The NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter is now taking applications for the Spring 2014 Charlie Ericksen Journalism Internship Supplement.We will award one Internship Supplement this spring to a student who is interning in the Washington D.C. Area.

The supplement is worth $235 to be paid as follows: $200 to be placed on a Metro SmarTrip Card and $35 to pay for the NAHJ Student membership.

Requirements:
1.High school seniors, college students and recent graduates who will live in the D.C./Md./Va. area during the spring of 2014
2.Demonstrate a commitment to the field of journalism
3.Show financial need

The deadline to apply is January 31.
You can download the application and criteria from our website:
Click here: Charlie Ericksen Journalism Internship Supplement
Email applications to nahjdc@gmail.com

About the supplement:
Our intention is to help students who go to school and live in the
District, Maryland, and Virginia. We understand many students intern
for free and may not have the financial support to do so. We hope this
money will help ease the burden on their families.

We have worked closely with NAHJ founder Charlie Ericksen on how to
distribute this money. He has helped launch the careers of many
journalists. We honor his commitment to journalism through this
supplement in his name.

Join us for a membership meeting at The White House Thursday, October 24.

Senior Obama Administration officials will brief us on the President’s priorities for the Latino Community including the Affordable Healthcare Act and Immigration Reform.

The White House is requesting a list of RSVP by Friday, October 4. (We have reached capacity. No further RSVPs.)

MEETING DETAILS
Meeting: 4 – 5pm
Arrival: By 3:30 for security check

Once again, its time to vote for your NAHJ-DC chapter board (2013-2014). This year’s candidates are all familiar faces, so we hope  you will support them by voting. The ballot becomes available on  August 26 and will be open until September 6.

To vote, please send your ballot in the following format to nahjdc@gmail.com.

President:
Vice-president:
Secretary-Treasurer:
At-large officer:

I [YOUR NAME] , employee of [YOUR EMPLOYER] submit my ballot for the  2013-2014 election of the NAHJ DC Chapter Board of Directors. This  statement counts as my virtual signature and I have included my full contact information below.
[Name, contact information]

—–

Below are the bios and election statements for the 2013-2014 board candidates

Brandon Benavides: Candidate for President

Why I am running?

This is my last election as President. I have enjoyed leading the D.C. Chapter over the past three years. I would like to serve one more year. My predecessor, Diana Marrero, led the chapter for four years and I would like to do the same.

If reelected for the fourth time, I will continue to plan monthly activities that allow our members the opportunity to access news  managers, lawmakers, and potential news sources. Every meeting, mixer,  and workshop is our chance to network with top journalists.

I am proud our chapter established the Charlie Ericksen Journalism Fund and I am thrilled we are expanding the internship supplement beginning next year. I am also excited our chapter will continue to provide convention assistance to members in need.

Biography
Brandon is a content producer at NBC 4/WRC-TV, the No. 1 station in Washington, D.C. The Emmy-Award-winning producer joined News4 in March 2010. He returned to the nation’s capital where he completed his  Master of Arts in Journalism and Public Affairs at American University. Brandon worked at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN and KETK-TV in Tyler, TX.

Brandon was reelected to a third, one-year term as Chapter President for NAHJ DC in 2012. He joined NAHJ as a student member in 2004. He co-chaired the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus for more than two years. He was elected the Region 6 Representative on the national board of directors. Brandon was elected General-At-Large Officer at the UNITY convention in 2008. He completed his two-year term on the national board in July 2010.

Jackie Diaz: Candidate for Vice President

Why am I running?

It has been a pleasure serving the NAHJ DC Chapter members this past year and want to continue doing so in 2014. The organization has helped my along my career and this is my way of giving back.

Biography:

Jackie Diaz is a multimedia journalist fluent in both English and Spanish. She currently works at WUSA-TV/ CBS-9 as a web producer. Prior to moving to D.C., she worked as a reporter for KGBT-TV in Harlingen, Texas and as a bilingual video journalist at KAZR-TV in Reno, Nevada.

Rosalba Ruiz: Candidate for Treasurer-Secretary

Why am I running?

I’m proud to be part of the NAHJ DC chapter board. We strive to provide many networking and professional development opportunities for our members, and I want to continue working toward that objective.

Biography

Rosalba Ruíz is a bilingual multimedia journalist with over 10 years of experience in the media industry. Some of her favorite assignments: writing about the immigration reform movement of 2006 for Excélsior del Condado de Orange; producing a multimedia project on the popularity of banda and norteño music in Orange County for The OC

Register; and following the 2012 presidential election developments as a CNN en Español producer. Rosalba also taught online courses on multimedia storytelling for the International Center for Journalists and helped produce the independent movie “Alondra Smiles.” Rosalba is currently an online video producer for The Associated Press.

Melissa Macaya: Candidate for General at-large Member

Why am I running?

NAHJ has been an important part of my academic and professional development since my high school days. Throughout my undergraduate career, my involvement with the organization expanded after I helped re-launch an NAHJ student chapter at the University of Texas at Austin, participated in the student projects at the NAHJ convention during the summer of 2010, was an NAHJ/NBC Fellow in Washington and was awarded several of NAHJ’s scholarships. All of these experiences helped me gain a genuine appreciation of the organization’s mission and members. Serving on the NAHJ DC board this past year, has been my way of giving back to an organization that has given me so much. I have fully enjoyed getting to meet our diverse members and alongside the other officers, help plan events throughout the city. I would love to get the opportunity to continue to do that in the upcoming year and also bring new ideas that further propel our goal of increasing the diversity of Washington’s newsrooms. These ideas include a job fair, a journalism student mentorship program with DC area universities and training sessions in various news organizations.

Biography

Born and raised Venezuela Melissa is passionate about reporting and producing news about political and international issues especially focused on Hispanic and Latin American topics. She has gained journalism experience on the local, national and international level producing news content in both English and Spanish. During her undergraduate career, she worked in the media departments of the Organization of American States and the Washington Office on Latin America while also collaborating with various news outlets that included Venezuela’s 24-hr news channel Globovision and Hispanic Link News Service. She was chosen as a Fellow at NBC News’ Washington bureau as part of the NAHJ/NBC Fellowship where she served as a field producer for Nightly News. During her Senior year of college, she worked with Univision News in Texas helping produce packages about Hispanics in the state and around the country. Melissa loves to travel and has lived in 5 countries: Venezuela, Spain, Mexico, Argentina and\ the United States. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Georgetown University and works at CNN’s DC bureau with its CNN en Espanol and Live Unit teams.

Sincerely,

Azhar AlFadl – Election Moderator

Chapter Members,

The Washington, D.C. Chapter Board is pleased to announce we are expanding the Charlie Ericksen Internship Supplement program. Beginning next year, we will offer assistance to one person in the Spring and one person in the Fall for the next three years. We will continue to offer two supplements for Summer interns.

Each recipient receives $200 to be used on a Metro Card while interning in the Washington area. They also receive $35 to pay for NAHJ student membership.

The Chapter Board designated $2,820 in our chapter account to pay for the supplements for the next three years. Our Journalism Fund is named in honor of Charlie Ericksen. He is the founder of Hispanic Link News Service and a founding member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He is also a NAHJ Hall of Fame recipient. We have worked closely with Ericksen on how to distribute this money. He helped launch the careers of many journalists. We honor his commitment to journalism through this supplement in his name.

Our intention is to help students and recent graduates who intern in the District, Maryland, and Virginia. We understand many students intern for free and may not have the financial support to do so. We hope this money will help ease the burden on their families.

Mil Gracias to our members who gave money during our chapter fundraiser, Una Noche de Periodistas.

Sincerely,

NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter Board

Brandon Benavides, President

Jackie Diaz, Vice-President

Rosalba Ruiz, Treasurer

Melissa Macaya,  At-Large Officer

Estimados/Estimadas,

Thank you for making this past year a successful one for our chapter. We could not have done it without you!

During 2012-2013 we organized two chapter meetings at local TV
stations WUSA9 and WJLA, giving our members the chance to meet news directors and learn more about each station. Our membership drive with San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and Telemundo Noticias anchor José Díaz-Balart was a success.

To top it all off, we ended the year with “Noche de Periodistas,” which allowed us to raise enough money to replenish our account thanks to a great turnout! This year we awarded two Charlie Ericksen Internship Supplements (commuter stipend for Washington Interns) and convention assistance (registration), one professional and one student to attend the national convention in Anaheim.

Because of your commitment to NAHJ, our chapter has become one of the most active in the country.

As the Chapter Board term comes to an end, we turn to you to keep the momentum going. We are looking for enthusiastic members to run for the NAHJ DC 2013-2014 Chapter Board. The following positions are available:

President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
Officer-at-large

We will accept nominations until the close of business on July 26. Please read below for nominating instructions.

Anyone running for an executive position must be a regular NAHJ
member, must have paid this year’s dues, and must continue to pay them while serving on the board.

Chapter members will vote July 29 – August 9. The new chapter board term begins on August 12 and members will serve one year.

To nominate someone send an email toNAHJDC@gmail.com with this
following statement:

I ( STATE YOUR NAME), of (EMPLOYER OR FREELANCE) nominate ___________ for (position) __________ in the 2014 election of the NAHJ DC Chapter Board of Directors. This statement counts as my virtual signature and I have included my full contact information below.

Sincerely,
NAHJ Board

Chapter Mission Statement:
Support the hiring, promotion and retention of Latino journalists in the news gathering and storytelling process, from entry-level to decision-making positions; and ensure the Latino community is fairly and accurately covered by media organizations in the D.C. metropolitan area.

Objetivos de la organización
Apoyar la contratación, promoción y la permanencia de periodistas en todo el proceso de recolección y diseminación de noticias desde el nivel principiante hasta las posiciones de gerencia dentro de todas las organizaciones de noticias; Además, asegurar que la comunidad latina sea representada por los medios de comunicación en el brea metropolitana de Washington, D.C. de una manera concisa y acertada.

Join NAHJ DC, WABJ, AAJA DC, NLGJA DC, and SPJ DC for a diversity mixer at NBC4 on Thursday, July 18 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Come meet NBC4 President and General Manager Jackie Bradford, NBC4
Vice-President of News Mike Goldrick, and NBC News Washington Bureau
Chief Ken Strickland.

We reached capacity! We are no longer accepting RSVPs.

NBC4
4001 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.

Metro: Tenelytown/AU Station on the Red Line. Parking Available