Catherine Toth Fox penned her first children’s book, “Kai Goes to the Farmers Market in Hawaiʻi” (Beachhouse Publishing) last year and is working on her second. She continues to serve as editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine, a Honolulu-based national travel brand, and editor of Hawaiʻi Farm & Food, the official magazine of the Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau. She currently lives in Honolulu with her husband, son and two dogs.
Ronny Glasner Frishman is the author of Nina Allender, Suffrage Cartoonist, With a Drawing Pencil She Helped Win the Vote for Women, a middle-grade book published in September 2020 by Bedazzled Ink Publishing Co. (available on Amazon.com and B&N.com). One of only a few female political cartoonists in the early 20th century, Allender was the “official cartoonist” of The Suffragist, the weekly newspaper of the National Woman’s Party, founded by the famous activist Alice Paul. Allender created nearly 300 cartoons on suffrage and women’s rights; her “Allender girl” was viewed as the period’s ideal of the modern female agitator. Frishman, pf Rochester, NY, wrote and edited for newspapers, magazines and other media for nearly 40 years.
Larry Bleiberg was recently elected president of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW.org), the world’s oldest and largest group of travel communicators. It has nearly 1,000 members, including staff writers, editors, book authors, photographers and website owners, along with public relations professionals. His term lasts through 2021.
Bleiberg, an eight-time winner of the Lowell Thomas Journalism Awards, is former travel editor of The Dallas Morning News and Coastal Living magazine.
He has freelanced for the last decade, with his writing appearing in BBC.com, National Geographic books, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Better Homes and Gardens, AARP, Afar, CNN, Delta Sky and Atlas Obscura, among many outlets and publications.
He is also the founder of CivilRightsTravel.com, an online guide to visiting sites from the historic civil rights movement. He is based in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Lorraine Lee joined Prezi in October as its first managing editor, building out a strategy that uses inspiring and relevant content to attract and engage Prezi users. She joined Prezi after 6 years at LinkedIn. Outside of work, she was invited to be an on-court announcer for a professional men’s tennis tournament, which showcased tennis stars like Sam Querrey and Stevie Johnson and saw hundreds of fans in attendance.
Kris Goodfellow is the state Democratic Party-endorsed candidate for California State Senate, District 23.
Goodfellow was a graphics editor at The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune before running the graphics department at the Associated Press. She left journalism to pursue a career in technology and is currently the chief operating officer and co-owner of Voyager Search, a software company based in Redlands, Calif. For almost two decades, Goodfellow has been active in the community, located between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, but this is her first run for office.
“I got involved in the Hillary campaign in 2015, and when Donald Trump won, it took me a minute to pick myself up off the floor,” Goodfellow said. “But when I did, I decided that I needed to do more. That led me to realize that we need better representation at every level of government — and not only in the blue districts, but the purple and red ones, too.”
Goodfellow has been endorsed not only by the California Democratic Party, but also the California Teachers Association, Planned Parenthood, California League of Conservation Voters, a variety of unions and politicians at the local, state and national level. She has outraised her competitors on both sides of the aisle, shocking the political establishment in this traditionally red district of close to 1 million people.
The California primary is on March 3rd and there are a total of five candidates — three Republicans and two Democrats running. Goodfellow must be one of the top two vote getters to advance in California’s “jungle” primary system. If she wins the election, Goodfellow would be the first woman and the first Democrat to hold this seat in what has been a historically Republican district.
Allison Gardner Martin has been promoted to Senior Director, Corporate Citizenship and Digital Communications for GE Appliances (GEA).
In this new role, Allison will work to increase awareness, recognition and support for GEA’s Citizenship agenda in its journey to be recognized as the most admired, trusted and respected organization in the industry.
Allison also will lead GEA’s corporate digital communications, which includes the corporate website design, daily digital activations and company-owned social media platforms.
Allison joined the company in 2018 as director of employee communications after more than 20 years of experience working in journalism, communications, community relations and government affairs in the public and private sector.
Prior to joining GEA, Allison worked as Chief Communications Officer for Jefferson County Public Schools, Chief of Staff & Communications Director for Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway and Deputy Communications Director for Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson. Allison also worked for a decade as a broadcast journalist and news anchor.
Allison lives in Louisville, Ky. with her husband and two children. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism where she minored in Spanish and sociology.
Jennifer Trammell has been named the first Managing Director of the NextGen Speaker Series, based in Naples, Fla. The NextGen Speaker Series was created to foster leadership, mentorship, empowerment, and philanthropy. Trammell will expand the platform with an online learning portal where members can access key insights from world renowned entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Joe Frolik has been promoted to the newly created position of executive editor at ideastream, Northeast Ohio’s public media source. In his new role, Frolik is responsible for the planning, creation and supervision of all local news and information content produced or presented for ideastream audiences. He leads content managers and staff across all platforms and develops and maintains ideastream’s partnerships. Previously, Frolik served as ideastream’s managing producer for community affairs, and spent more than 30 years with Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer as a reporter, national correspondent and finally chief editorial writer.
Yvette Walker, assistant dean at the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma, will be inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. Walker is among 10 inductees to be honored. “The 50th anniversary gives us an opportunity to celebrate the many historic accomplishments of journalists who have made an impact in Oklahoma and nationwide,” said Joe Hight, director and Edith Kinney Gaylord Endowed Chair of Journalism Ethics at the University of Central Oklahoma. The gala will be at 6 p.m. Friday, April 24, at the Oklahoma History Center.
Amy Buckman, Dir. of School and Community Relations for Lower Merion School District, was recognized by the Phila. Public Relations Assoc. for her work following the deaths of LM alumnus Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others. Her statement on behalf of the District at 4:15 p.m. ET the day of the crash was carried live internationally. She coordinated media availabilities with student athletes and alumni, and with Mr. Bryant’s coaches, while balancing the safety and emotional needs of students and staff with the desire of members of the public who wanted to pay homage outside the high school gymnasium.