Executive Director
Alison Bethel McKenzie
317-920-4780
Email
@bethelmckenzie

Alison is a veteran journalist with over 30 years of experience as an award-winning reporter, bureau chief, senior editor and media trainer. She also has a decade of experience as a non-profit leader. Read More Alison spent a year in Ghana (2008-2009), for the International Center for Journalists as a Knight International Journalism Fellow; and a year in India (2016-2017) as a visiting professor of print and investigative journalism. From 2009-2015, she served as the executive director of the International Press Institute in Vienna, Austria. Alison is a co-founder and former vice president of the board of directors for Media Institute of the Caribbean. She is a former board member of Al Jazeera America (NY) and a member and former board member of the National Press Club. Her hometown is Miami, Florida.

Director of Development
Larry Messing
317-920-4784
Email

Larry joined the staff in May 2018 to oversee the fundraising efforts of SPJ and the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. He earned his degree in Journalism/Public Relations from the University of Memphis and has worked in fundraising for 15 years. Read More Larry enjoys visiting record shops, checking out music at local venues and hanging out with his wife whenever she lets him.

Creative Director
Tony Peterson
317-927-8000,
ext. 214
Email

Tony is responsible for the design of Quill magazine, convention collateral, brand identity, marketing material — and pretty much everything in between. Read More Prior to SPJ, he worked for both an ad agency and local newspaper, where he specialized in website design, publications and special projects. When he’s not designing for SPJ, Tony can be found perusing local record store bins, catching a band or at home on the couch with his wife and three cats.

Director of Communications and Marketing
Jennifer Royer
317-361-4134
Email
@jenroyer1

Jennifer joined SPJ HQ in August 2014 as the Society’s first communications strategist. She develops and implements overall strategy for SPJ’s communication and marketing efforts regarding proactively promoting journalism advocacy and SPJ’s role in the profession and democracy. Read More She graduated from Indiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. After working as a newspaper reporter and editor for six years, she made the transition to public relations, working for her alma mater and, later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Quill Editor and Training/Education Manager
Monica Williams
317-920-4786
Email

Monica's first byline was as a seventh-grader for her hometown Detroit Free Press, when she mailed in a review for the Sunday Books section. She later studied news-editorial journalism at Temple University and interned each year at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Read More Since then, she's worked as an editor, reporter, manager and a designer at such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Detroit News, the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., and the Korea JoongAng Daily in Seoul. Outside the newsroom, she's worked for the digital media team of the 2018 Winter Olympics and has run a website for a major corporate law firm.

Journalist on Call
Rod Hicks
317-954-0025
Email

Rod has experience at numerous news organizations across the country. Most recently, he served as an editor for The Associated Press at its Philadelphia-based East Regional Desk. In this role, he worked on several major national stories including the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut, the Boston Marathon bombing and the sexual assault trials of Bill Cosby. Read More Hicks previously held editing positions at newspapers in New Jersey, Alabama, Michigan and Missouri. He managed the St. Louis Post-Dispatch news operation at night. He was working the night a gunman entered a suburban city council meeting and killed the mayor, two council members, a police officer and two other people. The coverage was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News. Before that he was a suburban editor for The Detroit News.

Director of Conferences and Events
Basharat Saleem
317-920-4782
Email

Basharat has more than 18 years of experience as a convention and event planner, most recently with the Islamic Society of North America. He has managed and coordinated a variety of events including large conventions with more than 20,000 attendees, trade shows with 500+ booths, fundraising events, galas, conferences, education forums and other programs and events. Read More He received his MBA from the University of Indianapolis and completed a graduate fellowship in non-profit management from IUPUI.

Program Coordinator
Christine Cordial
317-920-4788
Email

Christine joined the SPJ team in 2017. She oversees all things awards, manages the board elections process and assists with event planning for SPJ’s partner organizations. Read More She holds a master’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University and bachelor’s degree from Christopher Newport University. In her spare time, she spends too much money going to concerts and spoiling her dog, Cleo.

Manager of Membership and Chapters
Caroline Escobar
317-361-4132
Email

Caroline is an Arizona native who calls Indy home. She studied art and journalism in college in Southern Illinois, and found her first experience working with membership-based associations at Raybourn Group International. Read More Her experience there as a membership coordinator ultimately led her to fall in love with the association model and all things membership. In her spare time, you can usually find her at The Hot Room, where she teaches Original Hot Yoga. When she isn’t teaching or practicing, she’s spending time with her daughter and partner.

Web Administrator
Billy O'Keefe
Email
@billyok
billyok

Billy O'Keefe builds, designs and manages all of SPJ's homes on the web, including SPJ.org, Quill, the Journalist's Toolbox, the Excellence in Journalism website and more. On the side, he has authored and illustrated two books and moonlights as a freelance illustrator and writer as well as a web developer and consultant. Read More A graduate of Columbia College Chicago's journalism school, Billy previously worked as a reporter, copy editor and print page designer for the Tribune Company, and he reviewed thousands of games and movies for McClatchy-Tribune's newswire between 2001 and 2013.

Director of Finance and Administration
Amy Wong
317-920-4787
Email

Amy is a CPA with experience in auditing and financial reporting. She has worked in the accounting field for more than five years. Read More Amy has a bachelor’s degree in business economics and public policy from Indiana University. She enjoys watching Indiana Pacers basketball and going hiking in her spare time.

Project Coordinator & Digital Marketing Specialist
Marina Cinami
317-361-4133
Email

Marina Cinami joined SPJ in September 2017 to support ACES: The Society for Editing, and provide communication services to SPJ client organizations. Since September 2018, she has taken on the additional roles of marketing the SPJ/Facebook Journalism Project partnership and assisting in the planning of the annual Excellence in Journalism conference. Read More She earned her degree in journalism and political science from the University of Connecticut and is a Connecticut native. She previously worked in higher education, gaining experience in professional communications. She also volunteered for four years at P.A.W.S. (Pound Animals are Worth Saving) and is a crazy cat lady with two rescues of her own.

Office Manager
Linda Hall
317-927-8000,
ext. 203
Email

Linda is in her 13th year at SPJ. She has a bachelor’s degree in business management from Columbus State Community College. She was hired as the accounting manager and a year later moved over to membership. Read More She is a native of Ohio and relocated to Indianapolis from Charlottesville, Virginia, to be near her daughter, Jami, and grandsons, Will and Max. Linda loves all things baseball ... especially the Dodgers!

Communications Coordinator
Isaac Taylor
317-920-4785
Email

Isaac joined SPJ as Communications Coordinator in May 2018. He manages SPJ’s social media and is responsible for SPJ’s weekly newsletter, Leads, and the monthly support newsletter, The Advocate. Read More He graduated from Georgia Southern University and worked for a magazine, a book publishing company and several news publications before joining SPJ. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, writing and playing baseball.