Two candidates, both new nominees to the board, are running for election to the 2026–27 Online News Association Board of Directors. Candidates were selected by the board’s Governance Committee from a pool of nominations submitted by ONA members.
There are 15 voting members on the ONA Board, which should include about the same number of appointed and elected voting members. Seven seats are open for the 2026-27 board term, with up to four seats that can be filled through the election process and the rest filled through appointments by the current board. For this year’s election cycle, the number of eligible candidates is fewer than the number of open seats. In keeping with our bylaws, voting will proceed as scheduled, and all candidates who receive votes will be elected. The board will fill the remaining seats by appointment by the end of the year.
The ONA board also includes the non-voting role of Immediate Past President, serving for one year following a transition in the President position.
Voting in the 2026-27 ONA board election was open from Sept. 10 to Oct. 2, 2025. During this voting period, all ONA members active as of Sept. 7 were eligible to cast ballots.
Winners
Two newly elected candidates will join the boared on Jan. 1, 2026:
- Neeti Upadhye, Senior Video Manager, The Washington Post
- Nikita Roy, Founder, Newsroom Robots Lab
Voter turnout was 7.64% of ONA’s eligible membership; out of 1,780 eligible voters, 136 voted.
Board transitions and continuity
In 2025, the board approved updates to the bylaws that extended terms for the Secretary and Treasurer from one to two years, in line with the terms for the President and Vice President. Angela Pacienza and Ryan Kellett will continue their board terms while serving as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, through December 2026.
One board seat is open following Niketa Patel‘s transition to lead ONA as Executive Director/CEO. Charo Henríquez will move into the non-voting role of Immediate Past President for a one-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2026. Current board members Elana Zak, Ethar El-Katatney, Graham Watson-Ringo, Lauren Williams and Versha Sharma are nearing the end of their terms, in December 2025. We are grateful for their service and continued support to the ONA community.