely fortunate to be able to share her skills with students in the classroom at Kennesaw State University. Her teaching career began after working for over two decades as a television news reporter and anchor in various news markets across the United States. SHe was afforded the opportunity to cover many news stories. As a news reporter she lived by the mantra “if there was a story out there, I would find it.” In her Journalism classes students get hands-on experience and her goal is to develop the next generation of journalists.
Allison Mawn was elected to be the next Student Representative of SPJ Georgia. She is a third-year journalism and economics major at UGA. She has worked at the independent, student-run paper the Red & Black for the past year and has also done a variety of freelance jobs. She is involved with several opportunities through the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She was selected as one of 20 students in the ONA23 student newsroom.
SPJ Georgia 