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SABEW Board of Governors Election 2021

Voting Runs June 7 – June 11

Voting for the SABEW Board of Governors opens Monday, June 7 and closes at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, June 11. Voting members will receive your ballot information direct from the online voting service provider Opavote.org. If you are the voting member for your newsroom and also have an individual membership, you will receive two separate emails. If your newsroom voting representation has changed, please contact Tess McLaughlin.


Ballots will be cast for seven open SABEW Board of Governors seats. Six are three-year terms ending spring 2024 and one is a two-year term ending spring 2023.


*Incumbents running for reelection. 

*Rich Barbieri
Deputy business editor, The New York Times

I’ve been a working journalist and active in SABEW for a long time, first as a member and BIB judge and entrant, and more recently as a member of the board of governors.

If re-elected to another term on the board, I would continue my full support of SABEW as the leading independent advocate for the careers of business journalists. Recruiting, mentoring, training, guiding and nudging reporters and editors is what I do for a living, and I would continue to be a bridge from SABEW to The New York Times and other newsrooms where I have contacts.

SABEW itself would be another priority for me. As deep as its roots are, the organization must continue to push forward to expand its base of members and enlist the next generation of its leadership. I would be happy to continue to lend my voice and ideas.

The pandemic has brought so much havoc and misery to journalism, and that comes at a time of deep cutbacks in local news and disruption of the business of business news. The need for SABEW has never been greater.

Thanks for your time.


Romaine Bostick
News Anchor, Bloomberg Television

All elements of our world intersect with money and finance. I’ve spent a career trying to foster better understanding among news audiences (and news professionals) of that fulcrum in the hope that better understanding of those correlations provides better understanding of the story. It would be wonderful to work within SABEW to further that mission. Paramount is the importance of business/economic journalism, financial literacy, cross-platform media dissemination and constitutional protections of gathering and reporting news.

I have 25+ years of experience reporting on/or managing coverage of global economics, financial markets, corporate earnings, and politics. I appreciate any consideration of my petition to serve on the board.


*Matthew Goldberg
Consumer banking reporter, Bankrate

I would be grateful to continue to serve on the SABEW Board of Governors. It has been my pleasure serving on the conference planning committee this past spring and previously for the Phoenix and New York City conferences.

I’ve also helped the organization navigate these unprecedented times on the finance committee, I’ve produced sessions on the training committee and was a Best in Business judge the past couple of years. These experiences have helped me better understand and appreciate SABEW’s impact on journalism.

I am passionate about SABEW’s purpose, which includes being an educational resource for journalists. Being on the training committee and planning past conferences has allowed me to have a direct impact on providing meaningful training sessions for journalists. Newsrooms may be seeing training budgets that are either being cut or don’t exist. This makes SABEW’s training offerings and educational panels at conferences even more valuable for journalists.

I have been either a reporter or in financial services for nearly all of the past 22 years. This gives me a unique voice and perspective on SABEW’s board. I have used this to make an impact on every committee that I’ve served on.

Continuing to grow SABEW’s membership and inventing new ways to help SABEW are my goals if I’m given the opportunity to serve for another term.

Spreading the word about SABEW’s initiatives is important for journalism and SABEW. I’d be grateful for the opportunity to serve another term so I can continue to do this.


*Andrew Leckey
International speaker and trainer; Founder and Past President, Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism

I’m seeking reelection to the Board of Governors because I believe I have more work to do to help expand overseas SABEW memberships, as we continue to grow as an international organization that shares its ideals and practices with fellow business journalists worldwide.

It is an honor to serve an organization that has inspired me throughout my own print, broadcast and online business journalism career through its insight, comradery and exchange of ideas. It can do the same for others, especially those who must muster courage and determination each day just to try to do their jobs the right way.

The SABEW international committee’s efforts in Africa this year have gained as new members accomplished business journalists in Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda. Like the South Asian business journalists who joined a year earlier, they are dedicated to accurate business and economic coverage with transparency and non-interference. More continents are in the works.

My SABEW history began as syndicated investment columnist for Chicago Tribune/LA Times; author and editor for publishers Random House and Warner books; and reporter and anchor on CNBC. In subsequent roles as Reynolds Center President and ASU Cronkite Business Journalism Chair, I worked closely with SABEW on numerous projects.

Besides chairing SABEW’s international committee, my SABEW board contributions have included attracting sponsorship funding, arranging training sessions, directing programs for students, BIB judging and contacting conference speakers.

If reelected, I look forward to following up on overseas membership connections, which may be aided by my current position on U.S. State Department’s overseas speaker roster and past overseas Fulbright affiliations. I would appreciate your support.


*Cindy Perman
Partnerships and syndication editor, CNBC.com

I have been proud to represent CNBC on the SABEW board and membership committee for the past few years. I think I bring a unique hybrid print-digital-TV voice to the organization.

One of the initiatives I am most proud of and hope to continue is recruiting more college journalists to SABEW. They are the future of our industry. I think we can do a lot to help them get their careers off the ground and we can learn from them in the process. In 2021, we launched an initiative to offer all interns at SABEW member institutions a free one-year membership to SABEW and a monthly email blast to let them know what jobs, internships, training and other opportunities are available to them.

Looking forward to doing more – and growing our college membership!


Pia Sarkar
Business news editor, Associated Press

When I first became a business reporter two decades ago, it was somewhat reluctantly. Business reporters were always regarded as the nerds of the newsroom, and they didn’t know how to have fun. But more worrisome was the lack of diversity in the business news department, no matter which one I worked in. Often I was one of the only women on staff and even more often I was the only person of color. But the longer I stuck with it, the more I realized how my voice could help shape our coverage, by calling attention to the other voices that were not being heard. That has been especially true during the pandemic, as more of us turn the lens on the people suffering the most, both physically as well as economically.

I hope to bring this perspective to SABEW as a board member, where I would like to create more opportunity for diverse talent while also building on the strengths that already exist. And while I do believe that business journalists are nerds (let’s face it–we are!), we also know how to have fun and I will make sure we do.


*Oliver Staley
Business and culture editor, Quartz

I was honored to have served on SABEW’s board for the past year and hope to continue helping this inspiring organization for another term.

In my nearly three decades in journalism, I’ve worked across a wide range of organizations, from small and mid-sized newspapers, to Bloomberg News in New York and London, and for the past five years at Quartz, where I serve as business and culture editor.

In the last year I’ve been part of SABEW’s international and innovation committees, and helped organize our virtual spring conference. I feel I’ve just gotten started, and I have much more to learn and contribute.

The role of business journalists has never been more important. We’re acting as watchdogs as unprecedented sums are spent reviving the economy, we’re investigating the immense power wielded by corporations, we’re helping readers understand the complex networks of trade and finance that sustain the global economy, and we’re ensuring that diverse voices of business people are heard. Journalists performing those vital roles need a strong and effective association that can help train them, defend them, and recognize them, and I want to help SABEW continue to be that for our members.

I’m also inspired by Xana Antunes, a longtime SABEW member who passed away last year. Xana was a mentor and friend, and I want to help make sure her memory continues to be honored through the Xana Fund, which is dedicated to providing resources for mid-career female business journalists.

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