AABJ is governed by a Board of Directors that consists of the elected officers of the association, the chairpersons of the standing committees (appointed by the president and approved by the elected officers) and one student member (appointed by the president). The 2026-2028 board of directors are listed below.
Condace Pressley – President
Condace Pressley is an multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist and lifelong storyteller with deep roots in Atlanta media. She’s held leadership roles at powerhouse stations like WSB-TV and News 95.5 WSB Radio, earning top honors along the way—including an Edward R. Murrow Award, multiple Associated Press awards, and, of course, that coveted Emmy.
Condace is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism, where she’s been named a Grady Fellow and honored in the Centennial Class. She’s also been inducted into both the Georgia Radio and Georgia Association of Broadcasters Halls of Fame.
A former president of both the Atlanta and National Association of Black Journalists, Condace has long been a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the newsroom and beyond. Her impact on the industry is so significant, she’s even been profiled by The HistoryMakers—the nation’s largest African American oral history archive.
When she’s not leading or advocating, you’ll likely find her at a live concert or in the garden, coaxing tomatoes and peppers into something delicious. Condace also gives back through service on the boards of United Way of Greater Atlanta, the Wellstar Foundation, Cobb Community Foundation, and Leadership Atlanta (Class of 2016).
Delano Massey – Vice President of Print
Delano Massey is an award-winning journalist and media executive with more than two decades of experience across print, broadcast, and digital platforms. He serves as Managing Editor of Axios Local, overseeing the network’s Midwest region and helping shape impactful journalism that connects local storytelling to national issues.
Before joining Axios, Massey was a supervising producer at CNN, guiding coverage of the Justice Department, Supreme Court, and immigration. He also helped launch CNN’s Race & Equality team during the 2020 racial reckoning. Earlier, he served as Deputy News Director for The Associated Press in Chicago, managing coverage across 14 states and leading the AP’s Race & Ethnicity team, which produced award-winning projects on the Red Summer of 1919 and the Little Rock Nine.
Massey’s newsroom experience spans both local and national media, including leadership roles at News 5 Cleveland (WEWS) and the Lexington Herald-Leader, where he began his career as a reporter.
Based in Atlanta, he is Vice President of Print for the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and serves on the board of the National Press Club Journalism Institute. He also helps lead strategy for the Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association (MMCA) and its Multicultural Media Xchange, advancing diversity, ownership, and equity in media.
A proud Ohio native and University of Akron graduate, Massey has completed leadership fellowships at Harvard, Poynter, and the Kiplinger Program. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge No. 8, Prince Hall Affiliation, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., continuing a legacy of brotherhood, scholarship, and service.
Lisa Cox – Vice President of Broadcast
Lisa D. Cox is a veteran, multi-award-winning broadcast news journalist. For more than 30 years, she has contributed to the editorial direction of network and local news programs across the country.The Los Angeles native is currently an Atlanta-based Writer/Producer at CNN, working for “CNN News Central with Boris Sanchez & Brianna Keilar.” She has toiled in newsrooms as a producer and executive producer in NYC, D.C., Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, Birmingham and at E! News Networks.Ms. Coxreceived her M.S. in journalism from New York’s Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism after completing her undergraduate studies in Spanish at The University of California, Berkeley. She also received her program certification in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University.She’s been recognized by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmys), Associated Press, the Radio Television News Directors Association’s Edward R. Murrow awards and the National Association of Black Journalists —the oldest and largest advocacy group in the U.S. for journalists of color–where she also served as an executive board member. Ms. Cox’s resume also includes academia. She is a former broadcast news adjunct professor at California State University Long Beach, where she taught broadcast news writing/television news production.Ms. Cox is also a proud Silver Star Life Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., an international service organization that is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American college-educated women.
Denise Hendricks – Vice President of Digital
C. Denise Hendricks is a woman of faith, a mom, and an award-winning television producer and writer.
She has been in the news and entertainment industry for several years producing for: CNN, MSNBC, HLN, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” the OWN network, ABC, BET’s “The Mo’Nique Show” and for several local news television affiliates across the country.
She is currently Supervising Producer for CNN Headlines, the global cable network’s free ad supported streaming television channel.
Denise holds a B.S. in Journalism from Florida A&M University, an M.A. in Christian Education from the Interdenominational Theological Center, and a Screenwriting certificate from Emory University.
She is the recipient of several awards, including a regional Emmy for Best Newscast, an NAACP Image award, FAMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the Thelma T. Gorham Journalism Award, and the Unsung Heroine Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women highlighting her volunteer work with youth from underserved communities in Florida, Illinois, and Georgia.
She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., the Producers Guild of America, National Assn. of Black Journalists and currently sits on the Board of Directors for VOX ATL. She has spent many years volunteering and mentoring youth and is passionate about initiatives surrounding foster care and adoption. She resides in Atlanta, Georgia with her young son.
Imara Canady – Secretary
Imara Canady currently is serving as National Director for Communications & Community Engagement for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the world’s largest, non-profit, HIV/AIDS service and advocacy organization and Chair, Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition (BLACC).
W. Imara Canady, referred to as the “all around go to guy” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a highly respected executive leader, nationally known for building partnerships and collaborations that have a sustainable community impact. Prior to his current role, Imara served as the Area Development Director for the Atlanta Regional Office of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), where his portfolio included over-seeing the community engagement and fundraising operations in South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, annually raising over $2.5 million dollars, in support of the office’s multi-million-dollar goal to achieve the organization’s mission of assisting students to get to and through college. Prior to UNCF, he was Vice-President of Programming and Strategic Partnerships for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, whereas part of the institution’s executive leadership team, he created and developed the Center’s national programmatic infrastructure and foundation.
Known as a “connector and bridge-builder” he worked with the national Board of Directors, CEO and Executive Vice-President, cultivating global relationships and building collaborations that connected the center’s vision and mission with a broad array of local, national and international cultural, academic and community organizations and institutions, that led to the successful execution of the institutions historic groundbreaking in June 2012and the framework for the Center’s current impactful programs and initiatives.
Imara returned to Atlanta in 2009, joining the staff of the Center, having spent time in Chicago, at the Chicago Community Trust, the nation’s second oldest community philanthropic organization, as 1 of 6 fellows, from a national candidate pool of 300 candidates, in a newly launched, arts and culture management fellowship program. As a part of this nationally acclaimed program, Imara worked with the Presidents/CEO’s and executive staff of Chicago’s leading cultural institutions developing strategic and impactful individualized community and government relations strategies, while also managing grant funding from a $15 million art and culture budget.
Before his time in Chicago, Imara had an impressive 15-year career in government that has taken him from Atlanta City Hall to The White House. His career in government began in the late 90’s when he served as Special Projects Coordinator for former Atlanta Mayor William Campbell, where he developed and managed youth programs and initiatives for the city, including the establishment of the Youth Ambassador Force for the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Mayor’s Collegiate and Youth Councils, and working with the United Way executive leadership on the development of Atlanta’s Promise, a local response to General Colin’s Powell successful national youth program, America’s Promise.
Immediately following his time with Mayor Campbell, he worked for the Office of Vice-President Al Gore and then as Budget Manager for Gore’s 2000 Presidential campaign, managing a multi-million-dollar budget and over-seeing the campaign’s national event strategy. Prior to moving to Chicago, he was a key aide to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin serving as Special Assistant to the Mayor/Special Events Director, after leading her communications and brand strategy as Communications Director/Press Secretary for her successful historical election in 2001. During his tenure in city government, Imara had many accomplishments including revamping the City’s special event permitting process, which resulted in a yearly increase in revenue generation of over a quarter of a million dollars, while decreasing the negative impact on community residents.
He assisted former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin in the successful multi-million-dollar fund-raising effort to secure the city’s purchase of the historic papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He worked with the State of Georgia and developed the preliminary process of the city’s current structure for supporting film projects, thus increasing the number of films, movie and television projects secured to shoot in Atlanta and the increase in production studios being opened in the metro Atlanta area.
Ernie Suggs – Treasurer
Ernie Suggs has been a reporter at the AJC since 1997, currently covering race and culture, primarily through the paper’s Unapologetically ATL franchise. He previously reported for newspapers in New York City and Durham, N.C. A veteran of more than 20 years as a newspaper reporter, Suggs has covered stories ranging from politics to civil rights to higher education. A 1990 graduate of North Carolina Central University, with a degree in English Literature, Suggs was also a Harvard University Nieman Fellow. He is currently on the Nieman Board of Trustees and the former national vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His appreciation for Prince and the New York Yankees is unmatched.In 2022, he published his first book, “The Many Lives of Andrew Young,” which chronicles the life of the former Atlanta mayor, civil rights icon and United Nations Ambassador. And in 2023, he wrote and produced the Emmy-nominated, “The South Got Something to Say,” the AJC’s look at Southern hip-hop.
Gwen Anderson Warren – Parliamentarian
Gwen Anderson Warren is a seasoned media professional with over 36 years of experience
specializing in video editing and news field production. Her long-standing career at CNN includes roles as a
journalist, craft editor/producer, and media supervisor. Her award-winning productions for CNN’s news
platforms include the Dupont and the Emmy.
Currently, Gwen serves as the Director of Video Production at World News Group. She also lends her
voice talent to the web-based student news show, “A World from A to Z with Carl Azuz.” The group produces
a web-based news show for teens that covers diverse topics, including STEM.
Gwen’s academic journey includes a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of
Missouri-Columbia and certificates in Social Media Management and Creative Writing from Emory
University.
She is not only a professional in the media industry but also a resolute volunteer and mentor for
VOX ATL. Her guest speaking engagements have included DeKalb County Schools and Ohio School
Systems. Warren recently completed all training and testing to earn membership in the National Association of Parliamentarians.
Gwen served on WarnerMedia’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team and its Corporate
Responsibility Council. She has also represented CNN Image + Sound at the NABJ conventions.
She continues to support NABJ by sponsoring and escorting young journalists to the annual conventions
and by assisting the Atlanta Chapter with present needs.
Stan Washington – Emeritus Member
Award-winning journalist with broad experience in reporting and supervisory positions in newspaper, radio and public relations. Experience in directing new initiatives for media outlets and media/public relations departments. Additional experience in launching and managing public relations and marketing initiatives which have resulted in successful campaigns and projects. A supervisor with a demonstrated record of success in media management and audience and new business development. Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills. Polished negotiator, facilitator, trainer, interviewer and public speaker. Founding member of 91.9FM WCLK, Clark Atlanta University; founding member of The Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, Inc., a chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.