ONA Board elects Rodney Gibbs and Charo Henríquez to officer roles

By on February 3, 2021

The Online News Association is pleased to announce the election of Rodney Gibbs as the ONA Board Treasurer and Charo Henríquez as Board Secretary. The Board of Directors voted on these positions at the Jan. 28–29 meeting, and Rodney and Charo assumed their roles immediately. As Treasurer and Secretary, they will hold office for one year. ONA Board President Shazna Nessa and Vice President David Smydra are serving the second of their two-year terms.

Rodney Gibbs is the Executive Director, RevLab at The Texas Tribune, where he oversees research and training to help news organizations generate revenue. Rodney draws on his zig-zag career through TV writing, product innovation and media entrepreneurship to bring unique perspective to ONA’s work. He was a mentor for ONA’s Student Newsroom and Innovation Lab and joined the Board in 2019, where he has served on the Governance committee.

Charo Henríquez is the Editor, Newsroom Development and Support at The New York Times, leading the team formerly known as Digital Transformation. Charo is a passionate advocate for women, Latinx and other communities underrepresented in media, and has championed ONA’s work since becoming a member in 2012. She frequently contributes her expertise as a speaker at ONA conferences and events, and has served as faculty for the Women’s Leadership Accelerator and advisor to the Journalism Mentorship Collaborative. She joined the ONA Board in 2018.

We are grateful for the service of outgoing officers Versha Sharma, who joined the Board in 2018 and will continue to serve as an at-large member, and Celeste LeCompte who was a Board member from 2017–2020. Learn more about the Board of Directors.