Laura J. Downey was elected president of the Society of Professional Journalists Georgia Chapter in December 2023.

Downey 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, 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.

After her election, SPJ Georgia confirmed she is the first Black president since the official founding of the chapter in 2014. Downey is Black and West Indian. The board is also one of the most diverse in its history with people of color holding a majority of the officer roles.

There was once an Atlanta chapter in SPJ’s history in the Peach State. While some of the history on the former chapter has not been retained, its believed to date back to the 1940s. SPJ Georgia is working to gather information on its former Atlanta chapter’s history to properly recognize any minority leaders of the former chapter.

Atlanta newspaper journalist and executive M. Alexis Scott was once treasurer of the Atlanta chapter of SPJ. Currently, Scott is a media consultant after retiring from her 16-year role as publisher of the Atlanta Daily World, a newspaper founded by her grandfather in 1928. The ADW building was inducted as one of SPJ’s historic sites in journalism in 1980. Prior to her work at the ADW, she spent 22 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Cox Enterprises, Inc. An Atlanta native, Scott graduated from Booker T. Washington High School. She also attended Barnard College in New York City as well as Spelman College in Atlanta.