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 She has worked in senior-level positions at The Boston Globe, the Detroit News, Legal Times and the Nassau Guardian in The Bahamas as managing director. She has also worked at The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Times, Poughkeepsie Journal and the now-defunct State Times in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Alison spent a year in Accra, Ghana (2008-2009), for the Washington, D.C.-based International Center for Journalists, as a Knight International Journalism Fellow, helping Ghanaian journalists improve their reporting skills in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election; and a year in Bangalore, 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 AlJazeera America (NY) and a member and former board member of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Her hometown is Miami, Florida.

Director of Development
Larry Messing
317-920-4784
Email

Larry Messing 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

As Creative Director for SPJ, Tony Peterson is responsible for the design of Quill magazine, convention collateral, brand identity, marketing material — and pretty much everything in between. Read More Prior to that, he worked for both an ad agency and local newspaper, where he specialized in website design, publications and special projects. Feel free to contact him if you’re in need of a logo, copies of the Code of Ethics or just want to talk about football. 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 Royer 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 also works closely with the communications coordinator in managing HQ’s day-to-day communications. Jennifer 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, back in the days when newspaper editing required sharp knives, pica poles and proportion wheels. 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 of 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.

An avid traveler, nonprofit volunteer, sauna seeker and voracious reader, she's also a certified EFL/ESL teacher with classroom experience in Ecuador, South Korea, Spain, and the United States.

Journalist on Call
Rod Hicks
317-954-0025
Email

Rod Hicks 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, which manages news coverage in 10 states. Read More 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.

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, making key decisions on how stories were shaped and presented and ensuring they adhered to high journalistic standards. 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 managed the 30-person staff of editors, reporters and support personnel spread across seven offices as suburban editor for The Detroit News. He also led the development and launch of 13 targeted community newspapers for The News.

Director of Programs
Marilyn Garateix
317-920-4791
Email

Marilyn Garateix has been a journalist for more than three decades, beginning as an intern at the Los Angeles Times and the Seattle Times. She has worked for the Fort Myers News Press, Miami Herald and The Boston Globe. Read More After earning an MBA, she worked on the business side of the Tampa Bay Times. She was also business editor at the Sun Sentinel in South Florida and has served on the board of NAHJ.

Program Coordinator
Christine Cordial
317-920-4788
Email

Christine Cordial 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. Feel free to drop Christine a line if you have questions about awards, elections or other SPJ programming.

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

Basharat Saleem 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.

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

My name is Caroline Escobar. I am an Arizona native who calls Indy home. I am 35 years young, a full-time membership professional, full-time mom, part-time yoga instructor...so needless to say, I stay busy! Read More Studying arts and journalism in college in Southern Illinois, I ended up in the service industry which landed me on the East Coast in Virginia. The birth of my beautiful daughter Grace in 2013 made me realize that I knew I would want to call Indy home for good, relocating shortly after her arrival. From there, I found my first experience working with membership based associations at Raybourn Group International. Through RGI I had the opportunity to work with several different associations as a Membership Coordinator, ultimately falling in love with the association model and all things membership! In 2016 I decided to test the foundation waters and hone my skills in stewardship, advancement operations and donor-based relations, going to work with Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. While that was an incredible experience, something was missing. I missed the drive and desire to serve member-based associations, creating innovative ways to recruit, retain and maintain membership services and relationships. In my spare time, you can usually find me at The Hot Room, where I teach Original Hot Yoga based on the 26 and 2 series yoga flow. My love of fitness and a healthy lifestyle led me to acquire my 200 HR RYT certification in the fall/winter of 2017/18. I knew that I needed a personal passion to compliment my work/life balance and yoga proved to be it. When I am not teaching or practicing I am spending time with my daughter and partner. I love red wine and champagne, good food, and reading. I look forward to building a new professional “home” at SPJ and am beyond excited to blend my love of journalism with membership!

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 Wong 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.

Communications Coordinator
Marina Cinami
317-361-4133
Email

Marina Cinami joined SPJ in September 2017 to provide communication services to ACES: The Society for Editing, an SPJ client organization. Since then, she has also begun assisting with promotion of the annual Excellence in Journalism conference and the Facebook Journalism Project. Read More She earned her degree in journalism and political science from the University of Connecticut, and is a Connecticut native. She has 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 Hall 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 one year later moved over to membership. Read More You can contact Linda for help on most anything member-related. Linda 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 Taylor joined SPJ as Communications Coordinator in May 2018. He is responsible for updating social media posts and sending out weekly newsletters, SPJ Leads. 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.