Dear NYABJ Family,

Thank you for entrusting me to lead NYABJ over the past four years. It was an honor to serve you for two terms as president and to build our chapter. I leave knowing we have accomplished a great deal and the chapter will thrive under the new board.

Thank you to all the current and past board members who have worked diligently to make our chapter the success it is. It was a pleasure to be hand in hand with each of you the last four years. From membership rolls of more than 200 to events with some of the biggest names in journalism, NYABJ has grown and prospered. I leave the organization with $29,000 in the bank and all the old IRS issues cleared up.

Some of the things I am most proud of are:

• Hosting our general body meetings at several major media companies including ABC, CBS, NBC, WNYC, The New York Times, BuzzFeed and The Wall Street Journal just to name a few.

• Aiding members in attending our national and regional conventions

• Continuing our High School Journalism Program and handing out thousands in scholarships

• Hosting a regional convention, annual pre-convention and holiday mixers and training workshops

• Bringing back our awards competition and awards gala

• Clearing up all previous IRS issues

• Expanding fundraising tools

• Creating the Affinity Mixer for NYABJ, NAHJ-NYC, AAJA-NY, SAJA-NYC and NLGJA-NY

Be assured that I will continue to assist the new board and chapter in any way I can and I also look forward to helping NABJ with our annual convention this summer. May you all have a prosperous 2020.

Yours in service,

Julie Walker

Correspondent AP Radio
@jwalkreporter