I have some exciting updates to share: The Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal have added two new board members and a key staff member to help lead us through this first transitional year as nonprofit newsrooms.
First, though, I want to offer a big thank you for supporting us with your membership and readership; we wouldn’t have made it this far without strong community support from readers like you. I have a few more announcements to come over the next few weeks that speak to our mission and plans for the remainder of 2024 and beyond.
For now I wanted to introduce the talented new people helping guide this organization:
The Board of Directors for the Long Beach Journalism Initiative, the umbrella nonprofit for our two publications, now includes Danny Lemos and James Ahumada.
Danny is a Long Beach resident and the recently retired media advisor of the student-run 22 West Media at Cal State Long Beach and general manager of the nonprofit public radio station KLBP (99.1). He has been an on-air personality for decades, as well as a producer, DJ, writer, coach and more. Danny has extensive experience in fundraising and nonprofit management, and will help lead a new youth fellowship program (more to come on this).
James is the senior vice president and deputy CEO of the Downtown Long Beach Alliance, a nonprofit that helps manage Downtown Long Beach and provides services and entertainment to the area on behalf of the property and business owners. He is the former chief of staff and advisor to then-Mayor Robert Garcia and a former legislative advisor to Congressman Henry Waxman handling labor relations, small business and education.
James and Danny both bring a wealth of experience in leadership, communications, nonprofit management, and community outreach.
They join three other stewards of the community on the LBJI Board of Directors, who together represent a diversity of interests and sectors in the city: President Matt Kinley, a local attorney; Secretary Gwen Shaffer, a professor in the Department of Journalism and Public Relations at CSULB; and Dora Jacildo, a long-time nonprofit executive and advocate for women and children.
I’m also excited to share that we’ve brought aboard a very talented new Development Director, Frankie Morales, who has extensive experience in sales and media. Morales is the co-founder and publisher of CaliforniaListings.com, and is a former brand consultant for iHeart Media and former advertising director for The Real Deal.
Frankie has deep ties to Long Beach, and will be leading sales, corporate sponsorships and partnerships for the Long Beach Journalism Initiative. He can be reached at [email protected].
Thank you, again, for supporting a strong, independent local media. If you’d like to make a one-time donation to further support this work, please go here.
And if you have questions, feedback or want to pitch a story, please email me.
Sincerely,
Melissa Evans, CEO