Gretchen Crowe, the editor-in-chief of OSV News, has been elected the new president of the board of the Catholic Media Association (CMA).
Serving alongside her as vice president will be Paula Gwynn Grant, secretary for communications for the Archdiocese of Washington, and as secretary Carol Zimmermann, senior national correspondent for The Tablet, newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York.
The CMA announced results of elections for the top officers May 17. They will begin their two-year terms June 8 during CMA's annual Catholic Media Conference in Baltimore June 6-9. Crowe, Grant, and Zimmermann will lead the board "in its mission and vision to serve and support Catholic media professionals, and promote excellence in Catholic journalism," said the CMA announcement.
"I am honored and humbled to have been elected the next president of the Catholic Media Association," Crowe said in a statement. "The association has the unique mission of strengthening the professional development and spiritual growth of those in Catholic media as they seek to share the Good News with the world. I look forward to continuing that important work with Paula, Carol and the rest of the board of directors."
Grant expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve as vice president and "be part of this dynamic team that will lead CMA into the future."
"I am looking forward to bringing my experience, commitment, and energy for Catholic communications to this role and to support our members in their vital ministry," she added.
"The CMA is a great group," said Zimmermann, adding that she is honored to be elected secretary and plans to be diligent in keeping records of CMA's discussions, progress and developments for the next two years.
CMA board members are "fun to work with" but "they also take seriously their role of supporting members and helping them thrive in today's challenging and often unpredictable media landscape," she added.
In March, the association announced the election of six members to its board of directors. Directors serve various categories of membership, representing the diversity of Catholic media professionals throughout North America. The board positions and those elected to fill them are:
-- Treasurer: JoAnn DiNapoli, director of sales at DeSales Media Group in Brooklyn.
-- Western Region representative: Pablo Kay, editor-in-chief of Angelus, the news arm of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
-- Magazine business staff member: Michael La Civita, director of communications for Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA).
-- Southern Region representative: James Ramos, journalist, photographer and design editor at the Texas Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
-- Newspaper publisher member: Mike Walsh, associate publisher of the Catholic Star Herald and secretary for communications for the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey.
-- Magazine publisher member: Emily Sanna, managing editor of U.S. Catholic magazine.
CMA, based in Chicago, is the largest association of Catholic media professionals in North America and describes itself as "the most active and vibrant group of Catholic media professionals in the world." It has been serving Catholic media since it was founded in 1911.
"The Catholic Media Association builds and strengthens the value, effectiveness and identity of Catholic media by facilitating the professional development and spiritual growth of its members (and) contributes to the Church's mission of communicating the Good News and evangelizing the modern world by engaging and supporting Catholic media," the organization said in a news release announcing the election of its officers.
