• Board of Governors Election

    The 2024 Central Great Lakes Board of Governors election is now open. Each year the chapter asks members to select the professionals who will not only organize the EMMY® Awards Gala, but also represent our chapter.

    This year we have ten qualified candidates:

    • Steve Warren, Bally Sports Ohio / Bally Sports Great Lakes
    • Sia Nyorkr, WOIO
    • Alyssa Ivanson, WANE
    • Jo Throckmorton, Jo Throckmorton Filmworks
    • JoAnn Larsen, KSTV & SLA Productions
    • John Stealey, Digital Alchemy
    • Mike Vendeland, Independent Director
    • Jonathan Walsh, WEWS
    • Kelly Salandro, WKYC
    • Samantha Johnson, WTHR

    Please vote for the SIX (6) candidates you feel would best represent the chapter.

    Vote YES to accept the candidate, NO to not accept the candidate, or Abstain if you choose to not cast a vote for a particular candidate.

    Once you've made a selection for each candidate, tick the recaptcha checkbox, then click the Cast Ballot button at the bottom of the form. The deadline to vote is May 20, 2024.

    Bally Sports Ohio / Bally Sports Great Lakes

    Steve Warren is the Director of Operations for Bally Sports Ohio / Bally Sports Great Lakes, based in Cleveland, a position he has held since 2014, shortly after Fox Sports acquired SportsTime Ohio in 2012. In this position, he oversees the studio facilities in Cleveland and Cincinnati, the facilities and crews for Guardians & Reds (MLB) baseball, Cavs (NHL) basketball, Blue Jackets (NHL) hockey and Crew (MLS) soccer. Prior to that, he was the Coordinating Producer for STO. He was hired and served as the Producer for Cleveland Indians broadcasts when SportsTime Ohio was formed in 2006.

    Steve worked for 13 seasons as the Manger of Broadcast Operations for the Cleveland Indians and was responsible for all video and audio production for the team; coordinated production with local and national rights holders; supervised Game Day Entertainment including video board, scoreboards and sound system.

    Steve spent 23 years (overlapping his time with the Indians) as a freelance Producer, Director and Technical Director - primarily in live sports. He has had the opportunity to work Olympics, MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL including covering championships in each. NCAA Football and Basketball, Golf, Boxing… everything from Rugby to Horse Jumping for clients including all the major broadcast and cable sports networks.

    Elected as a Governor for the Lower Great Lakes Chapter in 2003 & 2004, Steve was elected back to the Board in 2017. He was elected Alternate Trustee in 2018, Trustee in 2019, and elected again as Governor in 2022 He is the proud recipient of multiple Regional and National Emmy Awards.

    Steve and his wife, Cheryl, live in North Canton, Ohio. An active Freemason, he has served as Master of William H. Hoover Lodge in North Canton and as Commander in Chief of the Valley of Canton, AASR. He is past president of the Rotary E-Club NEO. Hobbies include flying (instrument-rated private pilot), boating, motorcycling and shooting sporting clays.

    WOIO

    Sia Nyorkor joined Cleveland 19 in 2015, after working at CBS affiliates in Florida and Kansas. Sia anchors the weekend AM newscasts and reports weekdays for the 4, 5 and 6 p.m. news. She’s an Emmy award-winning journalist who got her start working behind the scenes at New Jersey Public Television & Radio. Although she loved working on documentaries and long-form pieces she aspired to step in front of the camera to tell the stories. A skilled multimedia journalist, Sia prides herself on shooting, reporting, writing and editing the majority of her reports for multiple platforms. Her reports have been featured on national shows such as TV One's Fatal Attraction, Oxygen's Snapped and the Investigation Discovery channel. In 2017, Sia received a Genesis Award in the Outstanding TV News Series category for her series of reports on the death of K9 Jethro.

    Sia holds a Bachelor of Arts Journalism from Indiana University's Ernie Pyle School of Journalism and a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University in the City of New York. Her master's thesis was an award-winning documentary film about a Harlem muralist that broadcast on public television stations across the nation. Sia and her reports have been featured on national shows such as TV One's Fatal Attraction, Oxygen's Snapped and the Investigation Discovery channel.

    Active with the National Association of Black Journalists, Sia has served at the local and national level and is a mentor to young, aspiring journalists. She is also a member of the public service sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

    A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Sia is thrilled to be next door to home where she can visit her parents and cheer on her HOOSIERS!

    WANE

    Alyssa Ivanson is the Evening Anchor and the Special Projects Producer for Fort Wayne’s number one news station.

    Alyssa joined WANE 15 in January 2006 as a reporter/producer. Since then, her various roles included eight years as weekend evening anchor, two years as the 15 Finds Out lead investigative reporter and three years as morning anchor. She returned from maternity leave in June 2021 as evening anchor.

    Alyssa loves getting to tell our community’s stories. Her work has been nominated for regional Emmy awards 32 times and she’s been awarded numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Indiana Broadcasters Association and the Indiana Associated Press. The AP named Alyssa ‘Best Reporter’ three times.

    Alyssa graduated cum laude from Ball State University’s Honors College in 2006 with a Telecommunications – News Option degree and double minor in Journalism and Public Relations.

    Alyssa’s volunteered with many organizations in Fort Wayne including Erin’s House for Grieving Children, Habitat for Humanity and Big Brothers Big Sisters. In 2013, Alyssa was named the “National Big Sister of the Year.” She also enjoys competitive ballroom dancing and traveling the world.

    Alyssa and her husband welcomed their first child in March 2021. They already loved living, working and playing in Fort Wayne and it’s even better with a little one!

    Jo Throckmorton Filmworks

    I am an Emmy award-winning filmmaker who works in feature films, short films, broadcast, and commercial production. I was nominated at the 67th Annual DGA (Director’s Guild of America) Awards for “Outstanding Directorial Achievement. My work has been recognized with multiple Silver Telly Awards, an Addy Gold Award from the American Advertising Federation for a National TV Campaign, and a CINE Golden Eagle. I have produced a number of PBS programs - one of which was recognized by the Society of Professional Journalist for “Best Social Justice Reporting.”

    I began my career in film as the Promotions Manager (doing product placement on screen) for the John Sayle’s feature, “City of Hope,” before moving to NYC to work on more films. I moved to Cincinnati to work for Warner Cable TV and during that time produced, edited and distributed the feature film, “Suspicions,” which had showings in major cities such as San Francisco, New York City, Cincinnati, and Chicago before being released on DVD.

    I have continued to produce and direct projects with an emphasis on commercial projects and documentaries. I have been an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University-Bloomington since 2011 and will begin teaching at Indiana University-Indianapolis in the fall of 2023. I have been involved in the creation and implementation of the new Film Tax Credit with the state of Indiana. My work takes me across the country, allowing me to work with a wide range of industry professionals.

    KSTV & SLA Productions

    JoAnn Larsen has spent the last 47 years in broadcasting starting as a radio and production engineer for WWWE/WWWM (now WTAM/WMJI) in 1977, and in 1980 transitioned to television as an engineer at WUAB.

    In her 42 years there WUAB she wore many hats. She began working overnight and running master control, but soon made the transition to production, first as an editor, then as Producer/Director. She stayed through the merger with WOIO (becoming one of the first duopolies in the country), continuing to write, produce and edit, and eventually managing Public Affair for the stations as well. Throughout much of that time she also freelanced with various Cleveland sports teams for local, national, and in-house feeds.

    After retiring from WOIO/WUAB in 2020, JoAnn was co-founder of SLA Video Productions, producing digital content for the over-55 demographic. Then in 2021 she joined the staff of Kent State University. JoAnn is currently the Studio Coordinator & Production & Film Distribution Advisor at the student-driven KSTV, overseeing the weekly News & Entertainment productions. She loves the enthusiasm & professionalism of these future media stars.

    Digital Alchemy

    John began his television careen in Los Angles as a producer / director with NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. While at NASA he was responsible for a variety of video projects from directing Space Shuttle launches and landings to animations of planets and planetary exploration missions still shown in museums worldwide. Leaving NASA in 1991, John was a newscast director at NBC. Starting with Today Show weather cut-ins, he quickly moved to directing weekend newscasts. Success on the weekends led to directing the 6pm and 11pm newscasts weekdays. In 1996 He left NBC to build regional Newschannels for Cablevision. Having contributed to the Newschannel operations in Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Ohio.

    John is currently the owner of Digital Alchemy, a television production services company based in Ohio. As an independent producer/director, John has produced and or directed projects for CNN, NBC News, Ohio News Network, CBS Sports, Comcast Sportsnet, ESPN, Fox Sports Ohio, MTV, NBC Sports, Sportstime Ohio, Spectrum Sports, Bally Sports Great Lakes and others.

    John Stealey has served as a past governor and president of NATAS’ Lower Great Lakes Chapter (prior to the name change to Central).

    John and his wife Kerry reside in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, with their two dogs.

    Independent Director

    I began my career with WEWS where I rose through the ranks from Assistant Producer to Assignment Editor, video editor, floor crew staff, director and finally production manager. I spent almost 16 years with the organization where I produced and directed the "Academic Challenge" show, directed the Ohio Lottery's "Cash Explosion" and directed newscasts and major events. I left WEWS for a position at WKYC where I worked for one year but continued directing newscasts for them for another 7 years. After my year of employment at WKYC I was offered a position with WVIZ/PBS, which later became Ideastream Public Media. While with Ideastream I had the opportunity to direct many major community events as well as local, regional and national television shows. In my role at Ideastream I began directing orchestral performances with The Cleveland Orchestra which developed into relationships with The Charlotte Symphony and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. In addition, I've worked in a freelance role with The Cleveland Clinic, directing some of their major events such as the annual "State of the Clinic" event. In my final year with Ideastream I became the Director of Operations, Production and Facilities. I left the organization after 22 years to work on my own as an independent director, which is my current role. My bigger clients are The Boston Philharmonic where I direct their entire season of performances for live stream and on-demand. I'm also the IMAG (big screen) director for The Cleveland Orchestra's summer season at Blossom Music Center.

    WEWS

    Jonathan Walsh’s dedication to assisting viewers, holding the powerful to account, and utilizing a competitive spirit have made communities better informed for nearly 30 years. His investigations and reports into local, state, and national issues have pinpointed attention and provoked action at the highest levels of government and business earning him 20+ Emmys, 9 Edward R. Murrow Awards (including 1 national acknowledgement), 18 Associated Press Awards, and, most recently, a Silver Circle honor to be handed out at this year's Emmy Gala. His volunteerism for numerous charities has helped raise thousands of dollars for families including his book Is my child next? The Alexa Brown Story where every dime of profit is donated to help kids experiencing medical challenges. With your support, Jonathan would be honored to be a Governor on the Board.

    WKYC

    I am in my 29th year of producing local television newscasts in the Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Toledo and Youngstown markets.

    After graduating Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA in 1993, I started working as a radio news reporter at WDPN/WZKL in Alliance, Ohio.

    From there, I made the jump to television news line producing, where in August of 1995, I took the weekend producer post at WFMJ TV-21 in Youngstown, Ohio.

    I stayed there a few months before jumping across town to the WYTV, Channel 33 also in Youngstown, to launch a new morning show, called “Daystart 33”

    After a few years there, I moved to WOIO, Channel 19 in Cleveland, where I began a role as weekend producer and within three weeks was moved to weekday morning show producer.

    Then about two years later, KDKA, the legendary CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania recruited me to take over their morning show.

    I stayed there in a Senior Producer role for about 14 years, before coming back to Youngstown, to serve as the Morning Executive Producer at WKBN-TV, WYTV.

    About two years later, I left WKBN, got married, lost my mom and grandmother to illness and finished up my dog showing career with my beloved Skye Terrier Byrne, who number one in his breed, and the first AKC grand champion in his breed.

    After that, I did free-lance producing and assignment desk work at WFMJ and WPXI in Pittsburgh, before coming back to WOIO in a producer/assignment desk role.

    From there, it was a nearly two-year stint at WTVG 13 ABC in Toledo, once Raycom sold off their stations to Gray, and then finally in February of 2020, right before the pandemic hit, I started working at WKYC, 3News in Cleveland, first as a weekend producer/writer, and was then promoted to the 6pm producing role, and finally to now, as the Senior Producer of our #1, 11pm newscast, “What’s Next.”

    I have been at WKYC for the last four years and next year will mark my 30th year in the business.

    WTHR

    Samantha Johnson is a multi-skilled journalist with WTHR in Indianapolis. Samantha works with the 13Sunrise team, covering the biggest stories across central Indiana. From leading 'Today' with live coverage of the Richmond warehouse fire, to traveling covering the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City, Samantha's wide variety of journalist abilities have benefited the WTHR news team over her first two years in Indianapolis.

    Growing up in the Hoosier State, Samantha has spent her entire educational and professional career in Indiana. She started her career at WFIE in Evansville, where she served as an anchor and reporter. She is a two-time graduate of Ball State University, earning a bachelor's degree in Telecommunications and Journalism News and a master's degree in Digital Storytelling.

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