We are thrilled to announce officers and new directors for the Local Media Association and Local Media Foundation boards of directors for 2026. 

Toby Collodora

Toby Collodora is the senior manager of retention and engagement for Star Tribune in Minneapolis, where she leads retention strategy and subscriber engagement efforts.

Prior to joining Star Tribune in 2019, Toby was the vice president of digital content strategy for Cordillera Digital, a division of Cordillera Communications.  While at Cordillera, she helped newsrooms and marketing departments create and execute strategy on all digital platforms and consulted with sales teams on content-driven initiatives.

Tanisha Leonard, president of Pitch Black, a cultural marketing firm owned by Real Times Media, will remain as chair of the LMF board. She previously served as vice president of business development for the company.

Other LMA 2026 officers are:

  • First Vice Chair: Eric Barnes, chief executive officer, The Daily Memphian.
  • Second Vice Chair: Tracy Brown, chief partnerships officer, Chicago Public Media.
  • Treasurer: Amber Aldrich, senior advertising director, Seattle Times.
  • Secretary: Heather Gray, vice president and general manager, Capitol Broadcasting Company, WRAL-TV and FOX 50 (WRAZ)
  • Immediate Past Chair: Janis Ware, publisher, The Atlanta Voice

Other LMF 2026 officers are:

  • First Vice Chair: Tim Franklin, senior associate Dean, John M. Mutz Chair in Local News, Medill School, Northwestern University
  • Treasurer: Toby Collodora, senior manager of retention and engagement for Star Tribune in Minneapolis
  • Secretary: Kevin Lloyd, co-founder of ColumbusBlack.com
  • Immediate Past Chair: Larry Lee, publisher/owner, The Sacramento Observer

Four new directors were also elected to the LMA board:

  • Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, president/chief revenue officer, The New York Amsterdam News; chief executive officer/president, Amsterdam News Educational Foundation
  • Jim Brady, chief executive officer, Spirited Media
  • Chase Heatherly, chief revenue officer, Evening Post Publishing
  • Sho Rust, chief executive officer, PubGen.AI

One new director was elected to the LMF board:

Congratulations to our new directors and officers. We pride ourselves in attracting the most diverse boards in local media. We have a healthy mix of media types — newspapers, broadcasters, digital sites, academia, R&D — as well as gender, race/ethnicity, ownership structure (nonprofit, public, for-profit) and more. 

We are stronger together, especially in difficult times. Our boards will work hard over the next year to address the many challenges facing our industry and more importantly, to seize opportunities that will result in a more sustainable future. 

Sincerely,

Julia Campbell and Jay Small
Co-CEOs, Local Media Association and Local Media Foundation