The Governance Committee carefully reviews the criteria for each potential candidate and selects a slate of candidates to present to the membership. Before you decide to run, please read over the following material carefully. There are very specific eligibility requirements and responsibilities that board members are fully expected to meet to run and to serve.
Listed below are the criteria used to decide whether to forward nominees to the membership for a vote
- To be considered, an ONA member must be nominated by another ONA member. Both must be ONA members in good standing. Confirm your membership status or renew your membership or join ONA here.
- Candidates must demonstrate thought and career leadership within our five focus areas:
- Developing strategies for emerging technology in journalism
- Sharing best practices for audience engagement and metrics
- Cultivating and developing newsroom leaders, culture and diversity
- Experimenting with innovative news storytelling to serve local communities
- Discovering revenue and business models that are sustainable and successful
- Candidates are assessed on their commitment to the organization’s principles and contribution to a healthy and representative mix of diversity to the Board. These attributes include:
- Demographics: Gender, Age, Race and Ethnicity, etc.
- Geographic representation
- Career leadership experience in digital media, plus an understanding of industry needs at the intersection of journalism and technology
- Strategic planning experience
- Technology acumen
- Organizational affiliation and diversity of media and technology represented
- ONA membership type (professional, academic or associate)
- Executive management experience
- Access to resources and support for the organization / Fundraising ability and capacity
- Availability for active participation
- Candidates must demonstrate their access to resources and support for the organization, demonstrate they can fulfill the responsibilities of ONA board membership, and understand the ten essential responsibilities of nonprofit boards.
- Nominees should demonstrate a history of service to ONA. Activities can include serving as an active member of a committee, event or initiative.