Clahchischiligi elected to second term as president; Ellis as vice president
The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) held elections for the board of directors online July 8-22 and in person July 22-23 at the Indigenous Media Conference (IMC26) in Portland, Oregon.
Members also voted to approve the amended IJA Bylaws (2026) and Amended Certificate of Incorporation (2026) by a vote of 84 to 1.
The new bylaws encompass the organization’s charter and board guidelines into a single policy document and reflect the “Indigenous Journalists Association” legal name change.
Graham Lee Brewer (Cherokee Nation) was elected to a one-year term running through 2027. Sunnie Clahchischiligi (Diné), Melissa Greene-Blye (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma) and Joseph Lee (Aquinnah Wampanoag) were reelected to three-year terms running through 2029.
Angel Ellis (Muscogee Nation), Roselynn Yazzie (Shoshone-Bannock, Diné), Eden Fineday (Sweetgrass First Nation) and Bryan Pollard (Cherokee Nation) will remain seated for the duration of their terms.
Election results were announced live during the Indigenous Media Awards Banquet on July 24.
The IJA Board of Directors met immediately after the banquet to ratify the election results and to select the 2026-2027 executive committee:
- Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi (Diné), president
- Angel Ellis (Muscogee Nation), vice president
- Joseph Lee (Aquinnah Wampanoag), treasurer
- Roselynn Yazzie (Shoshone-Bannock / Diné), secretary
Clahchischiligi, Diné, is the Indigenous Affairs Editor for High Country News. She has reported for the Navajo Times, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone and others. Her work has won multiple awards including the IJA Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Journalism alongside the Indigenous Investigative Collective. She was inducted into the 2022 North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame for sports writing and is a 2026 University of New Mexico Alumni Zia Award recipient. Clahchischiligi holds a Ph.D., in Rhetoric and Writing and teaches at Arizona State University. She is from T’iis Názbąs, Arizona.
“I am deeply honored to continue serving in the capacity of president of the IJA board of directors. It is humbling to be entrusted by not only my fellow board members, but also our IJA members, to continue carrying out the organization’s mission in supporting Indigenous journalism and journalists everywhere,” Clahchischiligi said. “I look forward to continuing working to move the organization forward alongside the IJA board, staff and its members.”
For more information on how to join IJA as a member, visit indigenousjournalists.org.
