Several local media members now sit on the national board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. Philadelphia NLGJA member Steve Rosen was elected to the national board and fellow local member Kevin Barry was re-elected, while former Philly resident and previous PGN editor Sarah Blazucki was re-elected as vice president of print and online. NLGJA was founded in 1990 as an organization for LGBT journalists, media professionals, educators and students in the news industry to create fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues. The organization now has 17 chapters across the United States. The elections took place at NLGJA’s annual convention last month in Boston. After 10 years as a general member of NLGJA, Rosen, 54, a public-relations professional and managing partner at marketing company Star Group, said he was ready to take on a leadership role in the organization. “I was actually asked if I was interested in a seat on the board and I was excited about it because I think I am able to bring a lot of things to the table,” he said. “I have a marketing company and I can provide public relations, advertising support and graphic-design support. Aside from that, the organization means a lot to me.” Barry, 34, is a freelance journalist and fundraiser who has served on the national board for three years and was re-elected for another two-year term. Barry has been published on Out.com and in Edge publications. He is also credited as one of the first-ever NLGJA bloggers and helped launch Re: Act, the organization’s official blog. He has been involved with NLGJA since 2005, and first got involved in the New York chapter to meet new people in his field. “I went to work for a firm in New York and I got involved in NLJGA and from there, my freelance work grew,” he said. “After a year in New York, I moved to Los Angeles. where I exclusively did freelance. I was chapter president of L.A.’s NLGJA chapter there in 2006.” Barry currently serves on NLGJA’s Rapid Response Task Force, which moderates coverage on LGBT issues throughout the country and works behind the scenes to ensure fair coverage. Barry also serves on the finance and development committee and the Michael Triplett Memorial Committee, which is named for the late NLGJA president. Barry, alongside Blazucki, co-chaired the NLGJA conference when it was in Philadelphia in 2011. He said he wants to continue building communication efforts within the organization. “I want to see us re-establish the NLGJA newsletter because I think we need to. Every association needs to have a newsletter to keep members current on what is going on and I also want to develop new leadership, enhance communications and make sure to build capacity for the organization,” he said. Rosen said he hopes, in his inaugural term on the board, to help the organization create a more visible presence. “NLGJA does amazing work but sometimes the mission and the vision of the organization isn’t as powerfully communicated as it could and should be, so my goal is to have the organization become well known as a thought leader when it comes to promoting fair and accurate journalism in relation to the LGBT community,” he said. “I think a lot of us are thinking how can we become known as recognized thought leaders in promoting fair and accurate journalism in the LGBT community. We will put out communications and call media on it, but we hope people would say, ‘We have to talk to NLGJA, they are the people who are the best source.’ I think it’s a wonderful organization but our next step is to have widespread awareness and appreciation.” Also elected to the board were: Matthew Berger, Bil Browning, Barbara Dozetos, Fiona Dawson, Sue Green, Laura Kutch, Patty Mattern, Rick Stuckey and Jeff Truesdell. NLGJA also elected Jen Christensen, an investigative producer for CNN, as its new president.