President Laura J. Downey
She is the executive editor of WebMD’s magazine and its point-of-care products. 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.
Downey 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. Downey was also featured in the Spring 2022 and Spring 2024 issues of VIRES Magazine at Florida State University, where she was acknowledged for her career achievements by the Florida State University Alumni Association. In 2024, she was presented with an Award for Excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists student chapter at Florida A&M University.
No stranger to giving back, she has shared her career journey with first-generation students at Florida State University, during an Alumni Lunch Hour at the FSU College of Communication and Information, and as a keynote speaker at Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism & Graphic Communication’s Grads Are Back program. In March 2023, she was featured in The Drum’s Newsletter as FSU Black Alumni’s Women’s History Month Spotlight, and in February 2025, FAMU’s School of Journalism & Graphic Communication named her a trailblazer for breaking barriers and helping to shape the future of media. The dynamic editor also has a Master of Arts in Ministry from Richmont Graduate University. In her spare time, you can find her on the basketball court shooting jumpers in a weekly men’s league. She is a world traveler, sorority girl, volunteer enthusiast, fitness buff, and a former national brand model for Weight Watchers.
Downey is the immediate past president of the Georgia Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She’s also recognized for being the first Black president since the official founding of the chapter in 2014. During her presidency, she served as the chapter’s events chair and unofficial social media specialist. Her motto is: Go big or go home! Follow her on Instagram @laurakadowney
Vice President Jatika Hudson
Jatika Hudson 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.
Secretary Genelle Williams
Genelle Williams is a Communication Specialist for Sun City Hilton Head Community Association. Her role includes overseeing the community’s magazine production schedule, assigning features and editing all department publications. She previously worked as a government beat reporter for the Jasper County Sun Times newspaper in Ridgeland, SC. Genelle is a member of the SPJ Freelance Committee and helps to assemble the weekly newsletter by sending freelance job postings. As of August 2024, she is the Freelance Committee Chair for SPJ Georgia. She lives in Savannah, Georgia.
Treasurer Stell Simonton
She spent 19 years at the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, first as a copy editor and then as a digital editor/producer. She then worked as a freelance journalist for nearly a decade, writing regularly for Youth Today and contributing to other publications, including the Christian Science Monitor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Encore Atlanta, Al-Jazeera and the Washington Post.
At-Large Member Stella Payne
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.
At-Large Member Rahul Bali
He is a politics reporter for WABE News, Atlanta’s leading public radio station and NPR affiliate. He is a 28-year veteran of radio and television. His stops have included CNN Radio and WSB Radio in Atlanta, along with WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C. and being a TV reporter covering the Georgia State Capitol for GPB.
Along with serving on the SPJ Georgia board, Rahul also serves on the Atlanta Press Club Board of Directors and is the co-chair of the Atlanta Press Club Debate Committee, which organizes televised debates for statewide and local elections.
Student Representative Allison Mawn
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.
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