Leadership

Lisa Rabasca Roepe is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance journalist who writes about gender equity, diversity and inclusion, the culture of work, and personal finance. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, Wired, Insider, Boston Globe Magazine, the Christian Science Monitor, Marketplace, Ms. Magazine, The Muse and HR Magazine.

Christopher Johnston has published more than 3,500 articles in numerous regional and national publications including American Theatre, Christian Science Monitor, History Magazine, and Scientific American. His book, Shattering Silences: Strategies to Prevent Sexual Assault, Heal Survivors, and Bring Assailants to Justice, was published by Skyhorse Publishers in May 2018. He teaches playwriting and creative nonfiction courses at Cleveland State University and a variety of workshops for the William M. Skirball Writers Center and Literary Cleveland. In 2020, Johnston received an Ohio Society of Professional Journalists award for best investigative reporting for a digital publication. In 2018 and 2019, he received an Ohio Arts Council grant and a Dramatists Guild Foundation Writer’s Alliance Grant. In 2019, he also received the Distinguished Professional Contribution Award from The Renee Jones Empowerment Center in Cleveland that provides a full spectrum of services to help women survivors of human trafficking recover.

Jennifer Billock is an award-winning writer, bestselling author, and writing coach. She has worked with businesses and publishers including the Smithsonian, The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Disney Books, The Atlantic, Kraft Foods, Midwest Living, Arcadia Publishing, and the MSU Press. She specializes in food, travel, history, and witchcraft. Check out her website at www.jenniferbillock.com, subscribe to her Substack at kitchenwitch.substack.com.

Merlisa Lawrence Corbett is a Central Florida-based independent journalist and author who writes about sports, home and garden, and real estate. She is the author of the book, “Serena Williams: Tennis Champion, Sports Legend, and Cultural Heroine.”

A former tennis columnist for Bleacher Report and reporter for Sports Illustrated, Lawrence Corbett wrote the foreword for Arthur Ashe Jr’s. “A Hard Road To Glory: A History Of The African American Athlete: Track and Field.” She covered sports for the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Tribune, and Pittsburgh Press.

Her work has also appeared in The Guardian, Essence, AARP, Black Enterprise, HGTV.com, Apartment Therapy, Capitol File, TennisView, First and Pen, and AJC.com (Atlanta Journal-Consititution). www.merlisa.com

Holly Rizzuto Palker is an award-winning writer, a profiles editor for Literary Mama, host of their podcast This Mama is Lit!, and a mom. A former editor for YourTeen Magazine, Holly covers many topics though her passion lies in parenting and family relationships. Her articles and essays appear in Parents, The New York Daily News, The Independent, Newsday, Kveller, Huffington Post, Psycom, Grown and Flown, and more. Her essay, “Hippo Tent,” will be featured in Literary Mama’s forthcoming anthology. She’s working on a book about her interfaith family. Check out her website www.hollyrizzutopalker.com or subscribe to her substack @hollyrizzutopalker.

David Steele has been a professional sports journalist for more than 35 years, writing for outlets that include The Sporting News, the Baltimore Sun, the San Francisco Chronicle and Newsday. His third book, It Was Always a Choice: Picking Up the Baton of Athlete Activism, was named one of the 10 Best Books in Arts & Humanities of 2022 by Library Journal. He also is the co-author of Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith. He also serves on the advisory board for the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland, and on the executive board for the Baltimore Association of Black Journalists.

A freelance journalist and content writer, Kim Kobersmith writes about philanthropy, arts + culture, and the outdoors, often from a rural or Appalachia perspective. Her work appears in the Bitter Southerner, National Parks Traveler, and the Daily Yonder. Kim joined ASJA as an associate member in 2022 and recently qualified as a professional member. She’s an active member of ASJA’s Membership Engagement Committee and will advocate for and act as a liaison to associate members.

A former TV and radio reporter, Cari Shane has worked as a fulltime freelance journalist and content writer for nearly a decade. A Manhattan native, she lives carless (that’s carless, not careless) in the nation’s capital and writes for a wide variety of publications including AARP, Fast Company, Fodor’s, Scientific American and Smithsonian. She has previous board experience with multiple organizations and currently volunteers as an editor with Street Sense Media, a nonprofit that produces journalism to elevate the voices of those experiencing homelessness in DC. Cari  joined ASJA in 2017 and served as co-chair of Client Connections in 2022 and 2023; she will chair the event again in 2024. Cari is looking forward to helping ASJA “get back on strong footing so it can increase membership and continue providing great programming.”

Dara Chadwick is a Jamestown, Rhode Island-based writer and communications consultant with expertise in content creation, branding and messaging for healthcare, government and nonprofit clients. She’s the author of the award-winning nonfiction book, You’d Be So Pretty If…: Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies — Even When We Don’t Love Our Own. Her work has appeared in AARP Bulletin, CURE, Cancer Today, The Daily Beast, The Physiologist, Shape, Parenting, Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Better Homes & Gardens and Working Mother.