Indigenous Journalists Association to host virtual Q&A for members July 24
The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) will host elections online Aug. 1-13 and in-person Aug. 13-14. IJA membership will elect members to the nine-member board of directors. There are three vacancies for three-year terms, starting in August 2025, running through 2028.
For online voting, eligible IJA members will receive a unique link in the email associated with their membership. Members may only cast one vote (online or in-person), and the Elections Committee will verify all votes to ensure there are no duplicates.
Member levels eligible to vote include: Individual Professional (Indigenous), Indigenous College Student, Tribal Media, Native Nonprofit and Lifetime. Non-Indigenous members are not eligible to vote.
IJA will host a virtual candidate Q&A on Thursday, July 24, at 6 p.m. CT, open to current members. Registration is required.
In-person voting will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 13, from 5-7 p.m. MT at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center during the IMC Opening Night Reception and on Thursday, Aug. 14, from 1-2 p.m. MT at the Isleta Resort and Casino following the IJA membership luncheon during the 2025 Indigenous Media Conference in Albuquerque.
Election results will be announced during the Indigenous Media Awards Banquet on Friday, Aug. 15.
2025 Board Candidates
Mark Dreadfulwater
Mark Dreadfulwater has worked for the Cherokee Phoenix since 2006. He began as a graphic designer, a position that exposed him to all factions of the organization. Upon completing his journalism degree from Northeastern State University in 2009, he was promoted to media specialist, switching his focus to videography and visual journalism while maintaining his design duties. In 2012, he was promoted to multimedia editor, and his current title is visual presentation editor. He is married to Shannon Dreadfulwater. The couple has one daughter, Stormie.
He is a member of the Indigenous Journalists Association, Society of Professional Journalists and Society for News Design.
Read Mark’s personal statement here.
Eden Fineday
Eden Fineday is a nêhiyaw iskwêw (Cree woman) from Sweetgrass First Nation in Treaty 6 territory. She is the publisher of IndigiNews and co-founder of tâpwêwin media, an Indigenous-led nonprofit committed to truth-telling and cultural integrity in media. A founding member of the Indigenous Media Association of Canada (IMAC), Eden works at the intersection of storytelling, sovereignty and systems change. Over the past three years, she has secured significant philanthropic and government funding to support Indigenous journalism across Canada. Eden is a 2024 graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism’s Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership. She serves on the boards of the Native Education College and LION Publishers, and facilitates a peer group for BIPOC news leaders as a 2025 LION Community Ambassador. Her leadership is relational, visionary and rooted in kinship. Eden is passionate about creating safe, supportive spaces for Indigenous storytellers to thrive.
Read Eden’s personal statement here.
Angel Moore
Angel Moore is a video journalist at APTN National News covering Indigenous stories since 2018, reporting from the Wabanaki territory (Atlantic Canada) and Labrador, based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, NS, Canada). Angel is from Winnipeg, MB, and the Pegius First Nation. She relocated to Kjipuktuk in 2012.
Acknowledgement of her work by the Atlantic Journalists Awards 2020: Gold for Breaking News TV – Mi’kmaw Fishery, and the National Native American Media Awards 2022: First Place for TV Best News Story – Fisher’s plan to keep fishing despite DFO Harassment.
A graduate of the University of King’s College school of journalism in 2018, a double major from Dalhousie University, International Development Studies and Sustainability 2017, and the University of Manitoba, Science, pre-medicine program for Indigenous students 2012.
Angel currently serves as a board member of IJA as treasurer, as well as on numerous committees. Her work at IJA resulted in a six-month fellowship program at APTN where six upcoming journalists filed daily news, a three-part news story series and one investigative report.
Read Angel’s personal statement here.
Bryan Pollard
Bryan is the grant operations manager at the Associated Press, based in Monterey, California, where he oversees the implementation of the organization’s expanding philanthropic portfolio. He is also a founder and collaborations manager of the Global Indigenous Reporting Network, a new AP initiative supporting Indigenous media outlets worldwide through content sharing and storytelling.
A citizen of the Cherokee Nation born in Oklahoma, Bryan previously served nearly a decade as executive editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native American newspaper, where he led a major digital-first transformation and prioritized Cherokee language inclusion across platforms.
He is a past two-term president of the Native American Journalists Association (now the Indigenous Journalists Association) and later became its associate director, developing programs to amplify Indigenous voices and researching press freedom challenges in tribal communities. His passion for press freedom in Indian Country led him to become a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford, where he studied tribal constitutional protections for free expression.
Bryan holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas. His thesis on Native press freedom is publicly available. He also serves on the board of High Country News and was a key contributor to the formation of its Indigenous Affairs Desk.
Read Bryan’s personal statement here.
Tyler Thomas
Tyler Thomas is the Executive Editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, the official newspaper of the Cherokee Nation and the first Native American newspaper in the United States. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation and Stilwell, Oklahoma native, Thomas holds a journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. With nearly 13 years of service to the Cherokee Nation and six years at the Phoenix, he has helped modernize and grow the paper’s reach, expanding its digital presence, increasing print circulation and leading award-winning coverage of major events in tribal and global history.
Thomas has also strengthened the newsroom by expanding staff and establishing a scholarship and internship program to support future Indigenous journalists. His leadership has earned him and the publication numerous accolades, including the 2023 Human & Spiritual Values Award, Editor & Publisher’s 2020 “25 Under 35” recognition, and multiple honors from the Indigenous Journalists Association and Society of Professional Journalists.
Beyond journalism, Thomas is active in civic life, serving with local organizations like Orchard Road Community Outreach and the Stilwell Kiwanis Club. A former Gates Millennium Scholar, he is deeply committed to community, storytelling and Indigenous representation in media. He lives in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, with his wife Madison and their four children.
Read Tyler’s personal statement here.
Election Guidelines
The Native American Journalists Association bylaws state, under Article VII, Section 1, that the membership shall determine the election process.
In 1996, the NAJA membership voted to establish an Election Committee to organize and facilitate annual board elections. The following guidelines were adopted in Bangor, Maine, on June 22, 1996. The board later revised and adopted them on March 26, 2006, and updated them in March 2009.
Declaration of board candidacy:
Candidates must declare their intention to run for the board between Jan. 1 and six weeks before the election (deadline: July 3, 2025).
After their eligibility to run for the board has been determined, candidates shall submit a photo, bio and brief summary of what the candidate hopes to achieve through service on the board, including fundraising goals and ideas.
In addition, the NAJA Board of Directors has adopted the following definition of “media professional” and recommended procedure for the Election Board to follow:
“A media professional is defined as a journalist who works for either tribal media or mainstream media and earns 51 percent of his or her annual income through journalism. A journalist is someone who works in the gathering, writing, editing, photographing, publishing and disseminating of news as through, but not limited to, a newspaper, magazine, radio, television station, or World Wide Web publication owned and operated by a news media outlet.”
“Determining whether a board candidate is eligible to hold office shall be the responsibility of the Election Committee. When the NAJA office receives written notification that a NAJA member has declared his or her candidacy for office, the Election Committee has 21 days to notify the candidate in writing whether he or she is eligible to run for the NAJA board. The written determination of eligibility will be sent to the candidate, with copies to the NAJA President and Executive Director. Any candidate determined ineligible will receive an explanation for the ruling within the notification letter.”
“An election report shall be prepared and distributed during the annual membership meeting. The report shall include the list of board candidates and any explanations why a candidate was determined ineligible to run, along with general procedures followed during that year’s election process.”
(Note: This policy shall be published in every document that NAJA releases concerning board candidates.)
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