Hello, CJA friends! If you haven’t already heard, we have BIG NEWS: Our president of the past four years, Maudlyne Ihejirika, is stepping down to focus on her “Chicago Chronicles” column for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Under her leadership, CJA rose to new levels. Our membership doubled. We hosted panel discussions, workshops and awards banquets in front of packed houses. And during the unprecedented pandemic year, journalists from across the globe tuned in for our virtual programming. We wish Maudlyne the very best and can’t thank her enough for all that she has done to build CJA’s profile nationally and internationally.
Maudlyne is passing the presidential baton to Stephanie Choporis, who served as CJA’s co-president with Maudlyne last year. Stephanie has been our Vice President/Secretary since 2017 and was our inaugural Associate Board Chairman from 2014-2017. This makes her just the second female and youngest president in our organization’s 82-year history.
As Maudlyne told Robert Feder: “CJA is in good hands with this creative, insightful and forward-thinking millennial.” We’re excited to see the work that she’ll do. Read more about the news in Feder’s column.
Please join us in thanking Maudlyne for her years of service and welcoming Stephanie into her new role!! More to come soon!
Sincerely,
The CJA Board of Directors